Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 34:5
For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
5. my sword (see on ch. Isa 27:1) shall be bathed ] Better: is drunk; i.e. not “with blood” (which suggests an idea foreign to this passage) but “with fury,” in preparation for its work, which is on earth.
Idumea ] Read Edom with R.V. The A.V. uses this Greek form here and in Isa 34:6, and in Eze 35:15; Eze 36:5, without any justification.
the people of my curse ] The last word is strictly ban ( rem, cf. Isa 34:2): “the people on whom I have laid the ban.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5 8. The slaughter of the inhabitants of Edom.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For 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 Isa 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 reads tthgally, shall be revealed. But there is no authority from manuscripts for this change in the Hebrew text. The Vulgate renders it, Quoniam inebriatus est in coelo gladius meuse – My sword is intoxicated in heaven. The Septuagint renders it in the same way, Emethusthe he machaira mou en to ourano; and the Syriac and Arabic in the same manner. The Hebrew word rivetah, from ravah, means properly to drink to the full; to be satisfied, or sated with drink; and then to be full or satiated with intoxicating liquor, to be drunk. It is applied to the sword, as satiated or made drunk with blood, in Jer 46:10 :
And the sword shall devour,
And it shall be satiate, and made drunk with their blood.
And thus in Deu 32:42, a similar figure is used respecting arrows, the instruments also of war and vengeance:
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood;
And my sword shall devour flesh.
A similar figure is often used in Oriental writers, where the sword is represented as glutted, satiated, or made drunk with blood (see Rosenmuller on Deu 32:42). Thus Bohaddinus, in the lift of Saladin, in describing a battle in which there was a great slaughter, says, The swords drank of their blood until they were intoxicated. The idea here is, however, not that the sword of the Lord was made drunk with blood in heaven, but that it was intoxicated, or made furious with wrath; it was excited as an intoxicated man is who is under ungovernable passions; it was in heaven that the wrath commenced, and the sword of divine justice rushed forth as if intoxicated, to destroy all before it. There are few figures, even in Isaiah, that are more bold than this.
It shall come down upon Idumea – (see the Analysis of the chapter for the situation of Idumea, and for the causes why it was to be devoted to destruction).
Upon the people of my curse – The people devoted to destruction.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 34:5
My sword shall be bathed in heaven
The sword bathed in heaven
The text draws back the curtain which separates the visible world from the invisible.
It reveals celestial regions, in which there are also great struggles going on. It lifts up our eyes to the grander movements of the world of spirits; and then it declares that the sword which is to be used in fighting what seem to be the petty wars of the Hebrews and the Edomites, is the same sword which has been used in these celestial conflicts; that the means and instruments of righteousness upon the earth must be the same with the means and instruments of righteousness in the heavens.
I. ALL GOOD STRUGGLE IN THE WORLD IS REALLY GODS BATTLE, and ought to recognise itself as such. Every special victory of human progress–the victory over slavery, superstition, social wrong, nay, even thevictory over tough matter, the subduing of the hard stuff of nature to spiritual uses,–each of these is but a step in the great onward march of God taking possession of His own. Fight your battle with the sword bathed in heaven; so you shall make it victorious, and grow strong and great yourself in fighting it.
II. One of the most marvellous things about Jesus is the UNION OF FIRE AND PATIENCE. He saw His Fathers house turned into a place of merchandise, and instantly the whip of small cords was in His hands, and He was cleansing the sacred place with His impassioned indignation. And yet He walked day after day through the streets of Jerusalem, and saw the sin, and let the sinners sin on with only the remonstrance of His pure presence and His pitying gaze. Only in Gods own time and in Gods own way can the battles of the Lord be fought. There is no self-will in Jesus. He is one with His Father, and lives by His Fathers will. His sword was always bathed in heaven.
III. THE BATTLE WHICH GOES ON WITHIN OURSELVES IS GODS BATTLE, and is of supreme importance. If the battle be Gods, it must be fought only with Gods weapons. You want to get rid of your selfishness. You must not kill it with the sword of another selfishness, which thenceforth shall rule in its place. Selfishness can only be cast out by self-forget-fulness and consecration. To count sin Gods enemy, and to fight it with all His purity and strength, that is what it means for us that our sword should be bathed m heaven. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. For 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 prepared for slaughter. To remedy this, Archbishop Secker proposes to read, for bashshamayim, bedamim; referring to Jer 46:10. But even this is premature, and not in its proper place. The Chaldee, for rivvethah, has tithgalli, shall be revealed or disclosed: perhaps he read teraeh or nirathah. Whatever reading, different I presume from the present, he might find in his copy, I follow the sense which he has given of it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall be bathed in the blood of these people; Heb. is or shall be made drunk. In heaven; either,
1. In my church, which is called heaven, Dan 8:10; Rev 4:1; 12:1, in and against which these enemies are said to be gathered together. Or,
2. In the highest heaven, where God dwells; in which this is said to be done, because it was there decreed and appointed to be done.
Upon Idumea; upon the Edomites, who, though they were nearly related to the Israelites, and were circumcised as well as they; yet were their most inveterate and implacable enemies, watching all opportunities, and being ready to join with all those that attempted, to destroy them; whereof we have many intimations and instances in Scripture. But these are not named exclusively, but rather comprehensively, and synecdochically, for all the enemies of Gods church, of whom they were a considerable part, and an eminent type.
Upon the people of my curse; to whom my curse belongs; or, whom I have cursed, and devoted to utter destruction, as this Hebrew word properly signifies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. sword (Jer46:10). Or else, knife for sacrifice for God does not hereappear as a warrior with His sword, but as one about to sacrificevictims doomed to slaughter [VITRINGA].(Eze 39:17).
bathedrather”intoxicated,” namely, with anger (so De32:42). “In heaven” implies the place where God’spurpose of wrath is formed in antithesis to its “comingdown” in the next clause.
