Isaiah 34:3 - Exposition

Cast out ; i.e. refused burial—thrown to the dogs and vultures (comp. Jeremiah 22:19 ; Jeremiah 36:30 ). Such treatment of the dead was regarded as a shame and a disgrace. It was on some occasions an intentional insult ( Jeremiah 22:19 ); but here the idea is rather that it would be impossible to bury the slain on account of their number. In ancient times corpses often lay unburied on battle-fields (Herod; Isaiah 3:12 ). The mountains shall be molted with their blood . When the feelings of the prophet are excited, he shrinks from no hyperbole. Here he represents the blood of God's enemies as shed in such torrents that mountains are melted by it.