drought · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
bathed
רִוְּתָ֥הri.ve.Tah
H7301
to slake the thirst (occasionally of other appetites) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
heaven
בַשָּׁמַ֖יִםva.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
down
תֵּרֵ֔דte.Red
H3381
to descend (literally · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Idumea
אֱד֣וֹם'e.Dom
H123
Edom · proper noun, a man's name
people
עַ֥ם'am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct
curse
חֶרְמִ֖יcher.Mi
H2764
physical (as shutting in) a net (either literally or fi… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
judgment
לְמִשְׁפָּֽטle.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and…
Isaiah 63:1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his…
Amos 1:11-12 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his…
Malachi 1:4 Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, b…
Jeremiah 49:7-22 Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
Ezekiel 25:12-14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenge…
Deuteronomy 29:18-21 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve…
Deuteronomy 32:14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 34:1-8
Here we have a prophecy, as elsewhere we have a history, of the wars of the Lord, which we are sure are all both righteous and successful. This world, as it is his creature, he does good to; but as it is in the interest of Satan, who is called the god of this world, he fights against it.
I. Here is the trumpet sounded and the war proclaimed, Isa 34:1. All nations must hear and hearken, not only because what God is about to do is well worthy their remark (as Isa 33:13), but because they are all concerned in it; it is with them that God has a quarrel; it is against them that God is coming forth in wrath. Let them all take notice that the great God is angry with them; his indignation is upon al…
sword-- (Jer 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 Deu 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 obtained possession of the country east of Moab, of which Bozrah was capital. Petra or Selah, called Joktheel (Kg2 14:7), was capital of South Edom (see on Isa 16:1). David subjugated Edom (Sa2 8:13-14). Under Jehoram they regained indep…
For my sword shall be bathed in heaven,.... That is, the sword of the Lord, as it is called in the next verse Isaiah 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 Revelation 12:7 and may design the principal men in it, those that…
The Church Fathers
In Deuteronomy we read of arrows and a sword: "I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh." And because God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. And in Jeremiah we read: "How long will you cut with the sword, or the sword of the Lord? How long will you not rest? Return to your sheath." This sword is not only called a sickle, which cuts hay, straw, and thorns; but it is also called an axe of trees, which will cut down those who have not made themselves worthy of the fruits of penance. And about whom John the Baptist proclaimed: "Behold, the axe is laid to the roots of the trees: every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
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."
Dictionary and topics
Edom — (1.) The name of Esau (q.v.), Gen. 25:30, “Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage [Heb. haadom, haadom, i.e., ‘the red pottage, the red pottage’] ...Therefore was his name called Edom”,…
Edom, Idumaea Or Idumea — (red). The name Edom was given to Esau, the first-born son of Isaac and twin brother of Jacob, when he sold his birthright to the latter for a meal of lentil pottage. The country which the Lord…
Idumaea — The Greek form of Edom (Isa. 34:5, 6; Ezek. 35:15; 36:5, but in R.V. “Edom”). (See EDOM).
Edomites, The · Predictions respecting: Punishment for persecuting Israel — Predictions respecting: Punishment for persecuting Israel
War · 28:25-68;32:30; — 28:25-68;32:30;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
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 purpo…
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, a…
Edom here represents what all the nations would experience, just as Moab was singled out in ch 25.
Rashi on Isaiah 34:5
For My sword has become sated in the heaven To slay the heavenly princes, and afterward it shall descend on the nation Ishmael ([mss. and Kli Paz:] Edom) ([Warsaw ed.:] Babylonians) below, for no nation suffers until its prince suffers in heaven.
the nation with whom I contend (עַם חֶרמִי), the nation with whom I battle. This is a Mishnaic expression: (Keth. 17b) They taught this in connection with time of strife (חֵרוּם). Comp. (I Kings 20:42) “The man with whom I contend (אִישׁ חֶרְמִי),” referring to Ahab.
