New English Translation
Isaiah 34:5
5He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
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
3Their slain will be left unburied, their corpses will stink; the hills will soak up their blood. 4All the stars in the sky will fade away, the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree. He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.” 6The 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. 7Wild oxen will be slaughtered along with them, as well as strong bulls. Their land is drenched with blood, their soil is covered with fat.
Read all of Isaiah 34Isaiah 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 32:14butter from the herd and milk from the flock, along with the fat of lambs, rams and goats of Bashan, along with the best of the kernels of wheat; and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
- Psalms 17:13Rise up, Lord! Confront him! Knock him down! Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man!
- Jeremiah 46:10But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! For the Lord God who rules over all will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.
- Jeremiah 47:6How long will you cry out, ‘Oh, sword of the Lord, how long will it be before you stop killing? Go back into your sheath! Stay there and rest!’
- Ezekiel 21:3and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
- Zephaniah 2:12“You Ethiopians will also die by my sword!”
- Revelation 1:16He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength.
- Isaiah 63:1Who is this who comes from Edom, dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? Who is this one wearing royal attire, who marches confidently because of his great strength? “It is I, the one who announces vindication, and who is able to deliver!”
- Psalms 137:7Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!”
- Jeremiah 49:7The Lord who rules over all spoke about Edom. “Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman? Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice? Has all of their wisdom turned bad?
- Ezekiel 25:12“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable by taking vengeance on them.
- Amos 1:11This is what the Lord says: “Because Edom has committed three crimes – make that four! – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them.
- Obadiah 1:1The vision that Obadiah saw. The Lord God says this concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord. An envoy was sent among the nations, saying, “Arise! Let us make war against Edom!”
- Malachi 1:4Edom says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.
- Deuteronomy 27:15‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent to the Lord, the work of the craftsman – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
- Deuteronomy 29:18Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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