Idumeaoriginallyextending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea; afterwards they obtainedpossession of the country east of Moab, of which Bozrah was capital.Petra or Selah, called Joktheel (2Ki14:7), was capital of South Edom (see on Isa16:1). David subjugated Edom (2Sa 8:13;2Sa 8:14). Under Jehoram theyregained independence (2Ch 21:8).Under Amaziah they were again subdued, and Selah taken (2Ki14:7). When Judah was captive in Babylon, Edom, in every way,insulted over her fallen mistress, killed many of those Jews whom theChaldeans had left, and hence was held guilty of fratricide by God(Esau, their ancestor, having been brother to Jacob): this was thecause of the denunciations of the prophets against Edom (Isa 63:1;Jer 49:7; Eze 25:12-14;Eze 35:3-15; Joe 3:19;Amo 1:11; Amo 1:12;Oba 1:8; Oba 1:10;Oba 1:12-18; Mal 1:3;Mal 1:4). Nebuchadnezzar humbledIdumea accordingly (Jer25:15-21).
of my cursethat is,doomed to it.
to judgmentthat is, toexecute it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For my sword shall be bathed in heaven,…. That is, the sword of the Lord, as it is called in the next verse Isa 34:6, and it is he that is speaking; it designs the vengeance of the Lord, the punishment he will inflict on the wicked, said to be “bathed in heaven”, because determined and prepared there; the allusion may be to the bathing of swords in some sort of liquor, to harden or brighten them, and so fit them for use. Kimchi renders it, “my sword” which is “in heaven shall be bathed”, that is, in the blood of the slain; “heaven” may denote the whole Roman Papal jurisdiction, as it does the whole Roman Pagan empire in Re 12:7 and may design the principal men in it, those that are in the highest places and offices, in whom the sword of the Lord shall be first drenched, and be as it were satiated and inebriated with the blood of them:
behold, it shall come down upon Idumea; with great weight, force, and vengeance, having a commission from heaven to execute. Idumea is here particularly mentioned, because the Edomites were implacable enemies to the Jews, and so are here put for all the enemies of God’s church and people, all the antichristian states, particularly Rome, which the Jews, as Jerom observes, understand by Edom or Idumea here:
upon the people of my curse to judgment; a very descriptive character of the Papists, the people of God’s curse, and righteously so; those who have anathematized his people, and cursed them with bell, book, and candle, are anathematized by him, devoted to destruction, and doomed to be accursed, sentenced to ruin, and on whom judgment shall pass, and shall be executed; they shall hear, “go, ye cursed”, both here and hereafter, at the fall of Babylon, and at the general judgment. The Targum is,
“because my sword is revealed in heaven; behold, upon Edom it is revealed, and upon the people whom I have condemned to judgment.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If we bear this in mind, we shall not be surprised that the prophet gives the following reason for the passing away of the present heavens. “For my sword has become intoxicated in the heaven; behold, it comes down upon Edom, and upon the people of my ban to judgment. The sword of Jehovah fills itself with blood, is fattened with fat, with blood of lambs and he-goats, with kidney-fat of rams; for Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And buffaloes fall with them, and bullocks together with bulls; and their land become intoxicated with blood, and their dust fattened with fat.” Just as in chapter 63 Jehovah is represented as a treader of the wine-press, and the nations as the grapes; so here He is represented as offering sacrifice, and the nations as the animals offered ( zebhach : cf., Zep 1:7; Jer 46:10); Eze 39:17.: all three passages founded upon this). Jehovah does not appear here in person as judge, as He does there, but His sword appears; just as in Gen 3:24, the “sword which turned every way” is mentioned as an independent power standing by the side of the cherub. The sword is His executioner, which has no sooner drunk deeply of wrath in heaven, i.e., in the immediate sphere of the Deity ( rivv e thah , an intensive form of the kal, like pitteach , Isa 48:8; Ewald, 120, d), than it comes down in wild intoxication upon Edom, the people of the ban of Jehovah, i.e., the people upon whom He has laid the ban, and there, as His instrument of punishment, fills itself with blood, and fattens itself with fat. is the hothpaal = , with the of the preformative syllable assimilated (compare in Isa 1:16, and in Isa 14:14). The penultimate has the tone, the nah being treated as in the plural forms of the future. The dropping of the dagesh in the eht ni hse is connected with this. The reading , in Isa 34:6, is an error that has been handed down in modern copies (in opposition to both codices and ancient editions); for (primary form, chilb ) is the only form met with in the Old Testament. The lambs, he-goats, and rams, represent the Edomitish nation, which is compared to these smaller sacrificial animals. Edom and Bozrah are also placed side by side in Isa 63:1. The latter was one of the chief cities of the Edomites (Gen 36:33; Amo 1:12; Jer 49:13, Jer 49:22) – not the Bozrah in Auranitis ( Hauran ), however, which is well known in church history, but Bozrah in the mountains of Edom, upon the same site as the village of Buzaire (i.e., Minor Bozrah), which is still surrounded by its ruins. In contrast with the three names of the smaller animals in Isa 34:6, the three names of oxen in Isa 34:7 represent the lords of Edom. They also will fall, smitten by the sword ( yar e du : cf., Jer 50:27; Jer 51:40; also Jer 48:15). The feast of the sword is so abundant, that even the earth and the dust of the land of Edom are satiated with blood and fat.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 5-15: EDOM, A SPECIAL ENEMY
1. Edom is Esau, the twin brother of Israel, who, despising his birthright, sold it for a mess of pottage and insisted on living independently- without any reference to God, (Gen 25:20-34; Gen 36:8-9; Gen 36:12; Mal 1:1-4; Exo 17:13-16; Deu 25:17-18; 1Sa 15:11-23; 1Sa 28:15-18; 2Sa 1:2-8; Rev 3:11).
a. Edom (or Esau) is a type of “the flesh” which is antagonistic
toward God and refuses to submit to His rule, (Gal 5:16-17; Rom 7:18-25).
b. There is nothing about “the flesh” that God can approve; it can never do anything that will please Him, (Rom 8:5-8).
2. Thus, the sword of the Lord, having dealt with the hosts of rebellion in the heavenlies, is now turned upon the accursed Edom, for judgment, (vs. 5; Jer 49:20-22; Eze 25:12-14; Oba 1:4; Oba 1:6).
3. Then Isaiah desribes a great “sacrifice” in Bozrah – a slaughter in the land of Edom, (vs. 6-7; comp. Isa 63:1-6; Eze 35:3-15).
a. Oxen, bullocks, rams and goats represent the mighty men of Edom – all of whom will fall before the sword of divine majesty which is outraged by their wickedness.
b. The whole land is seen as glutted. with blood and saturated with fat, (Eze 35:6-8).
4. The prophetic explanation, for this manifestation of divine vengeance, is that “the year of recompence for the controversy of Zion” has come, (vs. 8; Eze 35:5-6).
a. In patient and longsuffering mercy God has long suspended His judgment against the enemy of His people.
b. But, when His wrath is full, and the proper time has come, He pours it out, without mercy, upon the head of the proud offender.
