Isaiah 34

Isaiah 34 stands near the close of the judgment prophecies of chapters 1–39. Following Isaiah 33, which celebrates the restoration of Zion, it proclaims judgment on the nations and on Edom. The chapter immediately after it, Isaiah 35, depicts a restoration in which the wilderness blossoms, so that the two chapters form a contrast between judgment and salvation.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 The nations and everything on the earth are summoned to hear. The LORD is enraged against all nations; all the host of heaven dissolves, and the heavens are rolled up like a scroll.
• Verses 5–7 The sword of the LORD, which has drunk its fill in heaven, comes down upon Edom. The LORD's sacrifice in Bozrah is portrayed in the language of sacrificial ritual, with the slaughter of lambs, goats, and wild oxen.
• Verse 8 This day is called the day of the LORD's vengeance, the year in which he vindicates the cause of Zion.
• Verses 9–10 Edom's streams are turned into pitch (tar) and its dust into brimstone; its smoke goes up night and day without ceasing, and none shall pass through it forever.
• Verses 11–15 The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness are stretched over Edom. Its nobles and princes vanish, thorns grow in its palaces and fortresses, and wild beasts and birds make it their dwelling.
• Verses 16–17 Readers are told to search the book of the LORD. Not one of these creatures will be missing or without its mate; they will possess the land allotted to them by lot from generation to generation.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 34:4 "The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll" — an image of cosmic judgment that the Book of Revelation takes up.
• Isaiah 34:8 "For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion" — this verse identifies the purpose of the judgment as the vindication of God's people.
• Isaiah 34:16 "Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read" — understood as an assurance that the prophecy will surely be fulfilled.

People and Places

• Edom: The nation founded by the descendants of Esau; in this chapter it is singled out as the representative of the nations under judgment.
• Bozrah: A principal city of Edom. It appears again alongside Edom in Isaiah 63.
• Zion: Refers to Jerusalem and the people of God; in this chapter it is the party that is vindicated.

Points for Reflection

• How to read Edom: Some interpreters read the chapter as a historical judgment on the actual nation of Edom. Others, noting that the chapter opens by addressing all nations, take Edom as a symbol of all the forces opposed to God and read the passage as the eschatological judgment of the Day of the LORD. Resentment over Edom's conduct at the fall of Jerusalem also appears in Obadiah and in Psalm 137:7. Dispensationalist interpretation sometimes connects this chapter with judgment during a future Great Tribulation.
• The reversal of creation: The words "confusion" and "emptiness" in verse 11 are the same Hebrew terms (tohu and bohu) as "without form" and "void" in Genesis 1:2. For this reason some interpreters see Edom's destruction as a judgment that returns the land to its pre-creation state. The pitch and brimstone of verse 9 recall the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.
• The creature names in verse 14: The Hebrew word lilith, rendered "owl" in the Korean Revised Version, is translated in some versions as a night creature or a demon. The development of this word into the name of a female demon arose in later Jewish tradition and is not found in the text itself.
• The question of authorship: In critical scholarship, some hold that chapters 34–35 are stylistically close to chapters 40 and following and associate them with later editing. From a conservative standpoint, these two chapters are likewise regarded as the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah.
• Connections with the New Testament: The image of the heavens rolled up like a scroll and falling like leaves from a fig tree reappears in Revelation 6:13–14, and the image of smoke rising forever reappears in Revelation 14:9–11 and Revelation 19:3. The depiction of the heavens passing away on the last day is also read together with 2 Peter 3:10–13.