以赛亚书 40:18

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

你們把誰來跟　神相比呢？你們用甚麼形象來與　神並列呢？

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
你 们 究 竟 将 谁 比 　 神 ， 用 甚 麽 形 像 与 神 比 较 呢 ？

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Can you compare God to anything? Can you compare him to an image of anything? ¹⁹ An idol is formed by a craftsman, and a goldsmith covers it with gold and makes silver chains for it. ²⁰ A poor person cannot buy those expensive statues, so he finds a tree that will not rot. Then he finds a skilled craftsman to make it into an idol that will not fall over. ²¹ Surely you know. Surely you have heard. Surely from the beginning someone told you. Surely you understand how the earth was created. ²² God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth, and compared to him, people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the skies like a piece of cloth and spreads them out like a tent to sit under. ²³ He makes rulers unimportant and the judges of this world worth nothing. ²⁴ They are like plants that are placed in the ground, like seeds that are planted. As soon as they begin to grow strong, he blows on them and they die, and the wind blows them away like chaff. ²⁵ God, the Holy One, says, "Can you compare me to anyone? Is anyone equal to me?" ²⁶ Look up to the skies. Who created all these stars? He leads out the army of heaven one by one and calls all the stars by name. Because he is strong and powerful, not one of them is missing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Isaiah 40:25, Isaiah 46:5, Isaiah 46:9, Exodus 8:10, Exodus 9:14, Exodus 15:11, Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 33:26, 1 Samuel 2:2, Job 40:9, Psalms 86:8-10, Psalms 89:6, Psalms 89:8, Psalms 113:5, Jeremiah 10:6, Jeremiah 10:16, Micah 7:18, Acts 17:29, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3

Reciprocal: Exodus 32:4 - These Numbers 12:8 - similitude Deuteronomy 3:24 - what God Deuteronomy 4:12 - no similitude Deuteronomy 4:15 - of similitude Deuteronomy 4:16 - the likeness Judges 17:3 - a graven image 2 Samuel 7:22 - none 1 Kings 8:23 - no God 1 Chronicles 17:20 - none Psalms 35:10 - who Psalms 71:19 - who is like Psalms 77:13 - who Psalms 106:20 - into Jeremiah 50:44 - for who Romans 1:23 - an image

Cross-References

Genesis 40:12
Then Joseph said, "I will explain the dream to you. The three branches stand for three days.

Genesis 41:26
The seven good cows stand for seven years, and the seven good heads of grain stand for seven years. Both dreams mean the same thing.

1 Corinthians 10:4
and all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:24
and gave thanks for it. Then he broke the bread and said, "This is my body; it is for you. Do this to remember me."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To whom then will ye liken God?.... There is nothing in the whole creation that can bear any resemblance to him, or he to them; since all nations are as a drop of the bucket, as the small dust of the balance, as nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity: "or what likeness will ye compare unto him", w order, ordain, and appoint for him? in what rank can he be placed? to what class of beings can he be likened? what similitude can be given of him? what is there that is fit to be named with him, or compared to him? this, with what follows, is mentioned as an antidote to prevent the Jews falling into idolatry in Babylon, where they would be exposed unto it; or rather to prevent Christians in Gospel times from going into the idolatry of the Papists; see Acts 17:28.

w ומה דמות תערכו לו "et quid similitudinis ponetis ei", Pagninus; "ordinabitis", Montanus; "disponetis", Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To whom then will ye liken God? - Since he is so great, what can resemble him? What form can be made like him? The main idea here intended to be conveyed by the prophet evidently is, that God is great and glorious, and worthy of the confidence of his people. This idea he illustrates by a reference to the attempts which had been made to make a representation of him, and by showing how vain those efforts were. He therefore states the mode in which the images of idols were usually formed, and shows how absurd it was to suppose that they could be any real representation of the true God. It is possible that this was composed in the time of Manasseh, when idolatry prevailed to a great extent in Judah, and that the prophet intended in this manner incidentally to show the folly and absurdity of it.