5. The results of the judgment that Isaiah sees drawing near are clearly stated, (vs. 9-15).
a. Edom will become a perpetual wasteland: her soil turned to brimstone and her streams to burning pitch – smoke ascending from it, day and night, so that none shall pass through it to the end of the age, (vs. 9-10).
b. Possession of it will pass to pelican and porcupine, owl and raven, wolves and ostriches, desert beasts and howling creatures, shaggy goats and night monsters, screech owls and vultures, (vs. 11-15).
c. Thornbushes will thrive in Edom’s proud palaces; nettles and thistles will overrun the once-impregnable fortresses, (vs. 13).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
5. For my sword is made drunken in the heavens. He says that the “sword” of the Lord is bloody, as extensive slaughter makes the “swords” wet with gore; and, in order to give greater weight to his style, he represents the Lord as speaking. But why does he say that it is in heaven? for God does not call men to heaven to inflict punishment on them, but executes his judgments openly in the world, and by the hand of men. (16) Here the Prophet looks at the secret decree of God, by which he appoints and determines everything before it is executed; and he does not mean the act itself, but extols the efficacy of the prediction, because the certainty of the effect is manifest from the unchangeable purpose of God; that unbelievers may know that the Lord in heaven takes account of the crimes of wicked men, although for a time they may pursue their career of iniquity without being punished, and that, although they enjoy profound peace, still the sword by which they shall be slain is even now bloody in the sight of God, when he determines to inflict punishment on them. In like manner Sodom (Gen 19:28) was already burning in the sight of God, while it freely indulged in wine and feasting, and in satisfying its lust; and the same thing must be said of other wicked men, who, while they are wallowing in pleasures, are held as appointed by God to be slain. We ought not, therefore, to fix our attention on the present state when we see wicked men enjoy prosperity and do everything according to their wish. Though no one annoys them, still they are not far from destruction when God is angry with them and is their enemy.
So it shall come down on Edom. He expressly mentions the Edomites, who were hostile to the people of God, though related to them by blood, and distinguished by the same mark of religion; for they were, as we have formerly mentioned, (17) descended from Esau, (Gen 36:8,) and were the posterity of Abraham. At the present day, in like manner, we have no enemies more deadly than the Papists, who have publicly received the same baptism with ourselves, and even profess Christ, and yet cruelly persecute and would wish utterly to destroy us, because we condemn their superstitions and idolatry. Such were the Edomites, and therefore the Prophet has chiefly selected them out of the whole number of the enemies.
On the people of my curse. By giving them this appellation he confirms the sentence which he had pronounced, for in vain would they endeavor to escape that destruction to which they were already destined and devoted. By this term he declares that they are already destroyed by a decree of heaven, as if they had been already separated and cut off from the number of living men. That it may not be thought that God has done it unjustly, he adds, to judgment; for there is nothing to which men are more prone than to accuse God of cruelty, and the greater part of men are unwilling to acknowledge that he is a righteous judge, especially when he chastises with severity. Isaiah, therefore, shews that it is a just judgment, for God does nothing through cruelty or through excessive severity.
(16) Nothing is more customary among Eastern poets than to employ a ‘sword drunken with blood’ to denote extensive slaughter. (Schurrer on Hab 3:9.) Or, perhaps, in this verse the sword in heaven ought rather to be understood to be drunk with the divine anger, before it is let down on the earth to be glutted with the blood of enemies; in which case the following verse would fifty describe that sword as glutted with blood in the land of the Edomites.” — Rosenmuller.
(17) [unclear Commentary on Isaiah, ] [unclear vol. 1 p. 393 ].
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) My sword shall be bathed in heaven . . .Literally, hath drunk to the full. The words find an echo in Deu. 32:41-42, and Jer. 46:10. There, however, the sword is soaked, or made drunk with blood. Here it is bathed in heaven, and this seems to require a different meaning. We read in Greek poets, of the dippings by which steel was tempered. May not the bathing of Isaiah have a like significance?
It shall come down upon Idumea . . .Better, for Edom, . . . here and in the next verse. No reason can be assigned for this exceptional introduction of the Greek form.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5-7. For my sword Poetical instrument of vengeance, and its use an ethical necessity against conscious wrong doers.
Be bathed Or, made drunk, (Septuagint and Vulgate;) a figure from Deu 32:42, and kept up in Revelation, from wine of the wrath of God.
In heaven The seat of the divine plans upon Idumaea, or Edom, representatively, used for all peoples and nations warring against Jehovah’s cause. Nothing can expiate their crimes of incorrigible rebellion but their sacrifice. As all sin requires this, through use of the blood and fat of victims, so Edom, in one of its chief localities, Bozrah, for example, situated in its eastern hills, (not the “Bozrah” of the north, in the Hauran,) shall witness a great sacrificial slaughter, thorough, final, making clean sweep of men and animals, even wild, fierce, strong, young and old animals, all representing every class of men ranked among God’s potent and malignant foes.
Unicorns Is of doubtful meaning. Delitzsch and Gesenius translate it buffalo; Bochart, gazelle. Neither is satisfactory. The original word, R’em, means a roaring, untamed animal of great strength and fierceness, and answers as much to wild bull (possibly buffalo bull) as to any thing else which present knowledge of the ancient natural history in of Palestine can supply. The rhinoceros may have rarely touched that territory in the warm jungles of the Ghor near the Dead Sea, but of this there is no other knowledge than what is possibly implied in the word itself. All these go down together, and in this way does Jehovah avenge Edom, a people figuratively comprehending all his enemies.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For my sword has drunk its fill in heaven.
Behold it will come down on Edom,
And on the people of my curse, to judgment.
The sword of Yahweh is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness,
With the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.’
It is clear from this that the main verdict is against Edom and its neighbours, ‘the people of my curse’ (compare Exo 17:14; Exo 17:16; Exo 25:17-19; Deu 23:3-6; Neh 13:1-3). Together they are the constituents of a great sacrifice when God will finally have His due because of their sinfulness. The time for mercy is past.
‘My sword has drunk its fill in heaven.’ This may suggest that, like Daniel, Isaiah sees earthly nations as having counterpart angels in heaven (compare Isa 24:21). When Edom is to be slaughtered their heavenly counterparts must suffer first. Or it may be that the idea is that His sword has already drunk its fill in heaven in anticipation of what it is about to do.
