Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 34

Verses 1-17

The Day of the Lord’s Justice (34:1-17)

Chapters 34 and 35 belong together in the same alternation of judgment and salvation which is so prominent in the preceding chapters. It has long been agreed by most interpreters that the actual material is drawn from the same circles who have preserved for us chapters 40-66. In verses 5, 6, and 9 the object of God’s terrible punishment is spoken of as the country of Edom, which recalls the experience of Judeans when their country was being laid waste by the Babylonians in the period 598-587 B.c. During the weakness of Judah, the Edomites moved into the southern part of the country, annexed it to themselves, and settled it. The prophecy of Obadiah makes further reference to this situation, which becomes the occasion for the prophet’s announcement of the Day of the Lord against all nations and all peoples who are in enmity against him. All are called to listen to the Lord’s indictment and purpose (vs. 1).

Verse 8 states the prophet’s meaning most clearly, “For the Lord has a day of vengeance.” The English word “vengeance” no longer translates the meaning of the underlying Hebrew word. “Vengeance” in modern English has only a negative connotation; it refers only to the unjust attitude of a person determined to get even with someone else for some action against him. The Hebrew word, however, is set squarely in the context of justice. It refers to the action of God toward people whose cases have been tried in God’s court. The Hebrew word refers, then, to God’s carrying out his sentence. Most often it involves vindication, in which case the word should be translated “salvation” (for example, in 35:4 and 61:2). Indeed, long before biblical days it was used frequently with just this meaning. On the other hand, when people are guilty before God, the word can mean his punishing action—and that is what it means in verse 8.

The terror and the bloodiness of the description in this chapter easily repel the reader and cause him on occasion to think that God could not be like this. Yet we must consider the issues of good and evil, justice and injustice, God’s struggle for the good and for salvation over against all the forces of darkness and evil which oppose him. We must take these seriously, for otherwise we cannot interpret our history in terms of the providence of God. Indeed, if God’s justice is not punishing as well as saving, then man can have little hope, for there will be nothing to stay the forces of evil in history. History is filled with human struggle and with human blood, and the Hebrew prophet faces it frankly and sees working within it the providence of God.