Jeremiah 17:6

17:6 They will be like a shrub ¹  in the desert.

They will not experience good things even when they happen.

It will be as though they were growing in the desert,

in a salt land where no one can live.

Jeremiah 50:13

50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. ² 

It will be totally desolate.

All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn

because of all the disasters that have happened to it. ³ 

Jeremiah 50:39

50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.

Ostriches ⁴  will dwell in it too. ⁵ 

But no people will ever live there again.

No one will dwell there for all time to come. ⁶ 

[17:6]  ¹ tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131.

[50:13]  ² tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the Lord it will be uninhabited.” The causal connection is spelled out more clearly and actively and the first person has been used because the speaker is the Lord. The referent “it” has been spelled out clearly from the later occurrence in the verse, “all who pass by Babylon.”

[50:13]  ³ sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.

[50:39]  ³ tn The identification of this bird has been called into question by G. R. Driver, “Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 (1955): 137-38. He refers to this bird as an owl. That identification, however, is not reflected in any of the lexicons including the most recent, which still gives “ostrich” (HALOT 402 s.v. יַעֲנָה) as does W. S. McCullough, “Ostrich,” IDB 3:611. REB, NIV, NCV, and God’s Word all identify this bird as “owl/desert owl.”

[50:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “Therefore desert creatures will live with jackals and ostriches will live in it.”

[50:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage in Ps 100:5 and Isaiah 13:20. Since the first half of the verse has spoken of animals living there, it is necessary to add “people” and turn the passive verbs into active ones.