Genesis 36:33

36:33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

Isaiah 34:6

34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,

it is covered ¹  with fat;

it drips ²  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ³  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁴  in Bozrah, ⁵ 

a bloody ⁶  slaughter in the land of Edom.

Jeremiah 49:13

49:13 For I solemnly swear,” ⁷  says the Lord, “that Bozrah ⁸  will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ⁹  All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”

Jeremiah 49:22

49:22 Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,

a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.

At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful

as a woman in labor.” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

² tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

⁵ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

⁶ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁷ tn Heb “I swear by myself.” See 22:5 and the study note there.

⁸ sn Bozrah appears to have been the chief city in Edom, its capital city (see its parallelism with Edom in Isa 34:6; 63:1; Jer 49:22). The reference to “its towns” (translated here “all the towns around it”) could then be a reference to all the towns in Edom. It was located about twenty-five miles southeast of the southern end of the Dead Sea apparently in the district of Teman (see the parallelism in Amos 1:12).

⁹ tn See the study note on 24:9 for the rendering of this term.

¹⁰ sn Compare Jer 48:40-41 for a similar prophecy about Moab. The parallelism here suggests that Bozrah, like Teman in v. 20, is a poetic equivalent for Edom.