Passage

Isaiah 40.25

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

23. that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24. Yea, they have not been planted; yea, they have not been sown; yea, their stock hath not taken root in the earth: moreover he bloweth upon them, and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as stubble.

25. To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking. 27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from Jehovah, and the justice due to me is passed away from my God? (Isaiah 40:23-27, ASV)

WEB

23. who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless. 24. They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

25. “To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking. 27. Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?” (Isaiah 40:23-27, WEB)

KJV

23. That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 24. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. 27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? (Isaiah 40:23-27, KJV)

YLT

23. He who is making princes become nothing, Judges of earth as emptiness hath made; 24. Yea, they have not been planted, Yea, they have not been sown, Yea, not taking root in the earth is their stock, And also He hath blown upon them, and they wither, And a whirlwind as stubble taketh them away.

25. And unto whom do ye liken Me, And [am] I equal? saith the Holy One.

Lift up on high your eyes, And see, who hath prepared these? He who is bringing out by number their host, To all of them by name He calleth, By abundance of strength (And [he is] strong in power) not one is lacking. 27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob? and speakest thou, O Israel? 'My way hath been hid from Jehovah, And from my God my judgment passeth over.' (Isaiah 40:23-27, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: YHWH, "the Holy One," quoted by the prophet ("saith the Holy One")
Audience: Israel, addressed as "Jacob" and "Israel" in the verses that follow (40:27), a people tempted to think God had lost track of them
Location: Judah on the traditional view; Babylon among the exiles on the common critical view of chapters 40-55
Time period: Traditionally the eighth-century prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, speaking ahead to the exile; many critical scholars date chapters 40-55 to the late exile, c. 550-539 BC

Theological reading

"To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One." The question repeats 40:18, "To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?" Between the two questions the prophet mocks the idol made by a goldsmith or carved from "a tree that will not rot" (40:19-20) and describes God enthroned "above the circle of the earth," with the earth's rulers brought "to nothing" (40:22-24).

Nothing to compare him with. "Liken" (Strong's H1819, damah) and "equal" (H7737) are the vocabulary of comparison. God's answer is implied by the question: there is no one and nothing to set beside him. The same challenge returns in 46:5: "To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?"

"The Holy One." The title (H6918, qadosh) is Isaiah's signature name for God, usually "the Holy One of Israel" (1:4; 5:19; 41:14). Holiness here is first of all separateness. God is not one more item in the world, however great; he is set apart from everything he made. Isaiah heard the seraphim cry "Holy, holy, holy" (6:3), and this verse is the doctrinal form of that vision.

Against identifying God with the world. Pantheism holds that God and the universe are one reality. This verse rules that out from the side of comparison: if God were the world, then everything in the world would be "like" him, and the question "to whom will ye liken me?" would have an easy answer. The next verse points to the stars as things God "created" (40:26), distinct from their Maker. See Pantheism vs the Christian God and Isaiah 40.26.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H6918 - qadosh, qadosh, Strong's H6918

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Pantheism, via Isaiah 40.12-31

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.