Introduction
In this part of the chapter, the prophet continues along a single line: he comes to answer those doubters who do not believe that the Holy One, blessed be He, has the power to fulfill His promise and redeem the people of Israel. Whoever doubts this envisions the Creator as possessing limited power, like one of the creations, and from there the path to idol worship is short. Therefore, the prophet moves from presenting the nations as nothing and vanity, to biting mockery of idolaters, and from there to the proof from creation itself that there is a Master to the palace.
All the Nations Are as Nothing Before Him
כׇּל־הַגּוֹיִם כְּאַיִן נֶגְדּוֹ מֵאֶפֶס וָתֹהוּ נֶחְשְׁבוּ־לוֹ׃ - All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and void.
There are two stages here. If you come to consider the nations relative to Hashem, blessed be He - they are considered nothing, "as nothing before Him." And if you say: relative to Him they are indeed as nothing, but perhaps in their own right they possess some significance? To this the verse adds, "they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and void" - even on their own terms, they are deemed as nothing.
And this corresponds to what was mentioned earlier, "and His work before Him": Hashem, blessed be He, does not alter His action on account of the nations, for when He decides a matter, He needs no external power to bring it into effect. If so, why would He, as it were, change His mind because the nations found favor in His eyes? Behold, they are as nothing and vanity before Him.
To Whom Will You Liken God - The Root of the Error
וְאֶל־מִי תְּדַמְּיוּן אֵל וּמַה־דְּמוּת תַּעַרְכוּ לוֹ׃ - To whom then will you liken God, and what likeness will you compare to Him?
You who doubt whether God has the ability to fulfill His will and His promise - you are imagining the Creator as possessing limited power. You begin to deliberate: this He can do and that He cannot do, in this He is interested and in that He is not interested, here He will wish to change His will and here He will not change it. In short: you consider the Holy One, blessed be He, as one of the created beings, picturing Him as matter and form, as a body, as something familiar from this world. Rather, you say: there is an ordinary body and there is a more refined body, there is matter and there is a more sublime matter, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is, as it were, the most refined matter and the most exalted body. And from this premise, you also make idols for Him, things that resemble Him, in order to prostrate before Him through that idol.
To this the prophet says to them: Fools, to whom will you liken God? After all, He has no likeness at all; He has neither form nor image. Hashem is an exalted, supreme Intellect, infinite, and we have no grasp of Him whatsoever. And what do you think, that an image can be likened to Him? Rather, out of folly, you envision for Him a likeness, image, and form, and go and make idols, as it were, in His blessed likeness. In the next verse, the prophet begins to describe to them exactly what they are likening Him to, and what foolishness lies in this.
Likeness and Value - Two Perspectives
The Malbim notes the variation in phrasing: "will you liken" (tedamyun) versus "will you compare" (ta'archu). Likeness is similarity in external form - this looks like that. Value does not require external resemblance, but equality in worth. A gold dinar and a copper dinar: they are similar in form, but in terms of value there is no equality between them. A gold dinar and myrrh oil of the same worth: in terms of value they are equal, but in terms of likeness - one is oil and the other is a gold coin. A gold dinar and its weight in honey: it is neither similar nor comparable - neither in external form nor in value, for a gold dinar is worth far more than that amount of honey.
From here stems the argument against them: the idol bears no resemblance to Him at all. And even according to your premise, believing that He has a physical form and that an image can be made of Him - it still cannot be compared to Him at all in terms of active power. For Hashem, blessed be He, fulfills the will of those who serve Him, whereas the idol possesses no power whatsoever and offers no benefit. There is neither an outward likeness nor any comparable worth.
"The Idol Melted by a Craftsman" - Its Inferiority from Every Angle
הַפֶּסֶל נָסַךְ חָרָשׁ וְצֹרֵף בַּזָּהָב יְרַקְּעֶנּוּ וּרְתֻקוֹת כֶּסֶף צוֹרֵף׃ - "The idol, a craftsman cast it, and a smith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains."
"Nasakh" - cast and poured. To whom are you likening Him? To an idol cast by a craftsman, an ordinary metalworker. How can one commit such foolishness, to take the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is infinite and boundless, and liken Him to an idol that a man poured with his own hands?
