Isaiah 34:5-8
New English Translation
5 He says,[a] “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers.[b]
Look, it now descends on Edom,[c]
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered[d] with fat;
it drips[e] with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered[f] with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice[g] in Bozrah,[h]
a bloody[i] slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered[j] along with them,
as well as strong bulls.[k]
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge,[l]
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion.[m]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 34:5 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
- Isaiah 34:5 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.
- Isaiah 34:5 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
- Isaiah 34:6 tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.
- Isaiah 34:6 tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 34:6 tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Isaiah 34:6 tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”
- Isaiah 34:6 sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.
- Isaiah 34:6 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 34:7 tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”
- Isaiah 34:7 tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.
- Isaiah 34:8 tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”
- Isaiah 34:8 tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”
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