“To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?”
The full verse · Isaiah 40:25 · KJV
To whom then will ye me, or shall I be ? the Holy .
Asked by
Asked to
The exiled Jewish remnant in Babylon, though the message extends to all who hear the prophet’s oracle.
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionGod asks rather than declares to force Israel into intellectual honesty about idolatry. The interrogative form compels them to mentally search for comparisons and find none, making the conclusion their own discovery rather than imposed dogma.
The Response
What Scripture recordsIsaiah records no verbal response from Israel. The rhetorical questions stand unanswered, their silence functioning as forced acknowledgment of God’s uniqueness.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThe question challenges Israel to produce any being worthy of comparison with Yahweh. The Hebrew damah appears throughout Scripture for making likenesses or idols, so God essentially asks: What image could represent Me? The interrogative form exposes idolatry’s futility more powerfully than mere prohibition. By asking rather than asserting, God invites Israel into reasoning that leads them to rediscover His transcendence. The title Holy One emphasizes separation and otherness, the very quality that makes comparison impossible. This rhetorical question doesn’t seek information but demands confession: no creature, no idol, no human conception approaches God’s essence, making worship of anything else not just wrong but laughably incoherent.
When status or success tempts you to self-importance, remember that even comparing yourself to God is absurd. The Creator who formed galaxies notices sparrows and numbers your hairs (Matthew 10:29-31). His incomparability means He’s never threatened by your smallness or impressed by your greatness. Rest in being known by the One who has no equal, and let that security free you from endless self-measurement against others.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?”
“Have ye not known?”
“To whom then will ye liken God?”
“With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?”