Yesaya 34:6-10

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

it is covered ¹  with fat;

it drips ²  with the blood of young rams and goats

and is covered ³  with the fat of rams’ kidneys.

For the Lord is holding a sacrifice ⁴  in Bozrah, ⁵ 

a bloody ⁶  slaughter in the land of Edom.

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

as well as strong bulls. ⁸ 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, ⁹ 

a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. ¹⁰ 

34:9 Edom’s ¹¹  streams will be turned into pitch

and her soil into brimstone;

her land will become burning pitch.

34:10 Night and day it will burn; ¹² 

its smoke will ascend continually.

Generation after generation it will be a wasteland

and no one will ever pass through it again.

Yesaya 63:6

63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,

I made them drunk ¹³  in my rage,

I splashed their blood on the ground.” ¹⁴ 

Yehezkiel 35:15

35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you – you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom – all of it! Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Amos 1:11-12

1:11 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Edom has committed three crimes ¹⁵  –

make that four! ¹⁶  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ¹⁷ 

He chased his brother ¹⁸  with a sword;

he wiped out his allies. ¹⁹ 

In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; ²⁰ 

in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. ²¹ 

1:12 So I will set Teman ²²  on fire;

fire ²³  will consume Bozrah’s ²⁴  fortresses.”

Obaja 1:16

1:16 For just as you ²⁵  have drunk ²⁶  on my holy mountain,

so all the nations will drink continually. ²⁷ 

They will drink, and they will gulp down;

they will be as though they had never been.

Habakuk 2:16

2:16 But you will become drunk ²⁸  with shame, not majesty. ²⁹ 

Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! ³⁰ 

The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand ³¹  is coming to you,

and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!

[34:6]  ¹ tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.

[34:6]  ² tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ³ tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”

[34:6]  ⁵ sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.

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

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

[34:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[34:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”

[34:8]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[34:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:10]  ¹² tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”

[63:6]  ¹³ sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.

[63:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).

[1:11]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Edom, even because of four.”

[1:11]  sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ¹⁸ sn It is likely that “brother” refers here to a treaty partner (see the note on the word “brotherhood” in 1:9). However, it is possible, if Israel is in view, that Edom’s ancient blood relationship to God’s people is alluded to here. Cf. NCV, NLT “their relatives, the Israelites.”

[1:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “He stifled his compassion.” The Hebrew term רָחֲמָיו (rakhamayv) is better understood here (parallel to “brother/treaty partner”) as a reference to “allies” which Edom betrayed. An Aramaic cognate is attested (see DNWSI 2:1069-70). See M. Fishbane, “The Treaty Background of Amos 1:11 and Related Matters,” JBL 89 (1970): 313-18; idem, “Critical Note: Additional Remarks on rh£myw (Amos 1:11),” JBL 91 (1972): 391-93; and M. Barré, “Amos 1:11 reconsidered,” CBQ 47 (1985) 420-27. Some argue that the clause is best translated as “and destroyed his womenfolk.” רַחַם (rakham) means “womb”; the plural here would be a metonymy for “women” and could establish a parallel with the atrocity of 1:13. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 64-65.

[1:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his anger tore continually.” The Hebrew verb טָרַף (taraf, “tear apart”) is often used of an animal tearing apart its prey. The word picture here is that of a vicious predator’s feeding frenzy.

[1:11]  ²¹ tn Traditionally, “he kept his fury continually.” The Hebrew term שְׁמָרָה (shÿmarah) could be taken as a Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular with 3rd person feminine singular suffix (with mappiq omitted), “he kept it” (NASB, NKJV, NRSV). It is also possible in light of the parallelism that שָׁמַר (shamar) is a rare homonym cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to rage; to be furious.” Repointing the verb as שָׁמְרָה (shamÿrah, third person feminine singular), one could translate literally, “his fury raged continually” (NIV, NJPS).

[1:12]  ²² sn Teman was an important region (or perhaps city) in Edom.

[1:12]  ²³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:12]  ²⁴ sn Bozrah was a city located in northern Edom.

[1:16]  ²⁵ tn The identification of the referent of “you” in v. 16a is uncertain. There are three major options: (1) On the surface, it would appear to be Edom, which is addressed in v. 15b and throughout the prophecy. However, when Edom is addressed, second person singular forms are normally used in the Hebrew. In v. 16a the Hebrew verb “you drank” is a plural form שְׁתִיתֶם (shÿtitem), perhaps suggesting that Edom is no longer addressed, at least solely. Perhaps Edom and the nations, mentioned in v. 15a, are both addressed in v. 16a. However, since the nations are referred to in the third person in v. 16b, it seems unlikely that they are addressed here. (2) Another option is to take the final mem (ם) on the Hebrew verb form (שְׁתִיתֶם) as an enclitic particle and revocalize the form as a singular verb (שָׁתִיתָ, shatita) addressed to Edom. In this case v. 16a would allude to the time when Edom celebrated Jerusalem’s defeat on Mount Zion, God’s “holy hill.” Verse 16b would then make the ironic point that just as Edom once drank in victory, so the nations (Edom included) would someday drink the cup of judgment. However, this interpretation is problematic for it necessitates taking the drinking metaphor in different ways (as signifying celebration and then judgment) within the same verse. (3) Another option is that the exiled people of Judah are addressed. Just as God’s people were forced to drink the intoxicating wine of divine judgment, so the nations, including those who humiliated Judah, would be forced to drink this same wine. However, the problem here is that God’s people are never addressed elsewhere in the prophecy, making this approach problematic as well.

[1:16]  ²⁶ sn This reference to drinking portrays the profane activities of those who had violated Jerusalem’s sanctity. The following reference to drinking on the part of the nations portrays God’s judgment upon them. They will drink, as it were, from the cup of divine retribution.

[1:16]  ²⁷ sn The judgment is compared here to intoxicating wine, which the nations are forced to keep drinking (v. 16). Just as an intoxicating beverage eventually causes the one drinking it to become disoriented and to stagger, so God’s judgment would cause the panic-stricken nations to stumble around in confusion. This extended metaphor is paralleled in Jer 49:12 which describes God’s imminent judgment on Edom, “If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath have to drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but you also will certainly drink from the cup of my wrath.” There are numerous parallels between Obadiah and the oracle against Edom in Jer 49:1-22, so perhaps the latter should be used to help understand the enigmatic metaphor here in v. 16.

[2:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “are filled.” The translation assumes the verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of Babylon’s coming judgment, which will reduce the majestic empire to shame and humiliation.

[2:16]  ²⁹ tn Or “glory.”

[2:16]  ³⁰ tc Heb “drink, even you, and show the foreskin.” Instead of הֵעָרֵל (he’arel, “show the foreskin”) one of the Dead Sea scrolls has הֵרָעֵל (hera’el, “stumble”). This reading also has support from several ancient versions and is followed by the NEB (“you too shall drink until you stagger”) and NRSV (“Drink, you yourself, and stagger”). For a defense of the Hebrew text, see P. D. Miller, Jr., Sin and Judgment in the Prophets, 63-64.

[2:16]  ³¹ sn The Lord’s right hand represents his military power. He will force the Babylonians to experience the same humiliating defeat they inflicted on others.