Bible Strands
Isaiah 46:5
To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel immediately after affirming His personal, lifelong sustenance of them, contrasting His sovereignty with the futile labor of idol makers. The words — The verse hinges on תְדַמְי֖וּנִי (tedamyūnî, "will you liken Me") and תַשְׁו֑וּ (tashwû, "you may make equal"), which frame the rhetorical question about comparing the Creator to crafted objects. The thread — This rhetorical challenge to compare God to anything echoes in Isaiah 40:18, Isaiah 40:25, and Psalms 89:6. Why it lands — The text demands a direct acknowledgment that no created thing or crafted image can be placed on the same level as the one who sustains His people.
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
To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 40:18 To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
- Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Psalms 89:6 For who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
- Exodus 15:11 Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Psalms 86:8 O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.
- Psalms 113:5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?
- Jeremiah 10:6 There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
- Jeremiah 10:16 The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Philippians 2:6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.