Isaiah 34:11-15

34:11 Owls and wild animals ¹  will live there, ² 

all kinds of wild birds ³  will settle in it.

The Lord ⁴  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ⁵  of destruction. ⁶ 

34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom

and all her officials will disappear. ⁷ 

34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;

thickets and weeds will grow ⁸  in her fortified cities.

Jackals will settle there;

ostriches will live there. ⁹ 

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ¹⁰ 

wild goats will bleat to one another. ¹¹ 

Yes, nocturnal animals ¹²  will rest there

and make for themselves a nest. ¹³ 

34:15 Owls ¹⁴  will make nests and lay eggs ¹⁵  there;

they will hatch them and protect them. ¹⁶ 

Yes, hawks ¹⁷  will gather there,

each with its mate.

Zephaniah 2:14

2:14 Flocks and herds ¹⁸  will lie down in the middle of it,

as well as every kind of wild animal. ¹⁹ 

Owls ²⁰  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;

they will hoot through the windows. ²¹ 

Rubble will cover the thresholds; ²² 

even the cedar work ²³  will be exposed to the elements. ²⁴ 

Revelation 18:2

18:2 He ²⁵  shouted with a powerful voice:

“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!

She ²⁶  has become a lair for demons,

a haunt ²⁷  for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detested beast. ²⁸ 

[34:11]  ¹ tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).

[34:11]  ² tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.

[34:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

[34:11]  ⁶ sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.

[34:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”

[34:13]  ⁸ tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:13]  ⁹ 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)

[34:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

[34:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

[34:14]  ¹² 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.”

[34:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

[34:15]  ¹⁴ tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.

[34:15]  ¹⁵ tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.

[34:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”

[34:15]  ¹⁷ tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.

[2:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “flocks.” The Hebrew word can refer to both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

[2:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[and] all the wild animals of a nation.” How גוֹי (goy, “nation”) relates to what precedes is unclear. It may be a corruption of another word. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 193.

[2:14]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads here גַּם־קָאַת גַּם־קִפֹּד (gam-qa’at gam-qippod). The term קָאַת refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (Isa 34:11); one of the most common translations is “owl” (cf. NEB “horned owl”; NIV, NRSV “desert owl”; contra NASB “pelican”). The term קִפֹּד may also refer to a type of bird (cf. NEB “ruffed bustard”; NIV, NRSV “screech owl”). Some suggest a rodent may be in view (cf. NASB “hedgehog”); this is not unreasonable, for a rodent or some other small animal would be able to sleep in the tops of pillars which would be lying in the ruins of the fallen buildings.

[2:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “a sound will sing in the window.” If some type of owl is in view, “hoot” is a more appropriate translation (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ²² tn Heb “rubble [will be] on the threshold.” “Rubble” translates the Hebrew word חֹרֶב (khorev, “desolation”). Some emend to עֹרֵב (’orev, “raven”) following the LXX and Vulgate; Adele Berlin translates, “A voice shall shriek from the window – a raven at the sill” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 104).

[2:14]  ²³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “cedar work” (so NASB, NRSV) is unclear; NIV has “the beams of cedar.”

[2:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “one will expose.” The subject is probably indefinite, though one could translate, “for he [i.e., God] will lay bare.”

[18:2]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style

[18:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “It” (the subject is embedded in the verb in Greek; the verb only indicates that it is third person). Since the city has been personified as the great prostitute, the feminine pronoun was used in the translation.

[18:2]  ²⁷ tn Here BDAG 1067 s.v. φυλακή 3 states, “a place where guarding is done, prison…Of the nether world or its place of punishment (πνεῦμα 2 and 4c) 1 Pt 3:19 (BReicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism ’46, 116f). It is in a φ. in the latter sense that Satan will be rendered harmless during the millennium Rv 20:7. The fallen city of Babylon becomes a φυλακή haunt for all kinds of unclean spirits and birds 18:2ab.”

[18:2]  ²⁸ tc There are several problems in this verse. It seems that according to the ms evidence the first two phrases (i.e., “and a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean bird” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" pneumato" akaqartou kai fulakh panto" orneou akaqartou]) are to be regarded as authentic, though there are some ms discrepancies. The similar beginnings (καὶ φυλακὴ παντός) and endings (ἀκαθάρτου) of each phrase would easily account for some mss omitting one or the other phrase. The third phrase (“a haunt for every unclean animal” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" qhriou akaqartou]), however, is more problematic since it is missing in several important mss (א C 051 Ï). The passage as a whole, including the third phrase, seems to be an allusion to Isa 13:21 and 34:11. It seems reasonable, in such a case, to assume that since there is good ms evidence to support the third phrase (A 1611 2329 al), it probably dropped out of certain mss because of its similarity to the two preceding clauses. It is the presence of all three phrases in the original that most likely gave rise to the divergent ms evidence extant today.