And even the silver and gold idols, which from your perspective are precious because of the metal within them - from the perspective of their maker, they are regarded as cheap things. A "craftsman" (charash) is not a master artisan; a charash is a simple laborer, a simple blacksmith who possesses no exceptional craft. Any ordinary metalworker can make your idol. Likewise, "a smith overlays it with gold" - beating out the metal is a simple task that does not require an expert.
Furthermore, in terms of form, it is base. The world is divided into inanimate, vegetative, animal, and speaking (human). If you had made an image of a living creature, it would have some stature; of a plant, at least something. But what did you liken Him to? An inanimate object, the lowest of all that exists in the world. Moreover, note its inferiority: the idol itself is made of iron, tin, or lead, and only on the outside, "overlays it with gold" - they plated it with gold. In other words, even the one who made it looked for where to cut corners: you liken something to the Creator, yet you make its core material from the cheapest substances, with gold only on the surface. "And casts silver chains" - all that he fastened and joined to it are decorations of silver and gold and platings, while of itself, it is worth nothing at all.
Craftsman and Smith - The Reversal of Roles
The Malbim analyzes the precise difference between a charash (craftsman) and a tzoref (smith/refiner). The smith is the one who melts the metals and refines them in fire, purifying them of their dross. The craftsman is the artisan skilled in engraving and detailed design on the metal itself. Normally, the work of the smith comes first: he creates the raw shape, and then the craftsman comes and adds illustrations and engravings.
Yet here, everything is reversed: "The idol, a craftsman cast it" - the idol is so crude that there is no need for a smith to melt it; a mere craftsman, for whom this is not even his trade, suffices. And afterward, the beating and beautification, which is the craft of an artisan - "and a smith overlays it with gold," a simple smith is sufficient to do it. There is no need for a master craftsman, and no care is given to the workmanship of that idol. How, then, can anything be compared to Hashem, blessed be He, all the more so when you make something so inferior in its material, its composition, and the craftsmen who made it?
"He Who Is Skilled in Choosing" - The Improved Idol
הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה עֵץ לֹא־יִרְקַב יִבְחָר חָרָשׁ חָכָם יְבַקֶּשׁ־לוֹ לְהָכִין פֶּסֶל לֹא יִמּוֹט׃ - "He who is skilled in choosing selects wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not totter."
Rashi explains that "hamesukan" is related to being learned or accustomed, as in "Have I ever been accustomed (hahasken hiskanti) to do so unto you?" That is, one who is skilled in distinguishing between durable wood and wood that deteriorates will "separate" (terumah) - he will lift out and select wood that will not rot quickly, so that it will endure. And "he seeks out a skilled craftsman" - since wood by its nature tends to rot, he selects an artisan to fashion an idol from it that will not totter.
The Malbim explains differently: "Ha-mesukan" does not derive from skilled or accustomed, but from misken, an impoverished person. This is the poor and needy individual who wishes to fashion an idol from something more elevated, and what does he do? First, he chooses wood, which possesses an advantage over inanimate stone and metal, in that it has at least the power of growth. Second, "he selects wood that will not rot" - since he seeks wood that will not rot, he must necessarily select the finest of woods. Third, on the craftsman's part, he does not take unskilled workers, but rather "he seeks a skilled craftsman for himself," a master artisan, to prepare for him "an idol that will not topple," for wood, due to its vulnerability, is liable to crumble and rot. It turns out that the poor man creates something superior to what the wealthy man made.
The Malbim notes a precise distinction between a misken and a dal (a destitute person). The dal is completely depleted; he has nothing. But misken is related to the word miskenot, meaning storehouses or treasuries, as in "store-cities" (arei miskenot), and as in "a land where you will not eat bread in scarcity (miskenut)" - meaning you will have storehouses filled with grain. Similarly, a "poor king" (melech misken) is a king who lacks wealth, not one who has nothing to eat. Thus, a misken is a person without storehouses or wealth reserves, but he is not in a state of total poverty like a dal.
The Four Sources of Knowledge
הֲלוֹא תֵדְעוּ הֲלוֹא תִשְׁמָעוּ הֲלוֹא הֻגַּד מֵרֹאשׁ לָכֶם הֲלוֹא הֲבִינוֹתֶם מוֹסְדוֹת הָאָרֶץ׃ - "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?"
The Malbim explains: A person's knowledge in any matter derives from four sources. The first is from intellect (muskalot), prior knowledge attained through reason, wisdom, and deep contemplation, corresponding to "Do you not know?" The second is from common consensus (mefursamot), things universally known to be true, corresponding to "Have you not heard?" The third is from tradition (mekubalot), what is passed down from generation to generation, corresponding to "Has it not been told to you from the beginning?" - as we have received from our fathers and forefathers. The fourth is from sensory perception (mukhash), from empirical experience that everyone has witnessed firsthand, corresponding to "Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?" - from the earth's foundations and its intricate design, you perceive the power and capacity of the Holy One, Blessed be He.
Radak explains similarly, addressing the idolaters: How can you make such an error, to take an idol and worship it as though it were the Creator of the world? "Do you not know?" - through your own intellect, you can understand that Hashem is the Master of the world. Not only that: "Have you not heard?" - from what you read in books. And if that is not enough: "Has it not been told to you from the beginning?" - the tradition handed down from generation to generation; have you not heard from ancient times? And if you have none of these: "Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?" - simply observe the world around you, and you must inevitably conclude that the world has a Creator.
The Radak: What the Idolaters Truly Believed
Here the Radak elaborates and establishes an essential foundation. Do not mistakenly think that idolaters actually believed that this piece of metal, wood, or gold created the world and fashioned man. The Radak says: It is inconceivable that any fool in the world would believe that. And if you were to find such a fool, he would not deserve punishment but hospitalization, for someone who believes this has a severe intellectual impairment and cannot be held accountable.
Rather, what was their line of thinking? Idols were originally fashioned in honor of one of the stars or celestial constellations. They believed the world is influenced by the twelve constellations of the zodiac and the celestial bodies - and indeed, according to Judaism as well, divine influence cascades and descends through them, which is not contradictory. Likewise, we know that each celestial sphere possesses an influence over specific things - for example, Saturn (Shabbetai) influences destruction and ruin, which is why someone who works on Shabbat, the day governed by Saturn, invites destruction, ruin, and misfortune. They believed in the powers of these celestial bodies, thinking that in order to draw down energy from a star, one must fashion an image through which to worship that star, thereby drawing down celestial influence. Thus, the Egyptians, whose deity was Aries (the ram), the sign of the month of Nisan: they fashioned a ram, not intending to worship the gold itself, but rather the celestial Ram, the constellation above, hoping thereby to channel bounty and good fortune.
But the Radak adds: This was only how it began. The early generations erred through mistaken intellect, whereas later generations erred without any understanding at all. The earliest generations still possessed a rationale; they directed their thoughts toward something. But those who followed them already worshiped with no understanding whatsoever. A son saw the idol, received it from his father, who received it from his grandfather, and began worshiping the idol itself, instead of worshiping the Creator, may He be blessed, or even the celestial body.
It was these people whom the prophets rebuked - the subsequent generations who treated the statue as an independent power. As the prophet said: Half of it he burned in the fire to bake and eat, and from the other half he made an idol and worships it. "They do not move; they have noses, but do not smell" - at this the prophets mocked. They believed that these physical images could do good or harm, which is why they offered sacrifices, poured libations, and burned incense to them, failing to take to heart that there is a Creator of the universe who does good to the good and punishes the wicked. Instead, they thought the world existed and would exist without a Creator and without a Guide, that everything is coincidence: what good luck that there was an explosion so-and-so many years ago, otherwise we would not exist!
And they would say: Look, when we poured libations to the queen of heaven we experienced good, everything went wonderfully; and the moment we stopped pouring libations, we saw only troubles and problems. They truly believed that they were drawing down powers through these idols and benefiting from them. They also believed that performing certain rituals before these idols would work as an omen or talisman: if you do this for this idol, you receive that. This is the essence of darchei ha-Emori (the ways of the Amorites): do this and that will happen; if you see this, you will get that. If you leave your house and a black cat crosses your path, you will have a bad day. And if you ask what the logic is, they tell you there is no explanation, that is just how it is, take it into account. Like a vending machine: what you put in determines what comes out. All sorts of superstitious nonsense that they grew accustomed to, generation after generation, from ancient times.
Often, a single successful story is enough to publicize the matter. It is like a certain "baba": no one will tell you about the seven hundred times he spoke idle nonsense, but about the one time he told someone's sister-in-law that she would be remembered with children, and she indeed became pregnant - the stories are endless! They honored him as sandek and showered him with acclaim. But what do you expect, should the Holy One, blessed be He, alter His world on account of fools? She was destined to have a child; should Hashem withhold a pregnancy from her merely because the "baba" spoke? Rather, He gives her a child despite what the baba said, and she remains convinced it was because of him. And how many times did he pronounce a blessing and nothing happened? No one knows about those, and no one will tell you. That is how people come to believe in idol worship: they recount that the idol accomplished this or that, and they become accustomed to believing that it is the active power in the world.
Contemplate the Foundations of the Earth
Therefore, the prophet says to them, confronting the idolaters: "Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?" If you possess any intellect, contemplate the foundations of the earth, and then you will see Who is the Sovereign of the universe - the Holy One, blessed be He, or your idol. "Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain" - do you honestly think this too is accomplished through the power of idols?
From all this contemplation, one realizes that there is deliberate design here. In creation, there are four elements, including opposing forces such as fire and water. How do they coexist together? Seemingly, they ought to nullify one another! Similarly, within man himself there are conflicting elements, and yet he endures. Would you say this is mere coincidence, that this entire world was created by chance? Radak adds further examples. It is plain and clear: anyone who contemplates nature and creation can declare, "From my flesh I perceive God." How can anyone believe in this vanity called idolatry, when it is unmistakably evident that Someone designed reality?
If one were to contemplate even just the human body, one would be forced to conclude that Someone designed it in the most ingenious fashion. If our fingers were slightly stickier, everything we touched would cling to us; and if they were slightly less tacky, you would not be able to turn a page or even grasp an object - everything would slip from your hand. The grip of human skin is calibrated to the most exact degree. Incidentally, there are unfortunate people who suffer from hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) in their palms, which makes their lives miserable and complicates the most basic tasks.
Consider if the Holy One, blessed be He, had created man without a thumb. Try managing your daily routine without a thumb: how would you hold anything? You have not lost two legs, only a thumb - but how would you button a shirt, or hold a cup? You would have to grasp things like a monkey, clutching everything with an open palm. The entire ability to handle objects with precision and delicacy stems entirely from the thumb. And how would you eat? Our capacity to perform actions depends on this. Imagine if we had no fingernails - the fingernail provides the firm backing that enables a solid grip; or imagine if the fingernail grew on the underside rather than on top. In this manner, one can examine every part of the human body and observe the staggering wisdom invested in its construction.
Imagine if we did not have eyebrows. Have you ever sweated profusely? The eyes begin to sting from the salt in the sweat. Why do athletes wear sweatbands on their foreheads? Because under extreme perspiration, the eyebrows alone cannot stop the flow. In Hashem's kindness, we have eyebrows, so sweat is directed away and does not run into our eyes. And is there any windshield wiper more marvelous than the eyelids? Without them, the eye would have long ago been clogged with dust and dirt. Yet we have wipers with fluid that operate without us even noticing an obstruction. When cleaning a car windshield, there is a second or two of spray and wiping where everything smears and vision is blocked; imagine if every few seconds we had to wipe our eyes and momentarily lose our sight! Instead, the eyes cleanse themselves effortlessly, without our even feeling it.
It has been told that Rav Shach once took out a clementine to eat. An avrech entered, and the Rav asked him, "What do you see?" He answered, "A clementine." Rav Shach said to him, "By my life, when I see a clementine, I see the Creator of the universe. When I look at its beauty, at the peel with which the Creator wrapped it so it would not soil. Leave an unpeeled clementine out for half a day, and if exposed it dries out and becomes inedible - yet Hashem wrapped it in a protective peel. And not only that, but the segments: imagine if it were one solid mass! Try biting into something like that, you would end up dripping wet and messy. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I prepared convenient snack-packs inside - here are segments, pull one out and place it in your mouth. And what about future clementines? I placed a small seed inside: remove it, plant it, and you will get another tree. I do not even keep it to Myself - it is open-source, software that anyone who wishes can replicate. The Creator of the universe made such a creation, and He could have said: 'There are copyrights; I created it and that is all.' Instead He says: 'Take it, replicate it, grow another tree. Just do not do things I did not do - do not invent illicit graftings (kilayim).'"
