Isaiah 34:5-6

34:5 He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers.

Look, it now descends on Edom,

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

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

it is covered with fat;

it drips with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice in Bozrah,

a bloody slaughter in the land of Edom.

Psalms 137:7

137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell. 10 

They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, 11 

right to its very foundation!”


tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

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 Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

11 tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”