Isaiah 34:7

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ¹  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ² 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

Isaiah 34:6

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

it is covered ³  with fat;

it drips ⁴  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ⁵  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁶  in Bozrah, ⁷ 

a bloody ⁸  slaughter in the land of Edom.

Isaiah 1:11

1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” ⁹ 

says the Lord.

“I am stuffed with ¹⁰  burnt sacrifices

of rams and the fat from steers.

The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats

I do not want. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 43:24

43:24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; ¹² 

you did not present to me ¹³  the fat of your sacrifices.

Yet you burdened me with your sins;

you made me weary with your evil deeds. ¹⁴ 

[34:7]  ¹ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ² tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[34:6]  ³ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ⁴ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

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

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

[34:6]  ⁷ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

[1:11]  ⁶ tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

[1:11]  ⁷ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

[43:24]  ⁷ tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”

[43:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.”

[43:24]  ⁹ sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.