קִרְבוּ גוֹיִם לִשְׁמֹעַ וּלְאֻמִּים הַקְשִׁיבוּ תִּשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ וּמְלֹאָהּ תֵּבֵל וְכָל צֶאֱצָאֶיהָ

Approach, nations, to hear, and peoples, listen; let the earth and that which fills it hear, the world and all its offspring, all the creatures of the world.

כִּי קֶצֶף לַה' עַל כָּל הַגּוֹיִם וְחֵמָה עַל כָּל צְבָאָם הֶחֱרִימָם נְתָנָם לַטָּבַח

For the Lord has rage against all the nations and fury against all their host; He destroyed them, delivered them to the slaughter.

וְחַלְלֵיהֶם יֻשְׁלָכוּ וּפִגְרֵיהֶם יַעֲלֶה בָאְשָׁם וְנָמַסּוּ הָרִים מדָּמָם

Their slain will be cast away, the stench of their corpses will rise, as they will be strewn unburied across the ground, and the mountains will melt from all their blood.

וְנָמַקּוּ כָּל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנָגֹלּוּ כַסֵּפֶר הַשָּׁמָיִם וְכָל צְבָאָם יִבּוֹל כִּנְבֹל עָלֶה מִגֶּפֶן וּכְנֹבֶלֶת תְּאֵנָה

Signs will appear in the skies: All the host of the heavens will putrefy, the heavens will be rolled like a scroll which is being put away as it is crumbling, and all their host will wither like the withering of a leaf from a vine, which shrivels, and like a withered fruit from a fig tree. These signs are indications of God’s activity on earth, or a metaphor for the experiences of those dwelling on earth.

כִּי רִוְּתָה בַשָּׁמַיִם חַרְבִּי הִנֵּה עַל אֱדוֹם תֵּרֵד וְעַל עַם חֶרְמִי לְמִשְׁפָּט

For when My sword is slaked in heaven, behold, it will now descend upon the land of Edom and upon the people of My destruction, the people whom I killed in My anger, for the rendering of judgment.

חֶרֶב לַה' מָלְאָה דָם הֻדַּשְׁנָה מֵחֵלֶב מִדַּם כָּרִים וְעַתּוּדִים מֵחֵלֶב כִּלְיוֹת אֵילִים כִּי זֶבַח לַה' בְּבָצְרָה וְטֶבַח גָּדוֹל בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם

A sword for the Lord is filled with blood, gorged with fat, with the blood of fat lambs and older, male goats, with the fat of kidneys of rams. These animals symbolize the leaders of Edom. For there is a sacrifice to the Lord in Botzra, an important Edomite city, and there is a great slaughter for Him in the land of Edom.

וְיָרְדוּ רְאֵמִים עִמָּם וּפָרִים עִם אַבִּירִים וְרִוְּתָה אַרְצָם מִדָּם וַעֲפָרָם מֵחֵלֶב יְדֻשָּׁן

Wild oxen, large, horned beasts, possibly buffalos, which are as large as oxen but wilder, will go down with them for the slaughter, and bulls with mighty steers. These types of cattle represent the princes or kings who will fall together with the minor leaders, the flock. And their land will be slaked with blood, and their dust will be gorged with fat. All the blood and the fat from the killing will fertilize the soil.

כִּי יוֹם נָקָם לַה' שְׁנַת שִׁלּוּמִים לרִיב צִיּוֹן

For it is a day of vengeance for the Lord, and a year of retribution against Edom for the dispute of Zion.

וְנֶהֶפְכוּ נְחָלֶיהָ לְזֶפֶת וַעֲפָרָהּ לְגָפְרִית וְהָיְתָה אַרְצָהּ לְזֶפֶת בֹּעֵרָה

Its, the land of Edom’s, streams will turn into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch.

