Isaiah 40:16

Isaiah 40:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
• New International Version (NIV)Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
• New Living Translation (NLT)All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.

Context of Isaiah 40:16

14With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? 15Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. 18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

Isaiah 40:16 word by word

וּלְבָנ֕וֹן אֵ֥ין דֵּ֖י בָּעֵ֑ר וְחַיָּת֔וֹ אֵ֥ין דֵּ֖י עוֹלָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Lebanonלְבָנוֹןlebânôn · LebanonH3844
• notאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• sufficientדַּיday · sufficiencyH1767
• to burnבָּעַרbâ‛ar · to burn: burnH1197
• nor the beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
• for a burnt offeringעֹלָה‛ôlâh ‛ôlâh · burnt offeringH5930

Cross-references for Isaiah 40:16

• Psalms 40:6Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
• Psalms 60:10Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
• Micah 6:6With what shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?
• Hebrews 10:5Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.

Commentaries on Isaiah 40:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16And Lebanon is not sufficient - The image is beautiful and uncommon. It has been imitated by an apocryphal writer, who however comes far short of the original: - "For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savor unto thee: And all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt-offering." Judith 16:16. Does not the prophet mean here that all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices that could be offered were insufficient to atone for sin? That the nations were as…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16And Lebanon - The expression here refers to the trees or the cedars of Lebanon. Thus it is rendered by the Chaldee: And the trees of Lebanon.‘ For a description of Lebanon, see the note at Isaiah 10:34. It is probable that the word Lebanon here is not used in the limited sense in which it is sometimes employed, to denote a single mountain, or a single range of mountains, but includes the entire ranges lying north of Palestine, and which were comprehended…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 All created beings shrink to nothing in comparison with the Creator. When the Lord, by his Spirit, made the world, none directed his Spirit, or gave advice what to do, or how to do it. The nations, in comparison of him, are as a drop which remains in the bucket, compared with the vast ocean; or as the small dust in the balance, which does not turn it, compared with all the earth. This magnifies God's love to the world, that, though it is of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16People valued Lebanon for its plentiful wood and wildlife (see Isaiah 2:13–16; Psalm 104:16–17).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. All Lebanon's forest would not supply fuel enough to burn sacrifices worthy of the glory of God (Is 66:1; 1Ki 8:27; Psa 50:8-13). beasts--which abounded in Lebanon.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 40:16

• God Continued...
• Idolatry
• Lebanon
• Offerings
• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Lebanon
• Burnt offering
• Bosom
• Carry
• Cry
• Feed
• Renew
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah (2)
• John, Gospel of

Commentaries on Isaiah 40

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings