New Living Translation
Isaiah 40:16
16All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.
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 King James Version (NKJV)And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
Context of Isaiah 40:16
14Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? 15No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. 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. 17The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth. 18To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him?
Read all of Isaiah 40Isaiah 40:16 word by word
וּלְבָנ֕וֹן אֵ֥ין דֵּ֖י בָּעֵ֑ר וְחַיָּת֔וֹ אֵ֥ין דֵּ֖י עוֹלָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 40:16
- Psalms 40:6You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
- Psalms 60:10Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies?
- Micah 6:6What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves?
- Hebrews 10:5That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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