Christians have long appealed to Isaiah 40-48 when talking with Latter-day Saints as proof that God truly is a unique being—a claim which LDS leaders have historically denied (see mrm.org/regress). Multiple times in these chapters, God says something along the lines of “I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5).

I’ve heard Latter-day Saints claim that God was using Hebrew idioms, hyperbolic expressions that were never intended to be taken as theological absolutes. As proof of this, they point to a similar statement made by Babylon in Isaiah 47: “I [Babylon] am, and there is no one besides me” (Isaiah 47:10).

Clearly Babylon wasn’t the only city to exist. If Babylon could speak this way—with strong hyperbole—then could not God have done the same? Doesn’t Babylon’s claim help us properly understand God’s statements?

Though I appreciate the argument made by my Latter-day Saints friends (it’s always good to take a closer look at context and note linguistic expressions), we shouldn’t interpret God’s statements in light of Babylon. Instead, we should allow God’s statements to themselves interpret Babylon.

Babylon’s bold claim “I am, and there is no one besides me” is found in Isaiah 47, a chapter of divine indictment against Babylon. In it, God explains why He was about to shame and destroy them:

• They were lovers of pleasure (v. 8).
• They committed themselves to sorceries and enchantments, engaging in magic practices and divination (v. 9, 12-13).
• They were prideful about their wisdom and knowledge, which led them astray (v. 10).
• They thought themselves too great to ever be defeated or experience loss.
  • “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children” (v. 8). 
• They thought themselves untouchably great and “secure” in their wickedness. In their minds, no one was greater than they to hold them accountable for their evil.
  • “You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me” (v. 10).

The people of Babylon esteemed themselves so highly exalted and unique among the nations of earth (epitomized by that language: “no one besides me”), that they believed there was none who could ever defeat them. No one was great enough to hold them accountable, and so they had a blank check to do whatever they wanted without consequence.

Latter-day Saints are right to note that Babylon said, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” But what my Latter-day Saints friends miss is that Babylon was wrong to claim this.

Babylon sinned in their statement because it was false—God was above them. Because they arrogantly exalted themselves, God was going to do the unthinkable to them. He was going to destroy them.

The very reason God punished Babylon was because they believed these kinds of things about themselves, that there was no one but them. God didn’t see it as hyperbole, God saw it as pride. Only the Lord may truly speak like that, because only He is without any besides Him. It’s true of God, it’s not true of Babylon.

Zephaniah records very similar language being used, though this time by the city of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria): “And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert…This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become!”  (Zephaniah 2:13, 15).

You don’t take a false, prideful statement that results in judgement and apply the misuse of such language back to God. It’s not appropriate for us to read God’s statements in light of Babylon’s sin. Though Babylon indeed used the same language as God, they were destroyed because of it.

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Check out GLM’s video on God’s use of language in Isaiah 40-48