Isaiah 34:8
in Isaiah 34For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
KJV
For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
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This verse in Isaiah 34
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion “The year of recompense to the defender of the cause of Zion” - As from דון dun, דין din, a judge; so from רוב rub, ריב rib, an advocate, or defender; Judici Sionis: Syriac.
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.
This site's exposition
a year of recompense
The word for cause is rib, the Hebrew term for a lawsuit, and Clarke reads the LORD as the defender of Zion's cause. The day of vengeance is the verdict in Zion's case against Edom. The LORD pays Edom back for Zion.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 8 and following) For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retribution in the judgment of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur; its land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will pass through it forever. The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 6 · Written before 604.
proposed
Sacred Scripture has stature, because it directs conduct toward standing, so that the minds of hearers may not be bent toward earthly desire. It has height, because it promises the joys of eternal life in the heavenly homeland. It also has a horrible appearance, because it threatens all the reprobate with the punishments of hell. Therefore it shows its stature in the building of conduct, it shows its height in the promise of rewards, it shows its horrible appearance in the terrors of punishments. For it is upright in precepts, lofty in promises, horrible in threats. ... It has a horrible appearance when, describing hell, it says: "The day of vengeance of the Lord, the year of retribution for the judgment of Zion; and its torrents shall be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulphur; and the land shall be burning pitch, day and night it shall not be extinguished forever."
Third, he sets out the reason of the punishment: for it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompenses of the judgment of Zion, namely, that Zion be vindicated against the Idumeans, below: the day of vengeance is in my …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance,....
As there is a day of the Lord's patience, so there will be a day of his vengeance; for, though he bear long, he will not bear always. It is the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. Zion is the holy city, the city of our solemnities, a type and figure of the church of God in the world.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
recompenses for the controversy of Zion--that is, the year when God will retaliate on those who have contended with Zion. Edom had thought to extend its borders by laying hold of its neighbor's lands and has instigated Babylon to cruelty towards fallen Judah (Ps 137:7;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance - A time when Yahweh will take vengeance. The year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion - The time when he will recompense, that is, punish those who have had a controversy with Zion.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| י֥וֹם | yom | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| נָקָ֖ם | nakam | vengeance | H5359 → | 17 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | [belongs] to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שְׁנַ֥ת | shenat | a year of | H8141 → | 877 times |
| שִׁלּוּמִ֖ים | shilumim | retribution<s> | H7966 → | |
| לְרִ֥יב | leriv | for [the] cause of | H7379 → | 61 times |
| צִיּֽוֹן׃ | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
י֥וֹםa day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
נָקָ֖םvengeance
nakamH5359 →17 times
לַֽיהוָ֑ה[belongs] to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
שְׁנַ֥תa year of
shenatH8141 →877 times
שִׁלּוּמִ֖יםretribution<s>
shilumimH7966 →
לְרִ֥יבfor [the] cause of
lerivH7379 →61 times
צִיּֽוֹן׃Zion
tziyonH6726 →154 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
Psalms 94:1O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth.
it leads to
- Isaiah 35:4
Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 35:4
Through
Isaiah 61:2to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,
it leads to
- Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- Luke 4:19
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
- Matthew 5:4
Through
Isaiah 35:4Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
it leads to
- James 5:7–9
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- Isaiah 41:10–14
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Zephaniah 3:16–17
On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
- Haggai 2:4
But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I…
- Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- James 5:7–9
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 9 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); Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.