Deuteronomy 32:42

32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and my sword will devour flesh –

the blood of the slaughtered and captured,

the chief ¹  of the enemy’s leaders!’”

Isaiah 34:5-8

34:5 He says, ²  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ³ 

Look, it now descends on Edom, ⁴ 

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

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

it is covered ⁵  with fat;

it drips ⁶  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ⁷  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁸  in Bozrah, ⁹ 

a bloody ¹⁰  slaughter in the land of Edom.

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ¹¹  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ¹² 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, ¹³ 

a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 39:17-21

39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter ¹⁵  which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood. 39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors ¹⁶  and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 39:19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, ¹⁷  at my slaughter ¹⁸  which I have made for you. 39:20 You will fill up at my table with horses and charioteers, ¹⁹  with warriors and all the soldiers,’ declares the sovereign Lord.

39:21 “I will display my majesty ²⁰  among the nations. All the nations will witness the judgment I have executed, and the power I have exhibited ²¹  among them.

Zephaniah 1:7-8

1:7 Be silent before the Lord God, ²² 

for the Lord’s day of judgment ²³  is almost here. ²⁴ 

The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; ²⁵ 

he has ritually purified ²⁶  his guests.

1:8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrificial meal,

I will punish the princes ²⁷  and the king’s sons,

and all who wear foreign styles of clothing. ²⁸ 

Revelation 19:17-21

19:17 Then ²⁹  I saw one angel standing in ³⁰  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ³¹ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ³²  of God,

19:18 to eat ³³  your fill ³⁴  of the flesh of kings,

the flesh of generals, ³⁵ 

the flesh of powerful people,

the flesh of horses and those who ride them,

and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, ³⁶ 

and small and great!”

19:19 Then ³⁷  I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now ³⁸  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ³⁹  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ⁴⁰  19:21 The ⁴¹  others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged ⁴²  themselves with their flesh.

[32:42]  ¹ tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).

[34:5]  ² tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

[34:5]  ³ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a 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.”

[34:5]  ⁴ sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.

[34:6]  ⁵ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ⁶ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁷ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ⁹ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[34:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[34:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”

[34:8]  ¹⁴ 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.”

[39:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[39:18]  ¹⁶ sn See Rev 19:17-18.

[39:19]  ¹⁷ sn Eating the fat and drinking blood were God’s exclusive rights in Israelite sacrifices (Lev 3:17).

[39:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[39:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “chariots.”

[39:21]  ²⁰ tn Or “my glory.”

[39:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “my hand which I have placed.”

[1:7]  ²² tn Heb “Lord Lord.” The phrase אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה (adonai yÿhvih) is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God.”

[1:7]  ²³ tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[1:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “near.”

[1:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a sacrifice.” This same word also occurs in the following verse.

[1:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “consecrated” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “officials” (NRSV, TEV); NLT “leaders.”

[1:8]  ²⁸ sn The very dress of the royal court, foreign styles of clothing, revealed the degree to which Judah had assimilated foreign customs.

[19:17]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:17]  ³⁰ tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

[19:17]  ³¹ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

[19:17]  ³² tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.

[19:18]  ³³ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.

[19:18]  ³⁴ tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.

[19:18]  ³⁵ tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[19:18]  ³⁶ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:19]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:20]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ³⁹ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[19:21]  ⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:21]  ⁴² tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”