Isaiah 65:9

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land; ¹ 

my servants will live there.

Isaiah 34:11

34:11 Owls and wild animals ²  will live there, ³ 

all kinds of wild birds ⁴  will settle in it.

The Lord ⁵  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ⁶  of destruction. ⁷ 

Isaiah 34:17

34:17 He assigns them their allotment; ⁸ 

he measures out their assigned place. ⁹ 

They will live there ¹⁰  permanently;

they will settle in it through successive generations.

[65:9]  ¹ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.

[34:11]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

[34:11]  ⁷ sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.

[34:17]  ³ tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.

[34:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”