Isaiah 40:18 - Exposition

Is more the complement of what precedes than the introduction to what follows (comp. Isaiah 40:25 ). If God be all that has been said of him in Isaiah 40:12-17 , must he not be wholly unique and incomparable? Then, out of this, the thought arises of the strange, the poor, the mean "likenesses" of God, which men have in their folly set up in various times and places. It has been said that Israel in captivity did not need to be warned against idolatry, of the inclination to which the Captivity is supposed at once to have cured them. But there is no evidence of this. Rather, considering the few that returned, and the many that remained behind (Joseph; 'Ant Jud.,' 11.1), we may conclude that a large number adopted the customs, religion, and general mode of life of their masters.'