TRV
Translation
King James Version
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
KJV (with Strong's)
And Lebanon H3844 is not H369 sufficient H1767 to burn H1197, nor the beasts H2416 thereof sufficient H1767 for a burnt offering H5930.
Complete Jewish Bible
The L'vanon would not suffice for fuel or its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
Berean Standard Bible
Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor 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.
World English Bible Messianic
Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
Geneva Bible (1599)
And Lebanon is not sufficient for fire, nor the beastes thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Young's Literal Translation
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
Study This Verse
Commentary on Isaiah 40 verses 12–17
12 ¶ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
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.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
The scope of these verses is to show what a great and glorious being the Lord Jehovah is, who is Israel's God and Saviour. It comes in here, 1. To encourage his people that were captives in Babylon to hope in him, and to depend upon him for deliverance, though they were ever so weak and their oppressors ever so strong. 2. To engage them to cleave to him, and not to turn aside after other gods; for there are none to be compared with him. 3. To possess all those who receive the glad tidings of redemption by Christ with a holy awe and reverence of God. Though it was said (Isa 40:9), Behold your God, and (Isa 40:11) He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, yet these condescensions of his grace must not be thought of with any diminution to the transcendencies of his glory. Let us see how great our God is, and fear before him; for,
I. His power is unlimited, and what no creature can compare with, much less contend with, Isa 40:12. 1. He has a vast reach. View the celestial globe, and you are astonished at the extent of it; but the great God metes the heavens with a span; to him they are but a hand-breadth, so large-handed is he. View the terraqueous globe, and he has the command of that too. All the waters in the world he can measure in the hollow of his hand, where we can hold but a little water; and the dry land he easily manages, for he comprehends the dust of the earth in a measure, or with his three fingers; it is no more to him than a pugil, or that which we take up between our thumb and two fingers. 2. He has a vast strength, and can as easily move mountains and hills as the tradesman heaves his goods into the scales and out of them again; he poises them with his hand as exactly as if he weighed them in a pair of balances. This may refer to the work of creation, when the heavens were stretched out as exactly as that which is spanned, and the earth and waters were put together in just proportions, as if they had been measured, and the mountains made of such a weight as to serve for ballast to the globe, and no more. Or it may refer to the work of providence (which is a continued creation) and the consistency of all the creatures with each other.
II. His wisdom is unsearchable, and what no creature can give either information or direction to, Isa 40:13, Isa 40:14. As none can do what God has done and does, so none can assist him in the doing of it or suggest any thing to him which he thought not of. When the Lord by his Spirit made the world (Job 26:13) there was none that directed his Spirit, or gave him any advice, either what to do or how to do it. Nor does he need any counsellor to direct him in the government of the world, nor is there any with whom he consults, as the wisest kings do with those that know law and judgment, Est 1:13. God needs not to be told what is done, for he knows it perfectly; nor needs he be advised concerning what is to be done, for he knows both the right end and the proper means. This is much insisted upon here, because the poor captives had no politicians among them to manage their concerns at court or to put them in a way of gaining their liberty. "No matter," says the prophet, "you have a God to act for you, who needs not the assistance of statesmen." In the great work of our redemption by Christ matters were concerted before the world was, when there was one to teach God in the path of judgment, Co1 2:7.
III. The nations of the world are nothing in comparison of him, Isa 40:15, Isa 40:17. Take them all together, all the great and mighty nations of the earth, kings the most pompous, kingdoms the most populous, both the most wealthy; take the isles, the multitude of them, the isles of the Gentiles: Before him, when they stand in competition with him or in opposition to him, they are as a drop of the bucket compared with the vast ocean, or the small dust of the balance (which does not serve to turn it, and therefore is not regarded, it is so small) in comparison with all the dust of the earth. He takes them up, and throws them away from him, as a very little thing, not worth speaking of. They are all in his eye as nothing, as if they had no being at all; for they add nothing to his perfection and all-sufficiency. They are counted by him, and are to be counted by us in comparison of him, less than nothing, and vanity. When he pleases, he can as easily bring them all into nothing as at first he brought them out of nothing. When God has work to do he values not either the assistance or the resistance of any creature. They are all vanity; the word that is used for the chaos (Gen 1:2), to which they will at last be reduced. Let this beget in us high thoughts of God and low thoughts of this world, and engage us to make God, and not man, both our fear and our hope. This magnifies God's love to the world, that, though it is of such small account and value with him, yet, for the redemption of it, he gave his only-begotten Son, Joh 3:16.
