Bible Strands
Isaiah 44:7
Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses Israel through Isaiah, positioning Himself as the sovereign King and Redeemer who establishes nations and demands accountability. The speech occurs within a polemic against idolatry, immediately following a declaration of His unique eternity and preceding a call to remember His past declarations.
The words — The Hebrew מִי־כָמֹ֣נִי (mi-khamoni) literally asks "who [is] like me?" and יַעְרְכֶ֙הָ֙ (ya'rekheha) means "let him recount in order" or arrange a case before God. These terms frame the divine challenge to rivals to present their historical and prophetic records.
The thread — This challenge to declare past establishment and future events echoes Isaiah 41:22 and Isaiah 41:26, where false gods are summoned to predict outcomes, and aligns with Isaiah 46:9, which reiterates God's unique identity and unmatched nature.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers evaluate any claimed deity against the concrete evidence of historical establishment and accurate prophecy. It requires a reader to submit to the only authority that has proven its sovereignty by orchestrating past foundations and future events.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 41:26 Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.
- Isaiah 41:22 “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.
- Isaiah 46:9 Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- Isaiah 45:21 Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
- Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
- Isaiah 43:9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
- Isaiah 43:12 I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.
- Isaiah 48:3 I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.