Isaiah 40:19

"To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?"

Key Reflection

In Isaiah 40:19, the prophet is addressing those who might be tempted to idolize false gods. The original audience, familiar with the prevalent worship of idols in their society, would understand that this question challenges the notion of creating physical representations for divine beings. By asking, "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?" Isaiah underscores the incomparability and uniqueness of the true God, emphasizing that no earthly image or form can adequately represent the transcendent deity they are called to worship.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The workman -The Hebrew word denotes an artificer of any kind, and is applied to one who engraved on wood or stoneExodus 28:2; to a workman in iron, brass, stone, woodExodus 35:35;Deuteronomy 27:15; or an artisan, or artificer in general. It here refers manifestly to a man who worked in the metals of which idols were commonly made. Those idols were sometimes made of wood, sometimes of clay, but more frequently, as they are at present in India, of metal. It became, undoubtedly, a regular trade or business thus to make idol-gods. Melteth -Casts or founds. A graven image -(פסלpesel).

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