The figure of a sword continues. Yahweh’s sword has completed its work of judgment in the sky and has turned against Edom, treating it as a sacrifice. Sacrificial language dominates this verse. Blood and fat are two important elements of any sacrifice (see the comments on 1.11). There is an A-B-A-B structure in the first half of the verse: blood B fat B blood B fat.

The LORD has a sword: The sword again represents a means of punishment. This is made explicit in the second translation example below.

It is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat: These are two parallel statements about the sword, using sacrificial imagery. The blood, signifying life, was poured out when the sacrificial animal was killed; the fat represented the best portion of the animal and was burned on the altar as part of the sin offering and other offerings (see Exo 29.13 and elsewhere). The verbs sated and gorged refer to the sword as a person that has eaten and drunk its fill. If translators are unable to use the vocabulary of eating and drinking in this context, they may say “it is covered [or, dripping] with blood and fat” (similarly Good News Translation).

With the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: In these two lines the prophet adds information that builds on the previous two clauses, continuing the sacrificial theme. They are an example of all-inclusive parallelism. The blood of lambs and goats and the fat of … rams refers the blood and fat of all three animals. These animals were often used as sacrifices (see, for example, Num 7.17; see also the comments on 1.11).

For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom: This is the third time the Hebrew particle ki rendered For is a logical connector in this section (see the introductory comments [34.1-17]). The LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah is literally “there is a sacrifice to Yahweh in Bozrah.” However, most translations prefer to render it as though Yahweh is personally making the sacrifice (so Good News Translation). That fits with the context, since he is the one wielding the sword. A good model is “Yahweh offers a sacrifice in Bozrah.” Bozrah was an important city in Edom, located north of Petra and well defended. It may have been the capital of Edom. It lay on the high mountain peaks southeast of the southern end of the Dead Sea. The city is mentioned again in 63.1 (see also Gen 36.33). Here it represents all of Edom, which is clear from the following parallel line. A great slaughter picks up the theme of verse 2.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Yahweh’s sword is sated with [drinking] blood,
it is gorged [or, filled to satisfaction] with [eating] fat;
it is the blood from lambs and goats,
the fat from the kidneys of rams.
For Yahweh offers a sacrifice in Bozrah,
makes a great slaughter throughout the land of Edom.

• Yahweh has a sword [for punishment];
that sword is covered in blood and fat,
the blood of lambs of lambs, goats, and rams,
and the fat from around their kidneys.
For Yahweh offers a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah,
makes a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .