Discovery BoxJeremiah 49:17-18
Context49:17 “Edom will become an object of horror.
All who pass by it will be filled with horror;
they will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it. 1
49:18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns that were around them.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.
Isaiah 34:9-15
Context34:9 Edom’s 2 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; 3
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 4 will live there, 5
all kinds of wild birds 6 will settle in it.
The Lord 7 will stretch out over her
the measuring line of ruin
and the plumb line 8 of destruction. 9
34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom
and all her officials will disappear. 10
34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow 11 in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there. 12
34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; 13
wild goats will bleat to one another. 14
Yes, nocturnal animals 15 will rest there
and make for themselves a nest. 16
34:15 Owls 17 will make nests and lay eggs 18 there;
they will hatch them and protect them. 19
Yes, hawks 20 will gather there,
each with its mate.
Ezekiel 25:13-14
Context25:13 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, 21 and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die 22 by the sword. 25:14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience 23 my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
Ezekiel 35:2-15
Context35:2 “Son of man, turn toward 24 Mount Seir, 25 and prophesy against it. 35:3 Say to it, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Look, I am against you, Mount Seir;
I will stretch out my hand against you
and turn you into a desolate ruin.
35:4 I will lay waste your cities;
and you will become desolate.
Then you will know that I am the Lord!
35:5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword 26 at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment. 35:6 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 35:7 I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin; 27 I will cut off 28 from it the one who passes through or returns. 35:8 I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall. 35:9 I will turn you into a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
35:10 “‘You said, “These two nations, these two lands 29 will be mine, and we will possess them,” 30 – although the Lord was there – 35:11 therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will deal with you according to your anger, and according to your envy, by which you acted spitefully against them. I will reveal myself to them when I judge you. 35:12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are desolate, they have been given to us for food.” 35:13 You exalted yourselves against me with your speech 31 and hurled many insults against me 32 – I have heard them all! 35:14 This is what the sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation. 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.’”
Joel 3:19
Context3:19 Egypt will be desolate
and Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, 33
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
Obadiah 1:18
Context1:18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire,
and the descendants of Joseph a flame.
The descendants of Esau will be like stubble.
They will burn them up and devour them.
There will not be a single survivor 34 of the descendants of Esau!”
Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.
Malachi 1:3-4
Context1:3 and rejected Esau. 35 I turned Esau’s 36 mountains into a deserted wasteland 37 and gave his territory 38 to the wild jackals.”
1:4 Edom 39 says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord who rules over all 40 responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as 41 the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.
[49:17] 1 sn This verse is very similar to Jer 19:8 where the same judgment is pronounced on Jerusalem. For the meaning of some of the terms here (“hiss out their scorn” and “all the disasters that have happened to it”) see the notes on that verse.
[34:9] 2 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:10] 3 tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”
[34:11] 4 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] 5 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).
[34:11] 6 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] 7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:11] 8 tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.
[34:11] 9 sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.
[34:12] 10 tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”
[34:13] 11 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:13] 12 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 (1QIsaa) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)
[34:14] 13 tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”
[34:14] 14 tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”
[34:14] 15 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] 16 tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”
[34:15] 17 tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.
[34:15] 18 tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.
[34:15] 19 tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”
[34:15] 20 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] 21 tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”
[35:2] 24 tn Heb “set your face against.”
[35:2] 25 sn Mount Seir is to be identified with Edom (Ezek 35:15), home of Esau’s descendants (Gen 25:21-30).
[35:5] 26 tn Or “gave over…to the power of the sword.” This phrase also occurs in Jer 18:21 and Ps 63:10.
[35:7] 27 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).
[35:10] 29 sn The reference is to Israel and Judah.
[35:13] 31 tn Heb “your mouth.”
[35:13] 32 tn Heb “and you multiplied against me your words.” The Hebrew verb occurs only here and in Prov 27:6, where it refers to the “excessive” kisses of an enemy. The basic idea of the verb appears to be “to be abundant.” Here it occurs in the causative (Hiphil) stem.
[3:19] 33 tn Heb “violence of the sons of Judah.” The phrase “of the sons of Judah” is an objective genitive (cf. KJV “the violence against the children of Judah”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “violence done to the people of Judah”). It refers to injustices committed against the Judeans, not violence that the Judeans themselves had committed against others.
[1:18] 34 tn Heb “will be no survivor”; NAB “none shall survive.”
[1:3] 35 tn Heb “and I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.” The context indicates this is technical covenant vocabulary in which “love” and “hate” are synonymous with “choose” and “reject” respectively (see Deut 7:8; Jer 31:3; Hos 3:1; 9:15; 11:1).
[1:3] 36 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:3] 37 tn Heb “I set his mountains as a desolation.”
[1:3] 38 tn Or “inheritance” (so NIV, NLT).
[1:4] 39 sn Edom, a “brother” nation to Israel, became almost paradigmatic of hostility toward Israel and God (see Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:8; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:12-14; Amos 1:11-12; Obad 10-12).
[1:4] 40 sn The epithet
[1:4] 41 tn Heb “and they will call them.” The third person plural subject is indefinite; one could translate, “and people will call them.”