The destruction of Edom is then likened to the offering of sacrifices, as being like a great holocaust (compare Eze 39:17-19; Zep 1:7-8). In such sacrifices the blood and the fat were offered to God (Lev 1:5-8; Lev 3:13-17 and often). The comparison brings out that this is not just arbitrary, it is necessary slaughter for the sins of the nations. They are receiving their due.
‘Bozrah.’ Compare Amo 1:12 where it is described as a place of palaces. It is possibly modern Buseirah, a fortified city of nineteen acres on top of a crag at the head of the Wadi Hamayideh, sixty kilometres (thirty eight miles) north of Petra, and forty kilometres (twenty five miles) south-south-east of the Dead Sea, controlling the King’s Highway, and thus probably prominent in denying earlier passage to the Israelites (Num 20:17).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Idumea as a Type of Hostility Against God
v. 5. For My sword shall be bathed in heaven, v. 6. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, v. 7. And the unicorns, v. 8. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion, v. 9. And the streams thereof, v. 10. It shall not be quenched night nor day, the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste, v. 11. But the cormorant, v. 12. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, v. 13. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, v. 14. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, v. 15. There shall the great owl, v. 10. Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord, v. 17. And He,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 34:5-8. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven The meaning of this period is, that on a certain day of judgment, which is elsewhere called the great day of the Lord’s vengeance, a mighty slaughter shall be made of the hardened enemies of the church, a long time oppressed and afflicted by them, with the effusion of much blood, and the destruction of many great, noble, and powerful men. The figure is taken from the master of a family, who, preparing a great feast, and a sacrifice, finds it necessary to slay many lambs, rams, and fatted animals, so that his knife may be said to be inebriated with the blood and fat of the slain. The passage is clear enough in this view. The meaning of the phrase, My sword shall be bathed, or inebriated in heaven, is, “It shall be sharpened or made ready in heaven, to bathe itself on earth.” The verse may be rendered, When my sword in heaven is bathed, behold, it shall sink deep into Idumaea, into the people whom I have devoted to destruction. In Isa 34:7 instead of unicorns, Bishop Lowth reads wild goats, which, together with the bullocks, &c. should come down to be sacrificed in the land of Idumaea. The place of this sacrifice is said to be Bozrah, which was a city of Edom, (see ch. Isa 63:1.) and both Bozrah and Idumaea are, as the whole context shews, to be taken figuratively. See Rev 6:15; Rev 19:17-18. Vitringa is of opinion, as we before remarked, that Rome and the Roman power are here meant; and he observes, that Rome, which in the Hebrew signifies fortification, well answers to Bozrah, which signifies a fortified city. See Deu 3:5 in the Hebrew. Instead of, for the controversy of Zion, some read, for the avenging of, or to avenge Zion.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2. THE JUDGMENT ON EDOM, AS REPRESENTATION OF THE WHOLE IN ONE PARTICULAR EXAMPLE OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO ISRAEL
Isa 34:5-15
56For my sword shall be bathed in heaven:
Behold, it shall come down upon Idumea,
And upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It is made fat with fatness,
And with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams:
For the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
7And the 7 8unicorns shall come down with them,
And the bullocks with the bulls;
And their land shall be 9soaked with blood,
And their dust made fat with fatness.
810For it is the day of the Lords vengeance,
And the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
9And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch,
And the dust thereof into brimstone,
And the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10It shall not be quenched night nor day;
The smoke thereof shall go up for ever:
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
None shall pass through it for ever and ever.
11But the 11cormorant and the 12bittern shall possess it;
The owl also and the raven shall dwell in it:
And he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion,
And the stones of emptiness.
1213They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom,
But none shall be there,
And all her princes shall be 14nothing.
1315And thorns shall come up in her palaces,
Nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof.
And it shall be an habitation of 16dragons,
And a court for 17 18owls.
1419The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with 20the wild beasts of the island,
And the 21satyr shall cry to his fellow;
The 22screech owl also shall rest there,
And find for herself a place of rest.
15There shall the 23great owl make her nest, and lay,
And hatch, and gather under her shadow:
There shall the vultures also be gathered,
Every one with her mate.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 34:5. Only by great ingenuity can be explained to mean for. Hence Knobel construes it as pleonastic, connecting the discourse, and appeals, e. g. to Isaiah 8:23. But there exists a plain causal connection between Isa 34:4-5, only the res causans is in verse 4 and not in Isa 34:5. Hence here=because and not for. Because the sword of God has become drunken in heaven it comes down to earth (comp. Gen 3:14; Gen 33:11; Exo 1:19, etc.). (comp. Isa 16:9) is direct causative Piel = ebrietatem facere, to produce drunkenness. As, e. g., not only means fatten, i. e., others, but also make, produce, grow fat, i. e., grow fat ones-self, so this verb means not only make others drunk (Jer 31:14; Psa 65:11), but also make ones-self drunk.=in behoof of accomplishing judgment; comp. Hab 1:12; Eze 44:24 Kri; comp. Isa 41:1; Isa 54:17, in another sense Isa 5:7; Isa 32:1; Isa 28:26.
Isa 34:6. Drechslek refers to : the sword is to the Lord (the Lord has His sword) full of blood. But then it would need to read , as the sword has already been mentioned. Would one translate; Jehovah has a sword that is full of blood, that again does not suit the previous mention of the sword verse 5, though this translation would best suit the three other instances of the use of in this section (verses 2, 6, 9). The context requires the rendering the sword of the Lord is full of blood. For verses 6, 7 manifestly tell what the sword, (that Isa 34:5 was to come on Edom), when actually come, has done to Edom. This is intimated by describing the sword after the execution. Thus the same sword as Isa 34:5 is meant. The article is wanting because , (instead of , which occurs only 1Ch 21:12) seems to be vox solennis, (Jdg 7:20; Jer 12:12; Jer 47:6). instead of , Hothpaal, from , comp. verse 7; Isa 30:23; Greens Gram., 96, a.That before is to be explained according to Isa 2:6, does not seem probable. Rather it seems that the notion of causality, that lies in , has passed over to what follows: such as was before intimated, the sword has become from the blood of the sacrificial beasts. again only Isa 16:1. again only Isa 1:11; Isa 14:9 again in Isa 1:11; Isa 60:7. and (verse 3) correspond in sense and sound. On see list.
Isa 34:8. The Plural occurs only here: comp. the sing. Hos 9:7; Mic 7:3.If the pointing is correct, then is to be construed as substantive. For as such it is in the construct state and has given its tone to the governing noun; then does not stand directly before the tone syllable. But if it is a verb, then it has the tone, and in that case receives pretonic kamets (comp. Isa 3:13). As noun means causae actio, defensio, in the same sense as the verb with following accusative (Isa 1:17; Isa 51:22) is used (comp. Isa 19:20).
Isa 34:10. (the Masoretic form of writing occurs four times; Psa 49:20; 1Sa 15:29; 1Ch 29:11) occurs only here. ;, see list.
Isa 34:12. is put absolutely before. ,; see list.
Isa 34:13. comp. Isa 23:13; Isa 25:2; Isa 32:14. ;; and (kindred Isa 37:29) occur only here in Isaiah, , locus munitus Isa 17:3; Isa 25:12. see list.
Isa 34:13-15. , , , , , comp. on Isa 13:21-22. (= locus septus) occurs again in Isaiah only Isa 35:7 (see Comm. in loc.). in Isaiah only here. has here also its restrictive sense. When Gesenius (Thes. p. 89) says: that the vis restringendi relates non at proximum sed ad sequens quoddam vocabulum, and translates here accordingly: non nisi spectra ibi habitant, non nisi vultures ibi congregantur, the two statements exclude each other. For where only spectra dwell, the vulture cannot also dwell, and vice versa. To express that, the must be joined to and (Isa 34:14-15). But both times it is joined to . Hence it appears that the Prophet would say: only there does the lilith rest, only there does the vulture congregate: i.e., there is no other place so suitable for them. again Isa 51:4 in another sense; in Isa 28:12 we had the noun resting place. Also resting place, only here in Isaiah; comp. Gen 8:9; Lam 1:3.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. If the Prophet would not deal only in indefinite generalities in regard to the judgment on the nations of the earth, he must give prominence to the case of one nation instar omnium. Among neighboring nations Moab, and Edom, and Amnion, were most detested by the Israelites (comp. Deu 23:3-6; Eze 35:5; sqq.; Amo 1:11 : Oba 1:10 sqq.; Psa 137:7, etc.). As Isaiah elsewhere, in a similar connection, mentions the Moabites by way of exemplification (Isa 25:10 sqq.), it is natural he should give similar prominence also to Edom, as he does here and Isa 63:1 sqq. Now, because the sword of Jehovah has already become drunken in heaven with blood, it descends to earth, because it finds no more work above.
2. For my sworedof Zion.
Isa 34:5-8. The relation of this section to what precedes is this: the Prophet has said (Isa 34:2-3), what the. Lordpurposes to do on earth. and Isa 34:2 are to be understood of acts of the will, not of performance: Isa 34:3 describes prophetically what shall once take place on earth in consequence of that divine decree. Isa 34:4 pictures the judgment that shall be executed on the heavens, but here the Prophet combines intention and performance. He contemplates the judgment of God as beginning in heaven, and continued on earth.
[On the construction of see Text, and Gram. It may be construed in its proper sense, either with Isa 34:3 (Hitzig), or with the whole of the preceding description. All this shall certainly take place for my sword (the speaker being God Himself) is steeped, etc.J. A. Alex.,in loc.].
The expression is a bold poetic one. Isaiah speaks of the sword of the Lord again Isa 27:1; Isa 66:16. But only here does he personify it. He may, as regards the sense, have in mind Deu 32:41-43. Inevitable and irresistible are the judgments of the Lord. This the Prophet expresses by saying that the sword of the Lord, intoxicated with the judgment accomplished on the host of the high ones that are on high (Isa 24:21), and thirsting for more blood, descends to earth, and that first on Edom, as the nation that above all has become an object of the divine ban. ( the segregatio ad internecionem, 1Ki 20:42; Isa 43:28). Isa 34:6-7 describe the effects of the execution. The sword of the Lord is not only full of blood, but is fattened, dropping fat. As in the second clause of Isa 34:6, the Edomites are regarded as a sacrifice, they are here compared to sheep, goats and rams.
Bozra stands for Edom also Isa 63:1. Concerning this city see on Jer. 69:13.
The enumeration of buffaloes, bullocks and bulls (Isa 34:7) denotes that the entire nation shall perish, great and small, high and low. (only here in Isaiah, elsewhere only Num 23:22; Deu 33:17; Job 39:9 sq.; Psa 22:22; Psa 29:6; Psa 92:11). It is now universally understood to mean the buffalo (see Herz.R.Encycl, xl. p. 28). see on Isa 1:11. meaning bull occurs only Isa 10:13 Kthibh. meaning to fell trees, beasts or men, is peculiar to Isaiah (see Isa 32:19). For Jer 48:15; Jer 50:27; Jer 51:40 the use of the word is not quite the same. In consequence of the slaughter the earth itself is drunk with blood, and fat with fat, comp. on Isa 34:5-6. The parallelism reigns not only in these verses, but in the entire complexity of Isa 34:6-8. For the description of the judgment in Isa 34:6 a. and Isa 34:7 correspond, and the reasons assigned Isa 34:6 b. and Isa 34:8. But progress appears in the thought because Isa 34:8 gives particularly the object of the sacrifice and the slaughter. The Lord will thereby satisfy His vengeance, and give Zion justice by a righteous recompense.
The expression for the day of the Lordsetc., recalls Isa 2:12 and Isa 63:4. But the Prophet seems moreover to have in mind Deu 32:35; Deu 32:41. For in those passages, as here, the notions of vengeance and recompense underlie the discourse.
But beside this, our passage lay before Jeremiah. For Jer 46:10 is penetrated with elements drawn from Isa 34:5-8. The following considerations show that our passage is the source from which Jer. drew. 1) The grand, drastic boldness and loftiness of the language of our passage, of which the words of Jer., after the fashion of that Prophet, are but a tempered imitation. 2) Isaiah uses the expression twice (Isa 34:5; Isa 34:7); Jer. says, It is much more likely that Jeremiah would dilute the strong expression of a predecessor, in his well-known fashion (see my comm. on Jer. Introd. 3) than that an author living much later in the exile, should intensify the normal but weaker expression of Jeremiah 3) Jer. says , Isaiah; Now in general is the older form of the word, and is used only in Lev 26:25; Deu 32:35; Deu 32:41; Deu 32:43; Jdg 16:28; Psa 58:11; Pro 6:34; Mic 5:14, and in Isa. (Isa 35:4; Isa 47:3; Isa 59:17; Isa 61:2; Isa 63:4). In the exceptions Eze 24:8; Eze 25:12, is evidently said for the sake of the effect of sound; in Eze 25:15 the expression is used along with . On the other hand is the form exclusively used by Jeremiah, and in Ezekiel it is the prevalent form (the exceptions being given above) and beside these is used only here and there (Num 31:2-3; Lam 3:60; Psa 149:7). But it is not probable that a writer later than Jeremiah has introduced the old form into a passage borrowed from Jeremiah.
3. And the streamsemptiness.
Isa 34:9-11. Edom was situated at the southern point of the Dead Sea. The following description recalls the pitchy and sulphurous character of this sea and its surroundings. It seems as if the Prophet would allude to that event which, recorded in Gen 19:24-25; Gen 19:28, had impressed that character on the region. At least the sulphur, the overturning () and the ascending smoke are traits that he seems to have borrowed from that passage. occurs again only Exo 2:3. we had already where Isa 30:33 the breath of God is called a stream of brimstone. When the streams are flowing pitch and the dust of the land is sulphur, the whole land will become a fearful place of conflagration. Day and night (the expression occurs Deu 28:66, beside comp. Isa 4:5; Isa 21:8; Isa 60:11), forever, for it is the flame of the last judgment, the burning shall continue. The burning land is the subject of which is used intensively also Isa 43:17; Isaiah 46:24.
Isa 34:10. On as defining time see on Isa 13:20. occurs only here. exarescere, exsiccari, comp. Isa 19:5-6; Isa 44:27; Isa 60:12. again only Isa 60:15. It does not agree well to say of the same land that it shall become an everlasting burning, and that it shall be a pathless desert. But the Prophet describes the future by means of the present, and contemplates the earth as an Edom cursed of God, and thinks of the latter as a scorched desert land. [The same may be said of the similarly inconsistent descriptions in all that follows in this section.Tr.].
Isa 34:11. As such the land is inhabited only by beasts of the desert. [On the names of beings enumerated in this and the following verses see J. A. Alex.,comm, in loc, especially on Isa 34:14.Tr.]. (from to vomit) is the pelican (Lev 11:18; Deu 14:17; Zep 2:14), the porcupine (see on Isa 14:23; Zep 2:14). the owl (only here in Isa. comp. Lev 9:17; Deu 14:16), the raven (in Isaiah only here). As right building can only be done by means of measuring line and plummet (Job 38:5), so shall right destruction be directed by aid of the same implements. The image is the same as Amo 7:7-9, comp. 2Ki 21:23; Lam 2:8. The stone is the weight that makes the line plumb. The expression is . .; and Isaiah uses no where else (see Gen 1:2; Jer 4:23).
[The sense of the whole metaphor may then bethat God has laid this work out for Himself and will perform it (Barnes),that even in destroying He will proceed deliberately, and by rule (Knobel), which last thought is well expressed in Rosenmuellers paraphrase (ad mensuram vastabitur, ad regulam depopulabitur).J. A. Alexander.]
4. They shall callwith her mate.
Isa 34:12-15. The Prophet now describes the desolation as it affects the territory of the nobility of Edom, both as to their persons and their castles. being nominative absolute, the words must be translated: as to her nobles, there are none there that call out a monarchy (election of king, accession to regency). As the presence of the nobility is the necessary condition of a kings election, and not vice versa, I regard this translation as more correct than the other which is also grammatically possible, viz.: there is no kingdom that they may proclaim. Moreover it is logically more correct that in the phrase with the word put before absolutely should be the subject. Royalty in Edom was not inherited, but Esaus descendants formed a high nobility from which the king proceeded by election (Gen 36:15 sqq.; 31 sqq.). liber, ingenuus, nobilis Isaiah uses only here. Comp. Ecc 10:17; Jer 27:20 and often.
[On J. A. Alexander gives a copious synopsis of interpretations and then adds: This great variety of explanations, and the harshness of construction with which most of them are chargeable, may serve as an excuse for the suggestion of a new one, not as certainly correct, but as possibly entitled to consideration. Beside the meaning nobles, in several places no less certainly means holes or caves (see 1Sa 14:11; Job 30:6; Nah 2:13). Now it is matter of history not only that Edom was full of caverns, but that these were inhabited and that the aboriginal inhabitants, expelled by Esau, were expressly called Horites () as being inhabitants of caverns (Isa 14:6; Isa 36:20; Deu 2:12; Deu 2:22). This being the case, the entire depopulation of the country, and especially the destruction of its princes, might be naturally and poetically expressed by saying that the kingdom of Edom should be thenceforth a kingdom of deserted caverns. For the appropriateness of description see in Robinsons Researches the account of Petra.Tr.].
Isa 34:13. The ruin of the nobility is followed by that of their palaces. They are said to mount up () but only ironically, for they appear great and high only by the rank wild growth on them.
Not only beasts of the desert, but also repulsive demons of the desert disport themselves in the desolate ruins of Edom. The Prophet mentions a female being, the ghost-like, restlessly wandering (comp. Mat 12:43) Lilith, but which just there in those dreadful places finds a congenial resting place. The name certainly comes from the night, and denotes a being of the night, a spectre. According to the Talmud Lilith is the chief of the nocturnal Schedim, of the or (comp. Buxtorf,Lex. rabb., p. 1140 and 877), and bears the name i. e., Agrath the (female) dancer. Comp. Kohut,Jd. Angel, und Dmonol, 1866, p. 61 and 86 sqq. Certainly Lilith is a production of popular superstition, to which various attributes and forms of appearance are ascribed. Comp. Buxtorf,l. c.Bochart,Hieroz. III. p. 829, ed.Rosenmueller, Gesen.Thes. p. 749. [SmithsDiet, of Bible, under the word Owl]. is . .
[In itself it means nothing more nor less than nocturnal, and would seem to be applicable to an animal or to any other object belonging to the night. This gratuitous interpretation of the Hebrew word (viz., as referring to the superstitions mentioned above) was unfortunately sanctioned by Bochart and Vitringa, and adopted with eagerness by the modern Germans who rejoice in every opportunity of charging a mistake in physics, or a vulgar superstition on the Scriptures. This disposition is the more apparent here, because the writers of this school usually pique themselves upon the critical discernment with which they separate the exegetical inventions of the Rabbins from the genuine meaning of the Hebrew text. Gesenius for example, will not even grant that the doctrine of a personal Messiah is so much as mentioned in the writings of Isaiah, although no opinion has been more universally maintained by the Jews, from the date of their oldest uncanonical books. In this case, their unanimous and uninterrupted testimony goes for nothing, because it would establish an unwelcome identity between the Messiah of the Old and New Testament. But when the object is to fasten on the Scriptures an odious and contemptible superstition, the utmost deference is paid, not only to the silly legends of the Jews, but to those of the Greeks, Romans, Zabians and Russians. Beside the fact that means nocturnal, and that its application to a spectre is entirely gratuitous, we may argue here, as in Isaiah 13:25, that ghosts as well as demons would be wholly out of place in a list of wild and solitary animals. Is this a natural succession of ideas? Is it one that ought to be assumed without necessity? Of all the figures that could be employed, that of resting seems to be the least appropriate in the description of a spectre. The quotation of Mat 12:43 in this connection is strange and incongruous, where the evil spirit is expressly said to pass through dry places seeking rest and finding none. The sense 19 sufficiently secured by mating mean a nocturnal bird (Aben Ezra), or more specificially, an owl (Cocceius), or screech-owl (Lowth). But the word admits of a still more satisfactory interpretation, in exact agreement with the exposition which has already been given of the preceding terms as general descriptions rather than specific names. If these terms represent the animals occupying Idumea, first as belonging to the wilderness (), then as distinguished by their fierce and melancholy cries (), and then as shaggy in appearance (), nothing can be more natural than that the fourth epithet should also be expressive of their habits as a class nocturnal or belonging to the night.J. A. Alexander,in loc.Tr.].
Isa 34:15. Bochart in his Hieroz., II. p. 194 sqq., has proved that means arrow-snake. In lonely places, out of danger it harbors and lays its eggs. Piel=to cause slipping away, like the Hiph. Isa 66:7; the imperf., with Vav consecutive makes what must hypotactically be regarded as a repeated fact, appear paratactically as occurring once. to cleave, for by cleaving open the young are brought forth, comp. Isa 35:6; Isa 58:8; Isa 59:5. to cherish (only here and Jer 17:11), cherishes the young in its shadow (i. e., of its own body) vulture, again only Deu 14:13. The expression only here and Isa 34:16 in Isaiah. Drechsler justly construes it as asyndeton, and as in apposition with the subject, as must be done also Isa 34:16.
[As to the particular species of animals referred to in this whole passage, there is no need, as Calvin well observes, of troubling ourselves much about them. (Non est cur in iis magnopere torqueamur). The general sense evidently is that a human population should be succeeded by wild and lonely animalsimplying total and continued desolation.J. A. Alexander. For rich illustration of the subject from modern travellers see Barnes Notes on Isaiah, in loc.Tr.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 34:1-4. Because Rev 6:12-17 has express reference to this passage, some would conclude that the Prophet here has in view only that special event of the worlds judgment (the opening of the sixth seal). But that is not justified. For other passages of the New Testament that do not specially relate to the opening of the sixth seal are based on this passage (Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:7 sqq.; Rev 14:11; Rev 19:11 sqq.). It appears from this that the present passage is, as it were, a magazine from which New Testament prophecy has drawn its material for more than one event of fulfilment.
2. On Isa 34:16. The word of God can bear the closest scrutiny. Indeed it desires and demands it. If men would only examine the Scriptures diligently and with an unclouded mind and love of truth, whether these things are so, as did the Bereans (Act 17:11; Joh 5:39)!
3. On Isa 35:3. The Christian church is the true Lazaretto in which may be found a crowd of weary, sick, lame and wretched people. Therefore, Christ is the Physician Himself (Mat 9:12) who binds up and heals those suffering from neglect (Eze 34:16; Isa 61:1). And His word cures all (Wis 16:12). His servants, too, are commissioned officially to admonish the rude, to comfort the timid, to bear the weak, and be patient with all (1Th 5:14). Therefore, whoever feels weak, let him betake himself to this Bethania; there he will find counsel for his soul, Cramer.
4. [On Isa 35:8-9. They who enter the path that leads to life, find there no cause of alarm. Their fears subside; their apprehensions of punishment on account of their sins die away, and they walk that path with security and confidence. There is nothing in that way to alarm them; and though there are many foesfitly represented by lions and wild beastslying about the way, yet no one is permitted to go up thereon. This is a most beautiful image of the safety of the people of God, and of their freedom from all enemies that could annoy them. The path here referred to is appropriately designed only for the redeemed of the Lord. It is not for the profane, the polluted, the hypocrite. It is not for those who live for this world, or for those who love pleasure more than they love God. The church should not be entered except by those, who have evidence that they are redeemed. None should make a profession of religion who have no evidence that they belong to the redeemed, and who are not disposed to walk in the way of holiness. But for all such it is a highway on which they are to travel. It is made by leveling hills and elevating valleys; across the sandy desert and through the wilderness of this world, infested with the enemies of God and His people. It is made straight and plain, so that none need err; it is defended from enemies, so that all may be safe; because He, their Leader and Redeemer, shall go with them and guard that way. Barnes in loc.]
Footnotes:
[6]Because my sword has become drunken.
[7]Or, rhinoceros.
[8]buffaloes.
[9]Or, drunken.
[10]For a day of vengeance has Jehovah.
[11]Or, pelican.
[12]porcupine.
[13]Its noblesthere are none to proclaim the monarchy.
[14]no more.
[15]And its palaces soar aloft in thorns.
[16]jackal.
[17]Or, ostriches.
[18]Heb. daughters of the owl.
[19]Heb. ziim.
[20]Heb. Ijim.
[21]shaggy monster.J. A. A.
[22]Or, night monster.
[23]arrowsnake.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
I pass over the several particulars in these verses, which mean one and the same thing, of God’s judgments, differently set forth, to call the Reader’s attention to that striking one folded up in them of the Lord’s sacrifice in Bozrah. Is there not in this an allusion to the same person and sacrifice, as the prophet in a vision relates to us in the sixty third chapter? I beg the Reader to turn to it, and pause over the subject. Who but Christ, is the sacrifice of
Jehovah? Who but Christ was seen coming from Bozrah, in his dyed garments of blood? And was not this the day of vengeance, and the year of the Lord’s redeemed?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 34:5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
Ver. 5. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven. ] Heb., Drunk, or drenched – i.e., In coelo decretum est ut inebrietur; whencesoever the sword comes, it is bathed in heaven, hath its commission from God (Jer 47:6-7 ; see Jer 46:9 ), and as a drunken man reeleth to and fro, so the sword, when once in commission, roveth up and down, and rideth circuit usually. Eze 14:17
Behold, it shall come down upon Idumea,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
of My curse: i.e. I have devoted.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Idumea
See; Isa 34:1-8, (See Scofield “Gen 36:1”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
my sword: Deu 32:14, Deu 32:42, Psa 17:13, Jer 46:10, Jer 47:6, Eze 21:3-5, Eze 21:9-11, Zep 2:12, Rev 1:16
upon Idumea: Isa 63:1, Psa 137:7, Jer 49:7-22, Eze 25:12-14, Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12, Oba 1:1-9, Mal 1:4
the people: Deu 27:15-26, Deu 29:18-21, Mat 25:41, 1Co 16:22, Gal 3:10, 2Pe 2:14
Reciprocal: Lev 26:25 – will bring Num 24:18 – General Deu 20:17 – thou shalt Deu 32:41 – whet Deu 33:29 – the sword Psa 7:12 – he will Isa 11:14 – them of the east Isa 27:1 – with his Isa 34:6 – the Lord hath Isa 66:16 – General Eze 31:12 – upon Eze 35:15 – Idumea Joe 2:31 – sun Oba 1:9 – every Mar 3:8 – Idumaea Rev 12:7 – war Rev 14:20 – and blood
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE SWORD BATBED IN HEAVEN
For My sword shall be bathed in heaven.