The primary proof lies in the order. There is nothing in the world that lacks order, and whenever a person sees order, someone must have arranged it. Rav Shalom Schwadron once said this to someone who challenged him on matters of faith. He asked him, "Where did you come from?" The man replied, "From the Big Bang." Rav Shalom said to him, "Look, if your hand were protruding from your bald head, your leg coming out of your back, and your ear growing on your knee - I would say: You are right, from the Big Bang! You truly look like the victim of an explosion. But look at how wonderfully ordered you are: hands, legs, eyes in front, ears to hear. What kind of explosion produces something like this?" This is something a child can understand; anyone who fails to understand it simply wishes to deny faith, for there is no other explanation. That is the claim: had you only contemplated, you would surely have concluded that there is a Creator of the universe.
The Parable of the House Steward
In summary, Radak offers a parable: A person in this world resembles a steward in a house, entrusted with all the affairs of the estate, who never saw the master of the house with his own eyes, having simply grown up in that house. If asked, "What are you doing here?" he replies, "My father was also a steward here." And what did he do? "He was told to look after the house." But who is the owner? Your father was a steward, and you are a steward, but who owns the estate? He has never seen him. Should he not seek to know who the master of the house is, so he can verify that he is truly carrying out his will? "I look after the house and maintain order - but is this what the master actually wants? After all, it is the master who will ultimately pay my wages." Would he not strive to find favor in his eyes, ensuring his actions are proper so that he may receive his reward and not be dismissed from his post?
But the foolish steward will not act this way. Because he sees himself as the caretaker, he behaves in the house according to his own whims and desires, using it for whatever he pleases rather than following the original intent of the one who appointed him. He pays no regard to the master of the house, reasoning in his heart: "Since I do not see an owner with my own eyes, what reason do I have to believe one exists?" You see food stocked in the house, the refrigerators filled, the utility bills paid; you have lived here for so long in such meticulous order - and you do not realize there is an accounting? Yet he insists: "I live here, I have never seen the owner, let me just enjoy myself." He pulls another cold drink from the fridge and is content: "I was placed here, and I am the steward of the house." A sensible person, however, will seek to know the master of the house, before the master becomes aware of his conduct and casts him out with great anger and indignation.
This is the prophet's argument: even if you claim that you did not know, you did not hear, and it was not told to you from the beginning - "Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?" Contemplate the foundations of the earth, and through this you will know that there is a Master of the castle who formed, planned, made, and established everything here. True, this is what you received from your father, and this was told to you from the beginning - instead of transmitting the Exodus from Egypt and the Splitting of the Reed Sea, they passed down to you an idol and false gods; I grant that. But why did you not contemplate the foundations of the earth? And if so, how can you continue with that graven image cast by a craftsman, and how do you still cling to idolatry?
He Who Sits Above the Circle of the Earth - Providence, As It Were, from Afar
הַיֹּשֵׁב עַל־חוּג הָאָרֶץ וְיֹשְׁבֶיהָ כַּחֲגָבִים הַנּוֹטֶה כַדֹּק שָׁמַיִם וַיִּמְתָּחֵם כָּאֹהֶל לָשָׁבֶת׃ - It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; Who stretches out the heavens like a thin curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
There are people, the Malbim explains, who envision Hakadosh Baruch Hu as sitting in Heaven with the earth as His footstool, looking down from above; and there are those who picture Him as a king over whom a canopy is spread. "The circle of the earth" (chug ha'aretz) is related to mechugah, a compass, as both the Malbim and the Radak explain: in a compass, there is the stationary pin pressed into the surface, and there is the revolving pencil arm. The earth is, as it were, at the center, in place of the pin, and the rotating part that traces the circle is, so to speak, where Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits. That is to say, Hashem is conceived as sitting above and observing what is below.
And for one who views things this way, how large do human beings appear? "And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers" - small as grasshoppers. Consequently, a person might assume that we are as nothing before Hakadosh Baruch Hu. After all, when looking at an ant, it does not interest a person at all; no one investigates what happened to it today or how it felt - it is merely an ant. In this way, someone who imagines the Creator as sitting on high, or as a king sitting under the tent of "Who stretches out the heavens like a thin curtain," might conclude that He exercises no providence at all, thinking: who cares what happens to the ant down below? And if He sits in such an exalted place, surely He has no concern for the human beings dwelling here.
Who Brings Princes to Naught - Needing No Assistance
הַנּוֹתֵן רוֹזְנִים לְאָיִן שֹׁפְטֵי אֶרֶץ כַּתֹּהוּ עָשָׂה׃ - Who brings princes to naught, Who makes the judges of the earth like nothingness.
The princes (rozenim) are the king's advisors, and the judges are those who judge the king's people, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu has no need of them whatsoever - not merely "as it were," but He truly has no need of them. He has no need for advisors, and therefore before Him, princes are naught. And who needs judges? A mortal king who lacks the ability to judge everyone, who lacks the time, the capacity, or the intellect to judge everyone - he is the one who needs judges. But "He makes the judges of the earth like nothingness": to Him they are as chaos and void, sheer nothingness; they provide nothing, and He receives no aid or assistance from them.
אַף בַּל־נִטָּעוּ אַף בַּל־זֹרָעוּ אַף בַּל־שֹׁרֵשׁ בָּאָרֶץ גִּזְעָם וְגַם־נָשַׁף בָּהֶם וַיִּבָשׁוּ וּסְעָרָה כַּקַּשׁ תִּשָּׂאֵם׃ - Barely are they planted, barely are they sown, barely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He blows upon them and they wither, and a storm carries them away like stubble.
They are like a plant that was never planted. How does one plant? A rooted sapling is taken and planted in the ground. "Barely are they sown" - sowing is even weaker than this, for here there is no plant yet, only a seed. "Barely has their stem taken root in the earth" - even a shoot that sprang up on its own has struck no roots into the ground. And beyond all this fragility, "when He blows upon them and they wither" - He merely breathes upon them with His breath and in a single moment they wither, "and a storm carries them away like stubble" - a tempest sweeps them away like chaff.
This is the Malbim's consistent approach throughout: when Scripture enumerates several stages, they follow a progression from the stronger to the weaker. If you consider them strong, as though they were firmly planted - "they are not even planted." And if you suggest they were merely sown, which is weaker - since planting involves an established sapling, whereas sowing requires the seed to develop - "they are not even sown," not even a seed exists here. And if you suggest that it sprouted on its own and a trunk is visible - "barely has their stem taken root in the earth"; the trunk is what stands above ground and the root is what lies beneath, and this trunk has no root at all. Consequently, "He blows upon them and they wither, and a storm carries them away like stubble" - in a single moment, Hakadosh Baruch Hu scatters them.
It follows that the existence of the blessed Creator is such that He has, as it were, no parity with physical, material existence, and all of physical existence is like something that does not exist at all: it was neither planted nor sown, nor has it taken root in the earth. Even the princes, even the judges of the earth, even the most important entities - everything is as nothing beside the Creator Himself.
"To Whom Then Will You Liken Me, That I Should Be Equal?" - Negating All Comparison
וְאֶל־מִי תְדַמְּיוּנִי וְאֶשְׁוֶה יֹאמַר קָדוֹשׁ׃ - "To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal?" says the Holy One.
Until this point, the argument seemed to suggest that one could ascribe a form to Him, but that the form being crafted does not resemble Him: you compare Him to an idol, but does an idol truly resemble Him? Or that I depict Him as sitting in heaven. The prophet tells them: Do not think that everything I described to you reflects what I believe to be the true nature of the Creator. I described this according to your perception and your limited understanding. Following your own line of reasoning, I asked: this piece of wood, which you cut yesterday and carved today, you compare this to the blessed Creator? It is surely inconceivable to compare a transient, material object to the Creator. But know this: on my own part, I declare that the Holy One, blessed be He, transcends all imagination and comparison. It is not merely that one cannot compare Him to wood carved by a craftsman; rather, He is an entirely abstract reality to which nothing can be compared. When you want to compare one thing to another, there must be some shared point of similarity between them; yet the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be grasped at all. If so, to whom will you liken Me?
The Malbim analyzes the precise difference between "liken Me" (tedamyuni) and "that I should be equal" (ve'eshveh). Comparison or likeness (dimyon) is used even for partial similarity, as in "My beloved is like a gazelle" - does he have horns like a gazelle? Rather, he is swift like a gazelle, and any slight point of resemblance suffices to employ the language of comparison. Regarding this, the Holy One, blessed be He, asks: To whom is it possible to say that I bear any resemblance, anything that can be explained and compared? "That I should be equal" is an entirely different level: absolute equality, as in "Lest you also be equal to him," meaning completely identical. Could it ever enter anyone's mind that I am equal or identical to anything? All the metaphors in Shir HaShirim, such as "My beloved is like a gazelle," speak of the Holy One, blessed be He - yet every such comparison is merely a descriptive figure of speech, a faint analogy so that human beings can understand. We are told that the Holy One, blessed be He, sits in the heavens and similar expressions, but is this absolute equality? Therefore, the verse concludes: "Says the Holy One" - the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the realm of kadosh, and kadosh means distinct and separate, as in "You shall be holy (kedoshim)" - meaning you shall be separate (perushim). He is utterly transcendent and distinct from all physical reality, so to whom could one possibly compare Him?
"Lift Up Your Eyes on High" - The Creator Is Not Comparable to the Created
שְׂאוּ־מָרוֹם עֵינֵיכֶם וּרְאוּ מִי־בָרָא אֵלֶּה הַמּוֹצִיא בְמִסְפָּר צְבָאָם לְכֻלָּם בְּשֵׁם יִקְרָא מֵרֹב אוֹנִים וְאַמִּיץ כֹּחַ אִישׁ לֹא נֶעְדָּר׃ - "Lift up your eyes on high, and see who created these: He who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name; by the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing."
The Malbim continues along this same line. If you wish to compare the Holy One, blessed be He, to something, to what will you compare Him? To something physical down here, which is certainly lowly? To an animal? To a human being? If idolaters were to draw any comparison, they would certainly want to compare Him to one of the celestial bodies, which embody vast power. A story is related concerning Rabbi Yehoshua: that Roman emperor said to him, "Show me your God." Rabbi Yehoshua replied, "Come tomorrow at noon." The next day, he directed the emperor to look at the sun. The emperor tried to look and was unable to bear the brilliance. He said, "What is this? Is this your God?" Rabbi Yehoshua answered, "No, this is merely one of His attendants."
In other words, when a person wishes to conceptualize something exalted and sublime, he attempts to compare it to the heavenly bodies. To this the prophet says: Do you wish to compare Me to one of those awesome and wondrous bodies traversing the heavens, or to the angels that move them? Yet if you lift up your eyes on high and contemplate, you will realize "who created these" - and it is simply impossible to compare the Creator to the created, for the Creator is inherently and infinitely more exalted than anything that was brought into being.
If a person crafts a cup, who is wiser: the craftsman or the cup? Surely the craftsman, since he made it. Likewise with one who built a computer: do not mistakenly think the computer is smarter than man; it is merely an instrument, only that there are specific tasks it performs at immense speed. Just as if a person builds a car, the fact that it travels rapidly and he cannot run at its speed does not make the car superior to man. Certainly not. Man in his essence is far more noble and elevated than anything he has ever made or produced in this world, even though human creation is merely producing something from existing matter (yesh miyesh). All the more so regarding the Creator, Who created everything from absolute nothingness (yesh me'ayin) - it is inconceivable to compare Him to His creations.
In Summary:
In this section, the prophet dismantles, step by step, the root of doubt in the redemption and the root of idolatry - both stem from comparing the Creator to His creations. The nations are as nothing and vanity before Him, and He does not alter His actions on their account. The idol to which you compare Him is deficient from every angle: in its raw material, in its construction, and in the ordinary craftsmen who made it; and even the poor man who seeks the best for his idol with fine wood and a skilled artisan, in the end it remains mere wood. And if you say that you did not know, did not hear, and were not told from the beginning - behold: "Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?" Contemplating the order in creation, in the human body, and even in a single clementine, compels the conclusion that there is a Designer and a Master of the house. And one who does not see, like the foolish clerk who never laid eyes on the owner of the mansion, fails to see solely because he does not want to see. Above all: "To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal? says the Holy One" - the Holy One, blessed be He, is transcendent and abstract beyond all comparison, and all the imagery found in Scripture is adapted solely to our limited human comprehension.