Isaiah 34:5-6

34:5 He says, ¹  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ² 

Look, it now descends on Edom, ³ 

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

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

it is covered ⁴  with fat;

it drips ⁵  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ⁶  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁷  in Bozrah, ⁸ 

a bloody ⁹  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!”

[34:5]  ¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

[34:5]  ² 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]  ³ sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.

[34:6]  ⁴ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ⁵ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

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

[34:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ⁸ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[137:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

[137:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”