Isa 34:5
I. All good struggle in the world is really Gods battle, and ought to recognise itself as such.Every special victory of human progressthe victory over slavery, the victory over superstition, the victory over social wrong, nay, even the victory over tough matter, the subduing of the hard stuff of nature to spiritual useseach of these is but a step in the great onward march of God taking possession of His own. Fight your battle with the sword bathed in heaven; so you shall make it victorious, and grow strong and great yourself in fighting it.
II. One of the most marvellous things about Jesus is the union of fire and patience.He saw His Fathers house turned into a place of merchandise, and instantly the whip of small cords was in His hands, and He was cleansing the sacred place with His impassioned indignation. And yet He walked day after day through the streets of Jerusalem and saw the sin, and let the sinners sin on with only the remonstrance of His pure presence and His pitying gaze. Only in Gods own time and in Gods own way can the battles of the Lord be fought. There is no self-will in Jesus. He is one with His Father, and lives by His Fathers will. His sword was always bathed in heaven.
III. The battle which goes on within ourselves is Gods battle, and is of supreme importance.If the battle be Gods battle, it must be fought only with Gods weapons. You want to get rid of your selfishness. You must not kill it with the sword of another selfishness, which thenceforth shall rule in its place. Selfishness can only be cast out by self-forgetfulness and consecration. To count sin Gods enemy, and to fight it with all His purity and strength, that is what it means for us that our sword should be bathed in heaven.
Bishop Phillips Brooks.
Illustration
There is no unholy and unrighteous admixture in the Divine wrath. Gods sword is bathed in heaven. It is possible to be angry and yet sin not. The Divine wrath is as absolutely holy as the Divine love. There is no animus against the sinner, but a yearning desire that he should repent and live; and when God strikes, it is in pity for the great world of men whom He rules. We, too, should be capable of moral indignation. It is a pitiable nature that in the presence of the wrong-doing will not flame out. But take care that your sword is bathed in heaven.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 34:5-6. For my sword shall be bathed In the blood of these people; in heaven Where God dwells; in which this is said to be done, because it was there decreed and appointed. Or, it shall, as it were, be sharpened and made ready in heaven, to bathe itself on earth. It shall come down upon Idumea Upon the Edomites, who, though they were nearly related to the Israelites, yet were their implacable enemies. But these are named for all the enemies of Gods church, of whom they were an eminent type. The people of my curse Whom I have devoted to utter destruction, as the word properly signifies. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood Shall drink its fill of blood. The metaphor is taken from a great glutton, who is almost insatiable, With the blood of lambs, &c. By lambs, and goats, and rams, he means people of all ranks and conditions, high and low, rich and poor. Dr. Waterland renders the verse, When my sword in heaven is bathed, behold it shall sink deep into Idumea, into the people whom I have devoted to judgment. For the Lord hath a sacrifice So the prophet terms this bloody work, because it was done by Gods command, and for the honour of his justice and righteous government, and therefore was a service acceptable to him; in Bozrah A chief city of Edom, (Isa 63:1,) and a type of those cities which should be most hostile to Gods people.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 34:5-8. In preparation for the slaughter of earth Yahwehs sword has drunk its fill of wrath in heaven. Now, charged and sharpened with its fury, it descends to execute the ban upon Edom (mg.). His sword reeks with blood and is glutted with fat, but the victims slaughtered in this sacrifice are the Edomites, commoners (Isa 34:6) and aristocrats (Isa 34:7) alike; for it is the day of Yahwehs vengeance in the controversy He has with Edom for the wrongs she has inflicted on Zion.
Isa 34:6 f. The animals in Isa 34:6 represent the common people, those in Isa 34:7 the chiefs and nobles.Bozrah: Jer 49:13*.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
34:5 For my sword shall be {d} bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of {e} my curse, to judgment.
(d) I have determined in my secret counsel and in the heavens to destroy them till my sword is weary with shedding blood.
(e) They had an opinion of holiness, because they came from the patriarch Isaac, but in effect were cursed by God, and enemies to his Church as the papists are.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Edom as an example 34:5-17
The prophet now introduced Edom, as a case in point, whose end would be typical of the whole earth (cf. Isa 11:14; Isa 63:1-6). If Edom alone had been in view, Isaiah probably would have dealt with it as he did the other nations in the oracles earlier in the book (chs. 13-23). But why Edom? The Old Testament consistently treats Edom as the antithesis of Israel (cf. Obad.). Isaac told Esau that he would live in an infertile area (Gen 27:39-40).
"Recollecting Isa 29:22 and the establishing of the family of Jacob, the overthrow of the people of Esau makes the end the exact fulfilment [sic] of what was promised at the beginning (Gen 25:23)." [Note: Motyer, p. 269. See pp. 268-69 for a concise and illuminating review of biblical references to Edom.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
A second reason for God’s worldwide judgment is that when His sword, a symbol of His judgment (cf. Deu 32:41-43; Jos 5:13; Jdg 7:20), has done all it can do to the heavenly host, it will fall on the nations represented by Edom. That the literal destruction of Edom is not in view should be clear from two facts. Edom did not experience such a destruction as this passage presents during her history. And Edom ceased to exist as a nation long ago, so a future destruction of Edom is not possible. Humans must pay. Everyone belongs to God. If human beings do not submit to Him voluntarily, He will force them to do so against their wills. This will be God’s judgment on the world for rebelling against Him.