Isaiah 40 · Verse 16

Isaiah 40:16

And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Isaiah 40:16, King James Version

Isaiah 40:16 in other translations

BSBLebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
WEBLebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
ASVAnd Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
YLTAnd Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
DARBYAnd Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
BBEAnd Lebanon is not enough to make a fire with, or all its cattle enough for a burned offering.
WebsterAnd Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt-offering.

What does Isaiah 40:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. 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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 And 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 nothing before him, not merely because of his immensity, but because of their insufficiency to make any atonement by their oblations for the iniquities which they had committed? Therefore the Redeemer was to come to Zion, etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 40:12-17

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…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 40:12-17 →

Isaiah 40:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּלְבָנ֕וֹןu.le.va.Nonand LebanonH3844
אֵ֥ין'einnotH369
דֵּ֖יdei[is] sufficiency ofH1767
בָּעֵ֑רba.'ErburningH1197
וְחַיָּת֔וֹve.chai.ya.Toand animal[s] itsH2416
אֵ֥ין'einnotH369
דֵּ֖יdei[is] sufficiency ofH1767
עוֹלָֽה\׃\ \סo.Lahburnt offeringH5930

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 40:16

  • Micah 6:6-7

    Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

  • Psalms 50:9-12

    I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

  • Psalms 40:6

    Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

  • Hebrews 10:5-10

    Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
nor.
Ps 40:6; 50:10-12; Mic 6:6,7; Heb 10:5-10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 40:15

    Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

  • Isaiah 40:16

    And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

  • Isaiah 40:17

    All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

Read all of Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ni el Líbano bastará para el fuego, ni todos sus animales para el sacrificio.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le Liban ne suffit pas pour le feu, et ses bêtes ne suffisent pas pour l’holocauste.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und der Libanon reicht nicht hin zum Brennholz, und sein Wild reicht nicht hin zum Brandopfer.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et Libanus non sufficiet ad succendendum, et animalia ejus non sufficient ad holocaustum.