לַיְלָה וְיוֹמָם לֹא תִכְבֶּה לְעוֹלָם יַעֲלֶה עֲשָׁנָהּ מִדּוֹר לָדוֹר תֶּחֱרָב לְנֵצַח נְצָחִים אֵין עֹבֵר בָּהּ

Night and day, it, this fire, will not be extinguished; its smoke will rise forever; from generation to generation it, the land of Edom, will be desolate; for ever and ever, no one passes through it.

וִירֵשׁוּהָ קָאַת וְקִפּוֹד וְיַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב יִשְׁכְּנוּ בָהּ וְנָטָה עָלֶיהָ קַו תֹהוּ וְאַבְנֵי בֹהוּ

The eagle owl and the fish owl, wild birds that live only in uninhabited areas, will possess it, and the owl and the raven will dwell in it. When the land is rendered desolate after the deaths of its inhabitants, only these birds will be found there. And He shall stretch over it a measuring line of emptiness and stones of disorder. The land of Edom will be destroyed and emptied.

חֹרֶיהָ — וְאֵין שָׁם מְלוּכָה יִקְרָאוּ וְכָל שָׂרֶיהָ יִהְיוּ אָפֶס

It may have nobles, but there is no kingdom in whose name they, the people, will be summoned, and all its princes will be nothing. The leadership of Edom will disappear. Even if they survive physically, they will lose their authority.

וְעָלְתָה אַרְמְנֹתֶיהָ סִירִים קִמּוֹשׂ וָחוֹחַ בְּמִבְצָרֶיהָ וְהָיְתָה נְוֵה תַנִּים חָצִיר לִבְנוֹת יַעֲנָה

Its palaces will sprout thorns, nettles and thistleswill be in its fortresses, and it will be an abode of jackals, an enclosure for ostriches [benot ya’ana]. Alternatively, benot ya’ana might mean a species of nocturnal bird (see commentary on 13:21).

וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת אִיִּים וְשָׂעִיר עַל רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא אַךְ שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹחַ

Desert beasts will meet wildcats [iyyim], possibly the original, onomatopoeic name for wildcats, due to the sound they make, which differs from that of domesticated cats; and one scops owl, a nocturnal bird (see 13:21), will call to another; indeed, there, the tawny owl will repose and will find rest for itself.

שָׁמָּה קִנְּנָה קִפּוֹז וַתְּמַלֵּט וּבָקְעָה וְדָגְרָה בְצִלָּהּ אַךְ שָׁם נִקְבְּצוּ דַיּוֹת אִשָּׁה רְעוּתָהּ

There, the fish owl [kippoz] will nest. This kippoz appears to be the same creature as the kippod, fish owl, mentioned in verse 11. And it will lay eggs; alternatively, it will escape. And it will hatch and brood in its shadow, in the shadow of the ruins; there, the kites, the name of a bird, will be gathered, each with another, during their migration.

דִּרְשׁוּ מֵעַל סֵפֶר ה'וּקְרָאוּ אַחַת מֵהֵנָּה לֹא נֶעְדָּרָה אִשָּׁה רְעוּתָהּ לֹא פָקָדוּ כִּי פִי הוּא צִוָּה וְרוּחוֹ הוּא קִבְּצָן

Search in the book of the Lord, reflect on the Torah and learn it, and when you read it, you will realize that not one of them, these curses or prophecies written here, is missing, not one of them is lacking its mate. All of these prophecies shall come to pass, in the last detail, as it is My mouth that commanded, and it is His breath that gathered them, all these beasts.

וְהוּא הִפִּיל לָהֶן גּוֹרָל וְיָדוֹ חִלְּקַתָּה לָהֶם בַּקָּו עַד עוֹלָם יִירָשׁוּהָ לְדוֹר וָדוֹר יִשְׁכְּנוּ בָהּ

He cast lots for them, to divide this area between those animals, and His hand divided it, the land, to them with a line, a measuring implement; forever they, the beasts, will possess it, from generation to generation they will dwell in it.