Isaiah 34:6

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Isaiah 34:6 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
Isaiah 34:6 — American Standard Version

Context — Isaiah 34

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
6The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, &c.] Multitudes being slain by it; the “Lord” here is that divine Person that is described as a warrior, as a General of an army, with a sharp sword, by whom many are slain, such a number as that it is filled with the blood of them, (<661911>Revelation 19:11-16,21): it is made fat with fatness: not only filled with the blood, but fattened by it; the allusion is to ravenous creatures gorged and sated with the blood of others, and thereby made fat; perhaps this may refer to Christian princes, the sword in the hand of the Lord, who shall be enriched with the plunder and spoil of the antichristian states: [and] with the blood of lambs and goats, with…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“filled--glutted. The image of a sacrifice is continued. blood . . . fat--the parts especially devoted to God in a sacrifice (Sa2 1:22). lambs . . . goats--sacrificial animals: the Idumeans, of all classes, doomed to slaughter, are meant (Zep 1:7). Bozrah--called Bostra by the Romans, &c., assigned in Jer 48:24 to Moab, so that it seems to have been at one time in the dominion of Edom, and at another in that of Moab (Isa 63:1; Jer 49:13, Jer 49:20, Jer 49:22); it was strictly not in Edom, but the capital of Auranitis (the Houran). Edom seems to have extended its dominion so as to include it (compare Lam 4:21).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“The sword of the Lord is filled with blood - The idea here is taken from the notion of sacrifice, and is, that God would devote to sacrifice, or to destruction, the inhabitants of Idumea. With reference to that, he says, that his sword, the instrument of slaughter, would be satiated with blood. “It is made fat with fatness.” The allusion here is to the sacrifices which were made for sin, in which the blood. and the fat were devoted to God as an offering (see Leviticus 7:0) With the blood of lambs and goats - These were the animals which were usually offered in sacrifice to God among the Jews. and to speak of a sacrifice was the same as to speak of the offering of rams, lambs, bullocks, etc.…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“The sword - The metaphor is taken from a great glutton, who is almost insatiable. Rams - By lambs, and goats, and rams, he means people of all ranks and conditions, high and low, rich and poor. Bozrah - A chief city of Edom, and a type of those cities which should be most opposite to God's people. Isaiah 34:7”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“34:6 Bozrah was a city in Edom, southeast of the Dead Sea.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“filled: Isa 63:3; Jer 49:13; Eze 21:4, Eze 21:5, Eze 21:10 the fat: Deu 32:14 the Lord hath: Isa 34:5, Isa 63:1; Jer 50:27, Jer 51:40; Eze 39:17-20; Zep 1:7; Rev 19:17, Rev 19:18 Isaiah 34:7”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification