Isaiah 34:5
in Isaiah 34When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 34
Commentary
11 notes on this verseFor 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.
This site's exposition
My sword has drunk its fill
on Isaiah 34:5-8
The oracle narrows to Edom by name, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. The slaughter is described as a sacrifice in Bozrah, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Behind it stands Edom's old hostility toward Judah, the violence against your brother Jacob in Obadiah 1:10.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
In Deuteronomy we read of arrows and a sword: "I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh."
To us this life is a race course: we contend here, we are crowned elsewhere. No one can lay aside fear while serpents and scorpions beset his path. The Lord says, "My sword has drunk its fill in heaven," and do you expect to find peace on the earth? No, the earth yields only thorns and thistles, and its dust is food for the serpent. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." We are hemmed in by hosts of foes; our enemies are upon every side. The weak flesh will soon be ashes: one against many, it fights against tremendous odds. Not till it has been dissolved, not till the prince of this world has come and found no sin therein, not till then may you safely listen to the prophet's words: "You shall not be afraid for the terror by night nor the arrow that flies by day; nor for the trouble which haunts you in darkness." … When the hosts of the enemy distress you, when your body is hot with fever and your passions roused, when you say in your heart, "What shall I do?" Then Elisha's words shall give you your answer, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." He shall pray, "Lord, open the eyes of your handmaid that she may see." And then when your eyes have been opened, you shall see a fiery chariot like Elijah's waiting to carry you to heaven, and you shall joyfully sing, "Our soul has become free like a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken and we have been set free."
(Chapter 34, Verse 1, etc.) Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth and all that fills it hear, the world and all that springs from it. For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations, and His fury is against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them and given them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he shows the effect of both: for my sword, that is, my vengeance, is inebriated in heaven, that is, I have carried out vengeance on the demons abundantly: I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh (Deut 32:42). …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Heaven - Where God dwells; in which this is said to be done, because it was there decreed and appointed. Idumea - Upon the Edomites, who, tho' they were nearly related to the Israelites, yet were their implacable enemies. But these are named for all the enemies of God's church, of whom they were an eminent type.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Miserable, for ever miserable, are those that have by their sins made themselves the people of God's curse; for the sword of the Lord will infallibly attend the curse of the Lord and execute the sentences of it; and those whom he curses are cursed indeed. It shall come down to judgment, to execute judgment upon sinners. Note, God's sword of war is always a sword of justice.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
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 בשמים bashshamayim, בדמם bedamim; referring to Jer 46:10. But even this is premature, and not in its proper place. The Chaldee, for רותה rivvethah, has תתגלי tithgalli, shall be revealed or disclosed: perhaps he read תראה teraeh or נראתה 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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רִוְּתָ֥ה | rivetah | it has drunk its fill | H7301 → | 14 times |
| בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם | vashamayim | in the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| חַרְבִּ֑י | charbi | sword my | H2719 → | 413 times |
| הִנֵּה֙ | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֱד֣וֹם | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
| תֵּרֵ֔ד | tered | it will come down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עַ֥ם | ʾam | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| חֶרְמִ֖י | chermi | total destruction my | H2764 → | |
| לְמִשְׁפָּֽט׃ | lemishpat | for judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רִוְּתָ֥הit has drunk its fill
rivetahH7301 →14 times
בַשָּׁמַ֖יִםin the heavens
vashamayimH8064 →421 times
חַרְבִּ֑יsword my
charbiH2719 →413 times
הִנֵּה֙there!
hinehH2009 →843 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֱד֣וֹםEdom
ʾedomH123 →99 times
תֵּרֵ֔דit will come down
teredH3381 →381 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
עַ֥ם[the] people of
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
חֶרְמִ֖יtotal destruction my
chermiH2764 →
לְמִשְׁפָּֽט׃for judgment
lemishpatH4941 →422 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 63:1Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
it leads to
- Revelation 19:13
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.
- Isaiah 34:5–6
When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
- Psalms 137:7
Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Isaiah 63:2–3
Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Revelation 19:13
Through
Malachi 1:4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 25:14
I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the…
- Ezekiel 35:9
I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
- Ezekiel 25:14
Through
Jeremiah 46:10For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:42
I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh—the blood of the slain and captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
- Deuteronomy 32:42
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; Jerome, LETTER 22.3; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.