In the song Maoz Tzur it says
לְעֵת תָּכִין מַטְבֵּחַ מִצָּר הַמְנַבֵּחַ -
which the OU translates as -
When You will have prepared the slaughter for the blaspheming foe.
Who is this blaspheming foe of which we sing?
asked Dec 2, 2012 at 1:41
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1 Answer
It probably refers to Edom, who is described in the last verse. In that verse, our salvation from Edom is written in future tense, as a prayer.
It may instead refer collectively to all 5 exiles described in the song, of which Edom is the last. After our final redemption, we will dedicate the 3rd beit hamikdash.
I don't think it refers to each exile individually, since it would take a little bit of gymnastics to explain how we dedicated the mizbeach after both Bavel and Persia.
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1Indeed Rav Efrayim Greenblatt includes a running explanation of the song in siman 170 of Riv'vos Efrayim by someone named Nechemya Nusbecher, in which he says that that line is a reference to a verse in Y'shayahu (35:6) about Edom.– WAFDec 9, 2012 at 23:06
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