IV. The services of the church can make no addition to him nor do they bear any proportion to his infinite perfections (Isa 40:16): Lebanon is not sufficient to burn; not the wood of it, to be for the fuel of the altar, though it be so well stocked with cedars; not the beasts of it, to be for sacrifices, though it be so well stocked with cattle, Isa 40:16. Whatever we honour God with, it falls infinitely short of the merit of his perfection; for he is exalted far above all blessing and praise, all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 12–17. Public domain.
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Eusebius of CaesareaAD 339
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:18
He teaches, therefore, that all of this service through blood and sacrifice is no longer appropriate for God. Neither someone offering all the four-footed creatures of the earth nor all of Lebanon and all the matter produced in it as sacrifices would be worthy before God. “All the nations are as nothing, and are reckoned as nothing.” What kind of clinging to idolatrous straying did God not know about?
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
The Six Days of Creation, Book 1, Chapter 6
Therefore, it is enough to mention the qualities and substance of the heavens that we find in the writings of Isaiah, who expressed the nature of the celestial sphere in ordinary and familiar language, saying that God has made the heavens firm like smoke, not wanting to reveal its subtle and immaterial nature. And he also speaks of its appearance, saying that God has made the heavens like a vault, within which all things in the sea and on land are enclosed. It is similarly signified when it is read: Because the Lord has stretched out the heavens. For it is extended like a skin to the dwellings and abodes of the saints; or like a book, so that the names of many who have deserved the grace of Christ by faith and devotion may be written, to whom it is said: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Isaiah
(Verse 12 and following) Who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills on a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did he consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. And Lebanon is not enough to burn, and its animals are not enough for a burnt offering. All nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Who has shown him the way of justice, and who has taught him knowledge? Behold, all the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor all the animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing in his sight, and they are counted as worthless. Let no one think that the calling of the nations is difficult, and that all flesh will see the salvation of God. They are commanded to climb the high mountain, those who proclaim the good news to Zion; and the Lord himself will come in strength, and will reward each one according to his work; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry the nursing ewes. His greatness is described, for nothing is impossible for him; and he who has created everything, and is the Creator of all, can accomplish even these things which are small in comparison. But he uses the words and measurements of human custom, that we may learn the power of God through our words. In the place where the Seventy translated: Who has measured the water with his hand? or as we translate: Who has measured the waters with a handful? Aquila translated: Who has measured the waters with the smallest finger? For this word λιχὰς signifies that the vastness of all the waters is weighed not with the whole hand but with the small finger, which is commonly called the taster: but σπιθαμὴ, that is, the palm, signifies the hand stretched out from the thumb to the extreme finger. But if we contract our hand, it becomes a fist, so that through the palm and the fist we might know the outspread heavens and the globe of the earth. For the fist, which they brought over to the comprehension of the earth as seventy, is written in Hebrew Salt (), which Symmachus interprets as threefold and Aquila as three-handed: and to make it more evident, we turn it into three fingers; so that, indeed, the mass of the earth and the lofty mountains and hills seem to hang by means of three little fingers and in a small moment from the balance; whereby the majesty of God and the power of the Creator is demonstrated. Who, he says, aided the spirit of the Lord, or who was his counselor and showed him? etc. For which Symmachus interpreted: Who prepared the spirit of the Lord, and who showed him the man of his counsel? with whom he entered into counsel, and gave him understanding, and taught him the way of judgment, and instructed him in knowledge, and showed him the path of prudence? By which it is shown more clearly that the spirit is prepared or established, of which it is read in the Apostle: But the Lord is the Spirit. And on whom the Spirit of God rested, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, etc. He says in the following: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because He has anointed me (Isaiah 61:1). He is truly the Spirit of the Lord and the man of His counsel, in whom the fullness of divinity dwelt bodily (Colossians 2). With Him entered into the counsel, of which we spoke above (Ad 11:6): Wonderful, counselor. And in Proverbs it is written: God by wisdom hath founded the earth, by prudence hath prepared the heavens (Prov. III, 19). Moreover, the LXX said: Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counseller? They wish to understand that the mind, reason and understanding of God, by whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made, is the one of whom it is sung in the Psalms: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth (Ps. XXXII, 6). All peoples who did not know their Creator or the whole human