Isaiah 34:5

Isaiah 34:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
• New International Version (NIV)My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.

Context of Isaiah 34:5

3Nobody will bury the dead bodies of those who have died in battle. The smell of their dead bodies will be everywhere. Their blood will pour down the mountains. 4The stars in the sky will slowly disappear. The sky will close up like a book. All the stars will fall, like dry leaves that fall from a vine. They will drop like figs from a fig tree, when they become dry. The Lord says, ‘My sword has finished its work in the skies. Now it will come to punish Edom. Those are the people that I have decided to destroy.’ 6The Lord's sword has blood all over it! It is the blood of young sheep and goats. It has the fat of meat on it. It is the fat from sheep's kidneys. Yes! The Lord is killing animals for a sacrifice in Bozrah. He will kill many people in Edom. 7He will kill their wild oxen and their young bulls. Blood will pour over Edom's land. Fat will feed their soil.

Isaiah 34:5 word by word

כִּֽי־רִוְּתָ֥ה בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם חַרְבִּ֑י הִנֵּה֙ עַל־אֱד֣וֹם תֵּרֵ֔ד וְעַל־עַ֥ם חֶרְמִ֖י לְמִשְׁפָּֽט׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For my swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• shall be bathedרָוָהrâvâh · to quenchH7301
• in heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• behold, it shall come downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
• upon Idumeaאֱדוֹם'ĕdôm 'ĕdôm · EdomH123
• and upon the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• of my curseחֵ֫רֶםchêrem cherem · devoted thingH2764
• to judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justice: judgementH4941

Cross-references for Isaiah 34:5

• Deuteronomy 32:14Their cows and their goats gave them plenty of milk and butter. Their lambs, sheep and goats became fat, so they ate the best meat. They ate the best bread from their wheat. They drank the best wine from their grapes.
• Psalms 17:13Lord, please do something! Fight against them! Knock them down! Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
• Jeremiah 46:10But it is the Lord God Almighty who will win! It is the day when he will punish his enemies. His sword will completely destroy them, like a hungry person who cannot stop eating! His sword will cause a lot of blood to pour out. The Lord God Almighty will accept his enemies as a sacrifice. That is what will happen in the northern land beside the Euphrates river.
• Jeremiah 47:6You shout to the Lord, “How long will you attack us with your sword? Please stop killing us! Put your sword away!”
• Ezekiel 21:3Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: I am now your enemy. I will take my sword in my hand. I will use it to kill both righteous people and wicked people.
• Zephaniah 2:12‘I will also punish you people in the country called Ethiopia. Other people will kill you with a big knife,’ the Lord says.
• Revelation 1:16He held seven stars in his right hand. A sword with two sharp edges came out of his mouth. His face was like the sun when it shines very brightly.
• Isaiah 63:1Who is this who is coming from Edom? He is coming from Bozrah and his clothes are bright red. He wears beautiful royal clothes, and he marches forward with great strength. He says, ‘It is me! I, the Lord, tell you that I have won the fight! I have the power to save you.’
• Psalms 137:7Lord, remember to punish the people of Edom. They were happy when Babylon's army won against Jerusalem. On that day the Edomites said, ‘Knock down the city so that nothing still stands!’
• Jeremiah 49:7The Lord Almighty gave this message about Edom: ‘It seems that wisdom has disappeared from Teman. Edom's clever men have no good advice. Their great ideas have gone away.
• Ezekiel 25:12The Almighty Lord says this: Edom's people were cruel to Judah's people when they wanted to punish them. They are guilty because of what they did to Judah's people.
• Amos 1:11The Lord says, ‘The people in Edom have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them. They took their swords and they chased after their cousins, the Israelites. They were not kind. Instead, they continued to be angry all the time. They did not stop attacking them.
• Obadiah 1:1This is the vision that Obadiah saw. The Almighty Lord says this about Edom. We have heard a message from the Lord. Someone has taken a message to the nations to say, ‘Stand up and fight against Edom.’
• Malachi 1:4Esau's descendants in Edom may say, ‘They have destroyed our towns, but we will build our houses again.’ But the Lord Almighty says, ‘They may build again, but I will knock everything down. People will call Edom, “The Evil Land”. They will call them, “The Nation that the Lord is angry with for ever”.
• Deuteronomy 27:15‘God will curse anyone who makes any image of a god and who worships it secretly. The Lord hates all idols that people make with metal or with wood.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’
• Deuteronomy 29:18So be very careful that you do not turn away from the Lord our God to worship the gods of those nations. No man, woman, clan or tribe among you must ever want to do that. That would be like the root of a plant that gives fruits which are full of poison.

Commentaries on Isaiah 34:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5For my sword shall be bathed in heaven "For my sword is made bare in the heavens" - There seems to be some impropriety in this, according to the present reading: "My sword is made drunken, or is bathed in the heavens; "which forestalls, and expresses not in its proper place, what belongs to the next verse: for the sword of Jehovah was not to be bathed or glutted with blood in the heavens, but in Botsra and the land of Edom. In the heavens it was only…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5For my sword shall be bathed in heaven - A sword is an instrument of vengeance, and is often so used in the Scriptures, because it was often employed in capital punishments (see the note at Isaiah 27:1). This passage bas given much perplexity to commentators, on account of the apparent want of meaning of the expression that the sword would be bathed in heaven. Lowth reads it: For my sword is made bare in the heavens; Following in this the Chaldee which…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Edom represents what all nations will experience, similar to how Moab was described in Isaiah 25.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. sword--(Jr 46:10). Or else, knife for sacrifice for God does not here appear as a warrior with His sword, but as one about to sacrifice victims doomed to slaughter [Vitringa]. (Eze 39:17). bathed--rather "intoxicated," namely, with anger (so De 32:42). "In heaven" implies the place where God's purpose of wrath is formed in antithesis to its "coming down" in the next clause. Idumea--originally extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea; afterwards they…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 34:5

• War

In the dictionaries

• Edom, Idumaea or Idumea
• Idumea
• Edom, Edomite, Idumea
• Edom
• Idumaea
• Scroll
• Seek
• Accursed
• Armor; Arms
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings