---
title: Isaiah 44:6
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/isaiah-44-6/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/isaiah-44-6.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Isaiah 44:6
testament: OT
section: Prophets
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Isaiah 44:6

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts:   “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

## JW Usage

Isaiah 44:6 is one of the most-cited verses in JW monotheism arguments: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no God." JWs use it as the OT companion to the Shema and to Isaiah 43:10, locking in the position that Jehovah alone is God and that the title "the first and the last" belongs exclusively to him. The verse is the pivot in the JW response to the NWT's "a god" rendering at John 1:1: if the Word was a god, then there would be a god besides Jehovah — which Isaiah 44:6 forbids. JWs typically resolve this by saying Jesus is "a god" only in a qualified sense, which is precisely the point Trinitarians press them on.

## Protestant Usage

Isaiah 44:6 is the strongest available proof of strict OT monotheism — and that is exactly why the NT writers' application of its core title to Jesus is so striking. Jehovah declares "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no God." The risen Jesus then claims the same title in his own voice three times in Revelation: "I am the First and the Last" (Rev 1:17), "the First and the Last" (Rev 2:8), and "the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Rev 22:13). At Rev 22:16 the speaker self-identifies as "I, Jesus" — there is no ambiguity about who is taking the title. Either Jesus has stolen a title Jehovah said belongs to him alone, or Jesus is included within the identity of Jehovah. The verse also feeds the Trinitarian trilemma against the NWT's "a god" rendering at John 1:1: if Jesus is a real god distinct from Jehovah, then a god has been formed besides Jehovah, contradicting Isaiah 43:10 ("before me no god was formed") and Isaiah 44:6 ("besides me there is no God"). The only escape is that Jesus is Jehovah himself. Isaiah 44:24 sharpens the point: Jehovah created "alone" and "by myself," so a separate creature-Jesus serving as master worker cannot be reconciled with the OT's own monotheism.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- ['A God' = Polytheism](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john1-polytheism.md) — John 1:1 + Exodus 20:3 + Isaiah 43:10 [Deity of Christ]
- [Jesus as Alpha and Omega](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/alpha-omega.md) — Revelation 22:12–16 [Deity of Christ]
- [Jehovah Created Alone — So Jesus Must Be Jehovah](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/isaiah44-creator.md) — Isaiah 44:24 [Deity of Christ]
- [Thomas' Confession: My Lord and My God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john20-28-thomas.md) — John 20:28 [Deity of Christ]
- [Yahweh Sent Yahweh](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/yahweh-sent-yahweh.md) — Isaiah 48:16 — Plurality Within the One God [Deity of Christ]
- [Every Title For Yahweh Is Given To Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/yahweh-titles-applied-to-jesus.md) — Isaiah 44:6 / Acts 4:12 / Romans 10:9 / Hosea 13:4 / Revelation 22:13 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Incarnation Is Addition, Not Compression](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/word-became-flesh-not-michael.md) — Why the Logos-to-Michael-to-Jesus-to-Michael cycle does not match the New Testament [Deity of Christ]