race in comparison to God are like a drop from a bucket and like a speck of dust on a scale that tilts lightly to one side. And just as if a small drop falls from a bucket, it is ignored by the one carrying it; so too the entire multitude of nations, compared to the divine ministries and the multitude of angels, is considered as nothing. Even islands are considered like spit, or as Symmachus and Theodotion place it in their Hebrew translation, as 'leptos (a little thing)' which falls off, for which Aquila translated as 'leptos ballōmenon (a tiny thing thrown).' But the Hebrews say that this word signifies the finest dust, which, being carried by the wind, is often thrown into the eyes and is felt rather than seen. Therefore, the tiniest particles of dust, almost invisible, are called by this word: which perhaps Democritus, with his atom, calls them with Epicurus. There are many names which are read (or understood) in Greek in the same way as they are in Hebrew, because of the difficulty of interpretation, and for the comparison of the poverty of the Hebrew language, both in Greek and in Latin speech. At the same time, as he gradually withdraws people from idolatry, he abolishes the ceremonies of sacrifices; and he teaches that all the trees of Lebanon and the cattle that feed on them are not sufficient for his burnt offerings. But if all nations are in his sight as if they were not, and are considered as nothing and empty (though in all nations and in Israel also), therefore he himself is also as if he were not, and is considered as nothing and empty. We say this, so that his pride may be broken, and so that he may know that he is like the other nations.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 40:16 serves as a powerful declaration of God's incomparable majesty and transcendent worth, asserting that even the vast and prized resources of Lebanon—its abundant forests for fuel and its numerous wild beasts for sacrifice—would be utterly insufficient to constitute a worthy burnt offering for the Almighty. This verse functions as a profound rhetorical statement, highlighting the infinite chasm between humanity's grandest possible material contributions and the boundless glory of the Creator, thereby calling for a worship rooted in profound awe and humble adoration rather than any attempt at material appeasement.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah 40:16 masterfully employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound theological message. Hyperbole is central to the verse, as the statement that even the vast resources of Lebanon are insufficient is an intentional and dramatic exaggeration designed to emphasize God's immeasurable greatness and the utter inadequacy of any human offering. The prophet utilizes Metonymy by referring to "Lebanon," which stands in for its renowned cedars and abundant wildlife—symbols of the greatest possible natural wealth and grandeur. The verse itself functions as an implied Rhetorical Question, building upon the direct interrogatives posed in preceding verses (e.g., "Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord?", Isaiah 40:13). It implicitly asks the listener, "If even Lebanon's vastness is insufficient, what could possibly be sufficient?" The resounding answer, of course, is nothing earthly. Finally, there is a powerful sense of Antithesis or stark contrast between the finite, albeit vast, resources of the created world and the infinite, transcendent glory of the Creator. This stark juxtaposition underscores the absolute uniqueness, incomparable nature, and self-sufficiency of God.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 40:16 stands as a profound testament to God's absolute transcendence, self-sufficiency, and infinite worth, fundamentally challenging any human notion that our efforts, material offerings, or religious rituals could ever truly add to His glory or earn His favor. It reveals a God whose inherent worth is so boundless that all of creation's combined resources, no matter how vast or valuable, fall infinitely short of being an adequate tribute. This truth serves to humble humanity, stripping away any pride in our contributions and redirecting our focus entirely to God's inherent majesty and His gracious initiative. The verse implicitly highlights the inherent inadequacy of the Old Testament sacrificial system, not in its divine design or purpose, but in its inability to perfectly or permanently atone for sin or fully express the boundless honor due to God. It thus prepares the reader for a greater, more perfect sacrifice that would truly satisfy divine justice and perfectly glorify God.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 40:16 serves as a profound call to humility and a radical reorientation of our understanding of worship and service. It powerfully dismantles any illusion that our material possessions, our grandest efforts, or even our most fervent religious acts could ever "impress" God or adequately repay Him for His holiness, goodness, or boundless grace. True worship, therefore, must flow not from a sense of what we can offer or achieve, but from a deep, abiding recognition of His overwhelming greatness, His absolute self-sufficiency, and our utter dependence upon Him. This verse encourages us to cultivate an attitude of profound awe, reverence, and gratitude, realizing that God does not need anything from us. Instead, He graciously invites us into a relationship where our offering is not primarily of external things, but of our very selves—our hearts, our obedience, and our lives transformed by His Spirit. It challenges us to examine our motivations in worship and service: are we trying to give God something He needs, or are we responding in humble adoration to the One who is infinitely sufficient in Himself, whose glory is already complete, and whose love is freely given?
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of "Lebanon" in this verse?
Answer: Lebanon, particularly its famous cedar forests and abundant wildlife, was a widely recognized symbol of immense natural wealth, grandeur, and valuable resources in the ancient world. The prophet Isaiah strategically uses it as the ultimate earthly example of abundance and potential offering. By stating that even Lebanon's vast timber is "not sufficient to burn" for a worthy sacrifice, and its many beasts are "not sufficient for a burnt offering," the verse employs powerful hyperbole to emphasize God's infinite majesty. It conveys that no matter how grand, abundant, or valuable human offerings might be, they would still fall infinitely short of being adequate for a God of such transcendent glory. It highlights the vast, unbridgeable disparity between finite human capacity and infinite divine worth.
Does this verse imply that Old Testament sacrifices were pointless or ineffective?
Answer: No, this verse does not imply that Old Testament sacrifices were pointless or ineffective in their divinely appointed role. They were explicitly commanded by God and served a crucial purpose within the covenant, providing a temporary covering for sin and, more importantly, foreshadowing the ultimate, perfect sacrifice to come. However, Isaiah 40:16 highlights their inherent insufficiency to perfectly atone for sin or to fully express the boundless honor due to God's infinite holiness. Animal sacrifices could indeed cover sins temporarily and point to a greater reality, but they could not truly "take away" sins in a permanent sense (Hebrews 10:4) or fully satisfy God's infinite holiness and justice. The verse underscores that the true value of the Old Testament offering was not in the animal itself, but in the obedient heart of the worshiper and in its prophetic pointing to the perfect, future sacrifice.
How does this verse relate to God's self-sufficiency?
Answer: This verse powerfully underscores God's absolute and inherent self-sufficiency. By declaring that even the grandest and most abundant earthly offerings are utterly insufficient for Him, it implicitly states that God needs nothing whatsoever from humanity or creation to sustain His being, power, or glory. He is complete, perfect, and entirely sufficient in Himself, existing as the ultimate source of all life, blessing, and existence, rather than being dependent on anything outside of Himself. This profound theological truth is echoed in the New Testament, such as in Acts 17:25, which explicitly states that God "is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Isaiah 40:16, in its stark and powerful declaration of the utter insufficiency of any earthly offering, beautifully and prophetically foreshadows the ultimate and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament sacrificial system, though divinely commanded and essential for its time, could only ever point to the profound and persistent need for a greater, once-for-all atonement, as the blood of bulls and goats could never truly take away sins or perfect the worshiper (Hebrews 10:4). The prophet's words reveal that no amount of wood from Lebanon, no multitude of its beasts, and indeed, no human effort, no matter how vast or valuable, could ever be sufficient to reconcile sinful humanity to a holy God or to fully glorify His infinite majesty. This profound inadequacy of all earthly offerings sets the stage for the New Covenant, where God Himself, in His boundless love and wisdom, provides the perfect Lamb. Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, offered Himself as the truly sufficient, flawless, and final sacrifice (Hebrews 9:26). His offering was not of perishable beasts or trees, but of His own sinless life, perfectly fulfilling all righteousness and satisfying divine justice for all time. Thus, what all the cedars of Lebanon and all its beasts could never accomplish, the single, perfect sacrifice of Christ achieved, perfectly glorifying God and providing eternal redemption for all who believe (Hebrews 10:10-14). He is the only offering truly sufficient to bridge the infinite gap between a holy God and sinful humanity, making reconciliation possible and demonstrating God's glory in its fullest measure.