Isa 34:5 – “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens”

This text rendered above as in the RSV correctly captures the Perfect aspect/tense of the Hebrew verb which places the “drinking” of the sword in the past. The KJV has “shall be bathed in heaven” which incorrectly directs the English reader to think of a future and imminent act. Since in the KJV the next clause of the verse has, “behold, it shall come down in Idumea”, which correctly captures the Imperfect aspect/tense of its Hebrew verb, readers are presented with the odd equation of heaven and Edom and driven to think of ‘heaven’ as a metaphor for the “political heavens”.

However, the RSV allows a different reading: “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, behold, now, it shall come down upon Idumea”. The “behold, now” expresses the tone of the hnh. This in turn allows the reader to see that “the heavens” are a figure of speech for Zion which is evident in other Isaiah texts. The declaration is now seen to refer to the recent siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian army and its confederate nations in 701, one of which was Edom. The statement anticipates that now (700) was to be the year of recompence (Isa 35:8).