Yesaya 34:5-8

34:5 He says, ¹  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ² 

Look, it now descends on Edom, ³ 

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,

it is covered ⁴  with fat;

it drips ⁵  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ⁶  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁷  in Bozrah, ⁸ 

a bloody ⁹  slaughter in the land of Edom.

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ¹⁰  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ¹¹ 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, ¹² 

a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. ¹³ 

Yesaya 63:1-4

The Victorious Divine Warrior

63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, ¹⁴ 

dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? ¹⁵ 

Who ¹⁶  is this one wearing royal attire, ¹⁷ 

who marches confidently ¹⁸  because of his great strength?

“It is I, the one who announces vindication,

and who is able to deliver!” ¹⁹ 

63:2 Why are your clothes red?

Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? ²⁰ 

63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;

no one from the nations joined me.

I stomped on them ²¹  in my anger;

I trampled them down in my rage.

Their juice splashed on my garments,

and stained ²²  all my clothes.

63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,

and then payback time arrived. ²³ 

[34:5]  ¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

[34:5]  ² tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”

[34:5]  sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.

[34:5]  ³ sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.

[34:6]  ⁴ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ⁵ tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁶ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ⁸ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

[34:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[34:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[34:8]  ¹² tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”

[34:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”

[63:1]  ¹⁴ sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.

[63:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”

[63:1]  ¹⁶ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.

[63:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”

[63:1]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsa’ah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsa’ad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).

[63:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”

[63:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”

[63:3]  ²¹ sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.

[63:3]  ²² tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).

[63:4]  ²³ tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.