Bible Dictionary
IMPORTABLE
Importable is an obsolete word meaning unbearable or impossible to bear. It describes something excessively heavy, severe, or difficult to endure.
Definition
Importable is an obsolete word meaning unbearable or impossible to bear. It describes something excessively heavy, severe, or difficult to endure.
Biblical Usage
The word appears in the King James Version in Proverbs 16:10 and in the Rheims rendering of Matthew 23:4 for heavy burdens.
Historical Background
The English word derives from Latin terms meaning “not bearable.” It was also used by Chaucer.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>im-por'-ta-b'l (dusbastaktos): An obsolete word, meaning "unbearable" (Latin: im, "not," portabilis, "bearable") found in Pr Man, "Thine angry threatening (the Revised Version (British and American) "the anger of thy threatening") toward sinners is importable"; compare Rheims version, Mt 23:4, "heavy burdens and importable"; Chaucer ("Clerk's Tale" C.T.), "For it were importable though they wolde."</p>