Isaiah 34:1-8

Judgment Against the Nations

1 Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy[a] them, he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.
6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat— the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the bull calves and the great bulls. Their land will be drenched with blood, and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.

Isaiah 34:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 34

This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of all the antichristian nations of the world, and particularly of Rome, signified by Idumea; which is introduced with a call to a general attention to it, it being a very awful and solemn affair, Isa 34:1 utter and universal destruction is declared, as the effect of God's wrath, Isa 34:2 which is expressed by a dreadful scene of blood, to the melting of the mountains with it, and by the dissolution of the heavens, and the hosts of them, Isa 34:3,4 particularly the destruction of Idumea is denounced by the sword of the Lord being on it, and bathed with the blood, both of the common people, and of their princes, signified by various sorts of creatures, Isa 34:5-7 the cause of which is the Lord's vengeance for the controversy of his church and people, injured by Edom or Rome, Isa 34:8 whose desolate and calamitous state is represented as being like that of Sodom, Isa 34:9,10 and should be no more inhabited by men, nor governed by princes, but be the dwelling of wild beasts and unclean birds, Isa 34:11-15 all which is confirmed by the word and Spirit of God, Isa 34:16,17.

Cross References 28

  • 1. S Isaiah 33:13
  • 2. Isaiah 41:1; Isaiah 43:9
  • 3. S Deuteronomy 4:26; Psalms 49:1
  • 4. Deuteronomy 32:1; Psalms 24:1
  • 5. S Isaiah 10:25
  • 6. S Isaiah 13:5; S Zechariah 5:3
  • 7. S Isaiah 30:25
  • 8. S Isaiah 5:25; S Isaiah 10:4
  • 9. S Psalms 110:6; Ezekiel 39:11
  • 10. Joel 2:20; Amos 4:10
  • 11. ver 7; S 2 Samuel 1:22; Isaiah 63:6; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:19; Ezekiel 32:6; Ezekiel 35:6; Ezekiel 38:22
  • 12. S Job 9:7; S Isaiah 13:13; 2 Peter 3:10
  • 13. Isaiah 38:12; Hebrews 1:12; Ezekiel 32:7-8
  • 14. Joel 2:31; S Matthew 24:29*; Mark 13:25*; Revelation 6:13
  • 15. S Job 8:12; S Isaiah 15:6; Matthew 21:19
  • 16. Deuteronomy 32:41-42; Jeremiah 47:6; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 21:5; Zechariah 13:7
  • 17. S 2 Samuel 8:13-14; S 2 Chronicles 28:17; Amos 1:11-12
  • 18. S Deuteronomy 13:15; S Joshua 6:17; Isaiah 24:6; Amos 3:14-15; Amos 6:11; Malachi 1:4
  • 19. S Deuteronomy 32:41; S Isaiah 27:1
  • 20. S Leviticus 3:9
  • 21. S Genesis 36:33
  • 22. S Isaiah 30:25; S Jeremiah 25:34; Revelation 19:17
  • 23. S Numbers 23:22
  • 24. S Psalms 68:30
  • 25. S 2 Samuel 1:22
  • 26. S Isaiah 2:12
  • 27. S Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 47:3; Isaiah 63:4
  • 28. Isaiah 59:18; Ezekiel 25:12-17; Joel 3:4; Am 1:6-8,9-10

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
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