Isaiah 13:21-22

13:21 Wild animals will rest there,

the ruined ¹  houses will be full of hyenas. ² 

Ostriches will live there,

wild goats will skip among the ruins. ³ 

13:22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses,

jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. ⁴ 

Her time is almost up, ⁵ 

her days will not be prolonged. ⁶ 

Isaiah 34:13-14

34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;

thickets and weeds will grow ⁷  in her fortified cities.

Jackals will settle there;

ostriches will live there. ⁸ 

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ⁹ 

wild goats will bleat to one another. ¹⁰ 

Yes, nocturnal animals ¹¹  will rest there

and make for themselves a nest. ¹² 

Isaiah 35:7

35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,

the parched ground springs of water.

Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,

grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.

Jeremiah 9:11

9:11 The Lord said, ¹³ 

“I will make Jerusalem ¹⁴  a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ¹⁵ 

I will destroy the towns of Judah

so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Jeremiah 51:37

51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ¹⁶ 

It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,

a place where no one lives. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn The word “ruined” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

² tn The precise referent of this word in uncertain. See HALOT 29 s.v. *אֹחַ. Various English versions translate as “owls” (e.g., NAB, NASB), “wild dogs” (NCV); “jackals” (NIV); “howling creatures” (NRSV, NLT).

³ tn Heb “will skip there.”

⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “wild dogs will yip among his widows, and jackals in the palaces of pleasure.” The verb “yip” is supplied in the second line; it does double duty in the parallel structure. “His widows” makes little sense in this context; many emend the form (אַלְמנוֹתָיו, ’almnotayv) to the graphically similar אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ (’armÿnoteha, “her fortresses”), a reading that is assumed in the present translation. The use of “widows” may represent an intentional wordplay on “fortresses,” indicating that the fortresses are like dejected widows (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:308, n. 1).

⁵ tn Heb “near to come is her time.”

⁶ sn When was the prophecy of Babylon’s fall fulfilled? Some argue that the prophecy was fulfilled in 689 b.c. when the Assyrians under Sennacherib sacked and desecrated the city (this event is alluded to in 23:13). This may have been an initial phase in the fulfillment of the prophecy, but the reference to the involvement of the Medes (v. 17) and the suggestion that Babylon’s demise will bring about the restoration of Israel (14:1-2) indicate that the fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians in 538 b.c. is the primary focus of the prophecy. (After all, the Lord did reveal to Isaiah that the Chaldeans [not the Assyrians] would someday conquer Jerusalem and take the people into exile [see 39:5-7].) However, the vivid picture of destruction in vv. 15-22 raises a problem. The Medes and Persians did not destroy the city; in fact Cyrus’ takeover of Babylon, though preceded by a military campaign, was relatively peaceful and even welcomed by some Babylonian religious officials. How then does one explain the prophecy’s description of the city’s violent fall? As noted above, the events of 689 b.c. and 538 b.c. may have been merged in the prophecy. However, it is more likely that the language is stylized and exaggerated for rhetorical effect. See Isa 34:11-15; Jer 50:39-40 (describing Babylon’s fall in 538 b.c.); 51:36-37 (describing Babylon’s fall in 538 b.c.); Zeph 2:13-15; the extra-biblical Sefire treaty curses; and Ashurbanipal’s description of the destruction of Elam in his royal annals. In other words, the events of 538 b.c. essentially, though not necessarily literally, fulfill the prophecy.

⁷ tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tc Heb “and she will be a settlement for wild dogs, a dwelling place for ostriches.” The translation assumes an emendation of חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass”) to חָצֵר (khatser, “settlement”). One of the Qumran scrolls of Isaiah (1QIsa^a) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)

⁹ tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

¹¹ tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”

¹² tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

¹³ tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁵ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.” Compare 9:11.

¹⁷ tn Heb “without an inhabitant.”