Isaiah 46:5

5 To whom will you liken me and count me equal and compare me so that we are alike?

Isaiah 46:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 46:5

To whom will ye liken me?
&c.] Was it lawful that any likeness might be made, which yet is forbidden, ( Exodus 20:4 ) what likeness could be thought of? is there any creature in heaven or earth, among all the angels or sons of men, to whom God can be likened, who has done such works of power, and acts of grace, as to care and provide not only for the house of Israel, from the beginning of their state to the close of it, but for all his creatures from the beginning of life to the end thereof, yea, from the beginning of the world to the end of it, and has shown such special grace and goodness to his chosen people, in such a kind and tender manner? And make me equal;
or any equal to him in power and goodness, since all are but worms, dust, and ashes, as the small dust of the balance, yea, as nothing in comparison of him. And compare me, that we may be like?
which is impossible to be done; for what comparison or likeness can there be between the Creator and a creature, between an infinite, immense, and eternal Being, possessed of all perfections, and a finite, frail, imperfect one? see ( Isaiah 40:18 ) . To pretend to frame a likeness of such a Being, is to act the absurd and stupid part the Heathens do, described in the following verses.

Isaiah 46:5 In-Context

3 Listen to me, house of Jacob, all that remains from the house of Israel who have been borne by me since pregnancy, whom I carried from the womb

4 until you grow old. I am the one, and until you turn gray I will support you. I have done it, and I will continue to bear it; I will support and I will rescue.

5 To whom will you liken me and count me equal and compare me so that we are alike?

6 Those who pour out gold from a bag and weigh silver with a balance hire a metalworker; then he makes a god. They bow down; they worship;

7 they carry the idol on their shoulders and support it; they set it down, and it stands still, unable to move from its place. If one cries out to it, it doesn't answer. It can't save people from their distress.