Bozrah, Edom's fortified capital mentioned in only six biblical passages, transforms from a symbol of military strength into prophetic shorthand for complete divine devastation.
Isaiah 34
Judgment on the Nations
1Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it.
2For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter.
3Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up. The mountains will melt in their blood.
4All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree.
5For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment.
6The LORD’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat.
8For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch.
10It won’t be quenched night or day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever.
11But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
12They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.
13Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
14The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest.
15The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate.
16Search in the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.
17He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
Font Size 17pt
Line Spacing
Theme
Isaiah 34 presents a dramatic prophecy of divine judgment against all nations, with particular focus on Edom as representative of God's enemies. The chapter depicts cosmic upheaval and complete desolation, using vivid imagery of divine warfare, sacrifice, and the transformation of once-inhabited lands into wilderness haunted by wild creatures. This oracle of judgment serves as a counterpoint to the restoration promises that follow, emphasizing God's sovereignty over nations and His commitment to justice for His people.
Context
This chapter of judgment against the nations precedes Isaiah 35's contrasting vision of restoration and joy, creating a deliberate theological juxtaposition between divine wrath and redemption.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-4 Universal Call to Witness Divine Judgment All nations and creation are summoned to hear God's pronouncement of total destruction and cosmic dissolution.
- 5-8 God's Sword Against Edom The Lord's judgment specifically targets Edom with imagery of divine sacrifice and slaughter in the day of vengeance.
- 9-15 Eternal Desolation of the Land The condemned territory becomes a perpetual wasteland inhabited only by wild animals and unclean creatures.
- 16-17 Divine Word Guarantees Fulfillment God's Spirit ensures that every aspect of this judgment prophecy will be accomplished as written.
Judgment on the Nations
34:1–34:17 prophecy wrathful
God pronounces judgment on all nations, particularly Edom, describing complete destruction and desolation as divine vengeance for Zion's cause.
geographic
Bozrah, Edom's fortified capital mentioned in only six biblical passages, transforms from a symbol of military strength into prophetic shorthand for complete divine devastation.
Insights
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
Isaiah 34:3 1 reference
Isaiah 34:4 4 references
Lexicals 4
Jeremiah 8:13 Lexical
“‘I will utterly consume them, says the LORD. No grapes will be on the vine, no figs on the fig tree, and the leaf will…
Ezekiel 47:12 Lexical
By the river banks, on both sides, will grow every tree for food, whose leaf won’t wither, neither will its fruit fail.…
Psalms 1:3 Lexical
He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not…
Isaiah 1:30 Lexical
For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.
Isaiah 34:5 1 reference
Isaiah 34:6 5 references
Lexicals 5
Deuteronomy 32:14 Lexical
butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fines…
Isaiah 1:11 Lexical
“What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says the LORD. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and…
Ezekiel 39:18 Lexical
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats,…
Jeremiah 51:40 Lexical
“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
Ezekiel 27:21 Lexical
“‘“Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favorite dealers in lambs, rams, and goats. In these, they were your me…
Isaiah 34:7 2 references
Isaiah 34:9 1 reference
Isaiah 34:10 1 reference
Isaiah 34:11 3 references
Lexicals 3
Zephaniah 2:14 Lexical
Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all kinds of animals. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its cap…
Genesis 1:2 Lexical
The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface…
Jeremiah 4:23 Lexical
I saw the earth and, behold, it was waste and void, and the heavens, and they had no light.
Isaiah 34:13 4 references
Lexicals 4
Hosea 9:6 Lexical
For, behold, when they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their p…
Isaiah 43:20 Lexical
The animals of the field, the jackals and the ostriches, shall honor me, because I give water in the wilderness and rive…
Micah 1:8 Lexical
For this I will lament and wail. I will go stripped and naked. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like the ostriches…
Job 30:29 Lexical
I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.
Isaiah 34:14 2 references
Lexicals 2
Isaiah 34:15 1 reference
Interlinear
Word-by-word original language
v. 1
v. 2
v. 3
v. 4
v. 5
v. 6
v. 7
v. 8
v. 9
v. 10
v. 11
v. 12
v. 13
v. 14
v. 15
v. 16
v. 17
Lemma
Morphology
Semantic Range
Theological Significance
Translation Notes
Key Passages
Historical Context
Places and events in this chapter
Loading map...