complete verse (Isaiah 34:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 34:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Many people shall die
    until no one is present to bury another!
    Their corpses shall smell bad
    and their blood shall flow down the hillsides.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The corpses [of the] people will be taken out and thrown away.
    Their corpses will stink badly
    and their blood will be on the mountains.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Their corpses will- not -be-buried, therefore the smell of-these will-leak-out, and the mountains will-become-red of their blood.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 34:3

This verse describes the slaughter of the nations and their armies in gruesome detail.

Each line of this verse begins with the common Hebrew conjunction (literally “and”). Revised Standard Version omits it at the beginning of the first and third lines. Translators may include it where it fits naturally.

Their slain shall be cast out: Their slain are all those who are killed. The Hebrew verb rendered shall be cast out normally refers to throwing something away, but in this context it is better translated “will be abandoned” or “shall be left lying” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation expresses this line accurately with “Their corpses will not be buried.”

And the stench of their corpses shall rise: Because the dead bodies are not buried, they will soon decompose and smell terrible. Stench refers to a very strong and offensive smell. Shall rise expresses the Hebrew literally. A better rendering for this line in English is “and their corpses will give off [or, emit/produce] a terrible smell.”

The mountains shall flow with their blood pictures the blood of the slain flowing down the mountains like a stream. However, the Hebrew verb translated flow is literally “be melted/dissolved,” so this line may be rendered “the mountains will be dissolved by their blood.” Other possible models are “the mountains will be soaked with their blood” (New International Version), “the hills shall be drenched with their blood” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and “the mountains will be red with blood” (Good News Translation). These renderings are perhaps less dramatic, but the sense is clear enough.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Their dead will be abandoned,
and the corpses will give off a terrible smell;
the mountains will be dissolved by their blood.

• Their people who are killed will be not be buried,
the stench of their corpses will fill the air;
the mountain streams will flow with their blood.

• Nobody will bury their people who are slaughtered,
and their corpses will fill the air with their stench;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.

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 .