Jeremiah 49:13

49:13 For I solemnly swear,” ¹  says the Lord, “that Bozrah ²  will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example to be used in curses. ³  All the towns around it will lie in ruins forever.”

Isaiah 34:9-15

34:9 Edom’s ⁴  streams will be turned into pitch

and her soil into brimstone;

her land will become burning pitch.

34:10 Night and day it will burn; ⁵ 

its smoke will ascend continually.

Generation after generation it will be a wasteland

and no one will ever pass through it again.

34:11 Owls and wild animals ⁶  will live there, ⁷ 

all kinds of wild birds ⁸  will settle in it.

The Lord ⁹  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ¹⁰  of destruction. ¹¹ 

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

and all her officials will disappear. ¹² 

34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;

thickets and weeds will grow ¹³  in her fortified cities.

Jackals will settle there;

ostriches will live there. ¹⁴ 

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ¹⁵ 

wild goats will bleat to one another. ¹⁶ 

Yes, nocturnal animals ¹⁷  will rest there

and make for themselves a nest. ¹⁸ 

34:15 Owls ¹⁹  will make nests and lay eggs ²⁰  there;

they will hatch them and protect them. ²¹ 

Yes, hawks ²²  will gather there,

each with its mate.

Ezekiel 25:13

25:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, ²³  and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die ²⁴  by the sword.

Ezekiel 35:7

35:7 I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin; ²⁵  I will cut off ²⁶  from it the one who passes through or returns.

Ezekiel 35:15

35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you – you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom – all of it! Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

[49:13]  ¹ tn Heb “I swear by myself.” See 22:5 and the study note there.

[49:13]  ² sn Bozrah appears to have been the chief city in Edom, its capital city (see its parallelism with Edom in Isa 34:6; 63:1; Jer 49:22). The reference to “its towns” (translated here “all the towns around it”) could then be a reference to all the towns in Edom. It was located about twenty-five miles southeast of the southern end of the Dead Sea apparently in the district of Teman (see the parallelism in Amos 1:12).

[49:13]  ³ tn See the study note on 24:9 for the rendering of this term.

[34:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”

[34:11]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

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

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

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

[34:13]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

[34:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

[34:14]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

[34:15]  ¹⁹ tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.

[34:15]  ²⁰ tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.

[34:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”

[34:15]  ²² 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.

[25:13]  ²³ tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”

[25:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “fall.”

[35:7]  ²⁵ tc The translation reads with some manuscripts לְשִׁמְמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה (lÿshimmah umÿshammah, “desolate ruin”) as in verse 3 and often in Ezekiel. The majority reading reverses the first mem (מ) with the shin (שׁ) resulting in the repetition of the word desolate: לְשִׁמְמָה וּשְׁמָמָה (lÿshimmah ushÿmamah).

[35:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “kill.”