“Rolled in Blood”

Brant Gardner

This verse connotes a final victory and so is probably best read eschatologically, since both the blood and fire are associated with events of the end of time. Ezekiel prophesies:

And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it. (Ezek. 21:31–32)

Acts more clearly associates blood and fire with the last days:

And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. (Acts 2:18–20)

Finally, the imagery appears in John’s Apocalypse:

The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood. (Rev. 8:7–8)

While the clothing “rolled in blood” describes the garments of fallen soldiers, it also evokes the saving blood of the Lamb and the warrior imagery associated with Yahweh. The burnings, on a literal level, describe sacked cities and villages but are also part of the cleansing of the last days (Mal. 3:2; Matt. 3:10–12, 13:38–40; Luke 12:49; Rev. 16:8). As noted earlier, Isaiah constructs these verses with intentional duality.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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