Isaiah 46:5

5 To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like?

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 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel who are carried by my bowels, are borne up by my womb.
4 Even to your old age I am the same, and to your grey hairs I will carry you: I have made you, and I will bear: I will carry and will save.
5 To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like?
6 You that contribute gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in the scales: and hire a goldsmith to make a god: and they fall down and worship.
7 They bear him on their shoulders and carry him, and set him in his place, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place. Yea, when they shall cry also unto him, he shall not hear: he shall not save them from tribulation.
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