Bible Strands
Isaiah 40:16
Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel, nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses Israel regarding the relative insignificance of nations before God. The context establishes God's absolute sovereignty over human political and military power.
The words — `אֵין` ('ein) means not, and `דֵּי` (dei) means sufficiency. Together they form the repeated negation that Lebanon's timber and its livestock cannot meet the requirement for a burnt offering.
The thread — The theme of sacrificial insufficiency appears in Psalms 50:9, where God states no need for bulls or goats, and in Psalms 40:6, where burnt offerings do not satisfy Him. Micah 6:6 extends this by questioning whether quantity or quality of offerings can compel divine attention.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that created resources cannot purchase or satisfy divine requirements. It directs attention away from material ritual capacity toward the transcendent nature of the God who receives it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Cross-references
- Micah 6:6 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?
- Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
- Psalms 50:9 I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,
- Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.