Isaiah 40:16
New International Version
Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

Berean Standard Bible
Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

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

New King James Version
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.

New American Standard Bible
Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

NASB 1995
Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

NASB 1977
Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

Legacy Standard Bible
Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

Amplified Bible
And [the forests of] Lebanon cannot supply sufficient fuel to start a fire, Nor are its wild beasts enough for a burnt offering [worthy of the LORD].

Christian Standard Bible
Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel, or its animals enough for a burnt offering.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Lebanon is not enough for fuel, or its animals enough for a burnt offering.

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

Contemporary English Version
The cattle on the mountains of Lebanon would not be enough to offer as a sacrifice to God, and the trees would not be enough for the fire.

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

GOD'S WORD® Translation
All the trees in Lebanon are not enough to burn an offering. Its wild animals are not enough for a single burnt offering.

Good News Translation
All the animals in the forests of Lebanon are not enough for a sacrifice to our God, and its trees are too few to kindle the fire.

International Standard Version
Lebanon would not provide enough fuel, nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering.

Majority Standard Bible
Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

NET Bible
Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.

New Heart English Bible
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt-offering.

World English Bible
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, "" Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.

Young's Literal Translation
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Lebanon not enough to burn, and its beasts not enough for a burnt-offering.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering.

New American Bible
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor its animals be enough for burnt offerings.

New Revised Standard Version
Lebanon would not provide fuel enough, nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And Lebanon is not sufficient for the fuel, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Lebanon is not considered by him for burning and its animals are not considered by him for a burnt offering
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And Lebanon is not sufficient fuel, Nor the beasts thereof sufficient for burnt-offerings.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Libanus is not enough to burn, nor all beasts enough for a whole-burnt offering:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Here is Your God!
15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust. 16Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. 17All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.…

Cross References
Psalm 50:10-12
for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills. / I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. / If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.

Micah 6:6-8
With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? / Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? / He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

1 Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

Acts 17:24-25
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. / Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

Job 41:11
Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.

Romans 11:35-36
“Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?” / For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

Psalm 24:1
A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.

Hebrews 10:4-6
because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. / Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. / In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.

Jeremiah 7:21-23
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! / For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices, / but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.

Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.

Psalm 51:16-17
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. / The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Matthew 9:13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mark 12:33
and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Amos 5:21-24
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. / Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. / Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. ...


Treasury of Scripture

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

nor

Psalm 40:6
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

Psalm 60:10-12
Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? …

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? …

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Altar Animals Beasts Burn Burned Burnt Burnt-Offering Burnt-Offerings Cattle Enough Fire Fires Fuel Lebanon Offering Offerings Suffice Sufficient Thereof
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Altar Animals Beasts Burn Burned Burnt Burnt-Offering Burnt-Offerings Cattle Enough Fire Fires Fuel Lebanon Offering Offerings Suffice Sufficient Thereof
Isaiah 40
1. The promulgation of the Gospel
3. The preaching of John Baptist foretold
9. The preaching of the apostles foretold
12. The prophet, by the omnipotence of God
18. And his incomparableness
26. Comforts the people.














Lebanon
Lebanon, in biblical times, was renowned for its majestic cedar trees, which were highly valued for construction and religious purposes. The cedars of Lebanon were used in the building of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 5:6). The mention of Lebanon here symbolizes the greatest of earthly resources and beauty. In a spiritual sense, it represents the pinnacle of human achievement and natural splendor, yet even this is insufficient before the majesty of God. The Hebrew root "לְבָנוֹן" (Levanon) evokes images of grandeur and abundance, yet Isaiah emphasizes that even such abundance pales in comparison to the divine.

is not sufficient for fuel
The phrase underscores the inadequacy of even the most abundant earthly resources to meet the needs of divine worship. The Hebrew word for "sufficient" (דַי, dai) implies adequacy or enoughness. This highlights the theme of God's transcendence and the futility of human efforts to match His glory through material means. The imagery of fuel suggests the consumption and transformation of resources, yet even the vast forests of Lebanon cannot provide enough for the fire of divine worship, pointing to the infinite nature of God.

nor its animals enough for a burnt offering
Burnt offerings were a central aspect of Old Testament worship, symbolizing atonement and dedication to God. The Hebrew term for "burnt offering" (עוֹלָה, olah) signifies something that ascends, reflecting the offering's purpose of rising to God as a pleasing aroma. The mention of "animals" (בְּהֵמָה, behemah) from Lebanon, known for its rich wildlife, further emphasizes the insufficiency of even the most abundant sacrifices to satisfy the requirements of divine worship. This points to the need for a perfect and ultimate sacrifice, which Christians believe is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

(16) Lebanon is not sufficient.--The thought is the same as that of Psalm 50:10-12. Lebanon is chosen as the type of the forests that supply the wood for burnt-offerings, in which Judah was comparatively poor. In Nehemiah's organisation of the Temple ritual the task of supplying wood for this purpose was assigned by lot to priests or Levites (Nehemiah 10:34).

Verse 16. - Lebanon is not sufficient to burn. Man may think that he must be of some account, since God has required of him sacrifice and burnt offering, from which he may suppose God to derive some satisfaction. But, the prophet says, even if man were to burn all Lebanon as firewood on God's altar, and offer there all the (clean) beasts of the entire tract, still God would be put under no obligation. Man would even then have paid less than his debt.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Lebanon
וּלְבָנ֕וֹן (ū·lə·ḇā·nō·wn)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3844: Lebanon -- a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel

[is] not
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

sufficient
דֵּ֖י (dê)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1767: Sufficiency, enough

for fuel,
בָּעֵ֑ר (bā·‘êr)
Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1197: To kindle, consume, to be, brutish

nor its animals
וְחַיָּת֔וֹ (wə·ḥay·yā·ṯōw)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

enough
דֵּ֖י (dê)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1767: Sufficiency, enough

for a burnt offering.
עוֹלָֽה׃ (‘ō·w·lāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5930: Whole burnt offering


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 40:16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 40:15
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