Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering: The prophet uses Lebanon as an example of the nations referred to in the preceding verse. This country was Judah’s wealthy neighbor to the north. It was famous for its cedar trees as a source of fine timber for building (see 2.13; 14.8; 37.24), and wild animals were plentiful in its mountains. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel means that all its trees would not be sufficient as firewood for burning an offering to God. Nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering completes the idea of the previous line. Neither would all its animals be enough to make a burnt offering to God. God is so great that he deserves an offering that humans could never provide even if they used all their resources of sacrificial animals and firewood. Its beasts (literally “its living things”) could refer to all the animals of Lebanon or just its wild animals. For burnt offering, see the comments on 1.11. The singular expression burnt offering probably has a collective sense here, so it may be made plural.

The two brief lines of this verse in Hebrew are packed with meaning, which a literal rendering may not convey clearly. For this reason Good News Translation has tried to give the full sense by using a longer construction. It also reverses the order of the lines for clarity. Bible en français courant is similar with “All the game [or, wild animals] of Lebanon would be insufficient to offer him a sacrifice worthy of him, nor would the trees of its forests be sufficient to maintain the fire.” Such a rendering may be needed if translators wish to make the sense of the verse sufficiently clear (see the third example below).

Translation examples for this verse are:

• There are not enough trees in [the country of] Lebanon to provide fuel,
nor enough animals [in its forests] to provide for burnt offerings [to God].

• Lebanon does not have enough trees to provide firewood,
nor enough beasts for burnt offerings.

• Even Lebanon does not have a sufficient number of animals or trees
to provide the kind of burnt offering God deserves.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .