Isaiah 13:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 13:21
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
a desert-dweller · noun, common masculine plural absolute
lie
וְרָבְצוּve.ra.ve.tzu-
H7257
to crouch (on all four legs folded · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
houses
בָתֵּיהֶ֖םva.tei.Hem
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
full
וּמָלְא֥וּu.mal.'U
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
creatures
אֹחִ֑ים'o.Chim
H255
a howler or lonesome wild animal · noun, common masculine plural absolute
owls
בְּנ֣וֹתbe.Not
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural construct
dwell
וְשָׁ֤כְנוּve.Sha.khe.nu
H7931
to reside or permanently stay (literally or figurativel… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
satyrs
וּשְׂעִירִ֖יםu.se.'i.Rim
H8163
shaggy · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
dance
יְרַקְּדוּye.ra.ke.du-
H7540
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the h…
Isaiah 34:11-15 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 13:19–end
The great havoc and destruction which it was foretold should be made by the Medes and Persians in Babylon here end in the final destruction of it. 1. It is allowed that Babylon was a noble city. It was the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency; it was that head of gold (Dan 2:37, Dan 2:38); it was called the lady of kingdoms (Isa 47:5), the praise of the whole earth (Jer 51:41), like a pleasant roe (so the word signifies); but it shall be as a chased roe, Isa 13:14. The Chaldeans gloried in the beauty and wealth of this their metropolis. 2. It is foretold that it should be wholly destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah; not so miraculously, nor so suddenly, but as effectual…
wild beasts--Hebrew, tsiyim, animals dwelling in arid wastes. Wild cats, remarkable for their howl [BOCHART].
doleful creatures--"howling beasts," literally, "howlings" [MAURER].
owls--rather, "ostriches"; a timorous creature, delighting in solitary deserts and making a hideous noise [BOCHART].
satyrs--sylvan demi-gods--half man, half goat--believed by the Arabs to haunt these ruins; probably animals of the goat-ape species [VITRINGA]. Devil-worshippers, who dance amid the ruins on a certain night [J. WOLFF].
John Gill on Isaiah 13:21
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there,.... What sort of creatures are meant is not certain. The Targum renders it by a word which signifies monstrous, astonishing creatures; the Latin interpreter of it calls them apes. Jarchi and Kimchi say such are intended as are called martens or sables, a creature of the weasel kind. The Hebrew word does not much differ from the Arabic one used for "wild cats":
and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; whose voices are very mournful and unpleasant. Aben Ezra says such creatures are meant, that those that see them are amazed at them. Jarchi declares they are a kind of creatures he was ignorant of; and Kimchi thinks they are the same wi…
Wherefore I entreat, let us kill the serpent, let us shut up the wild beasts, let us stifle them, let us slay them, and these wicked thoughts let us give over to the sword of the Spirit, lest the prophet threaten us also with such things as he threatened Judea, that "The wild asses shall dance there, and porcupines, and serpents." For there are, there are even men worse than wild asses, living as it were in the wilderness, and kicking; yea the more part of the youth amongst us is like this. For indeed having wild lusts they thus leap, they kick, going about unbridled, and spend their diligence on no becoming object. And the fathers are to blame, who while they constrain the horsebreakers to discipline their horses with much attention, and suffer not the youth of the colt to go on long untamed, but put upon it both a rein, and all the rest, from the beginning; but their own young ones they overlook, going about for a long season unbridled, and without temperance; disgracing themselves, by fornications, and gamings, and continuings in the wicked theatres.
(Verse 21, 22.) The seed of the wicked, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sins of their fathers: they will not rise nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the cities of the world. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name and remnants of Babylon, and its seed, and its offspring, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: The wicked seed, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sin of your father: so that they will not rise and possess the land, and fill the land of cities. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy their name and remnants and seed. For the evil seed, which the Septuagint translated, is written in Hebrew as Zera Mrim (), which others have interpreted as the seed of wicked men. Not that the seed itself is inherently evil: for God made all things good (Gen. I); but from those who are wicked by their own will, the seed has become evil, which is done by will, not by nature: Hence we read in Daniel: The seed of Canaan and not of Judah (Dan. XIII, 56). And of good sons it is said by the Apostle: In Christ Jesus through the Gospel I have begotten you (1 Cor. 4:15). And in the Gospel: To as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). For whoever commits sin is of the devil. Therefore, it is commanded to this seed, that is to say, his sons, to prepare for destruction all wicked thoughts and evil deeds, which are born from impious fathers, undoubtedly signifying contrary strengths. The worst sons are therefore slain in the wickedness of their fathers, so that they may not rise up anymore and possess the land which is to be possessed and filled by the saints, that the cities of the Lord may be built in it. And because there is no perfect victory for men: For unless the Lord keeps the city, those who guard it will watch in vain (Psalm 126:2): therefore the Lord himself will rise up against the sons of the worst, and he will destroy their name and remnants from their confusion, and every offspring and progeny, so that they may no longer sprout forth in the cities of the Lord. We read in the Gospel of John (VIII) that the devil is a liar from the beginning and that his father, that is, of lies, which many do not understand, they want the father of the devil to be the dragon who reigns in the sea, which the Hebrews call Leviathan. And they…
Dictionary and topics
Babylon — The Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning “The Gate of God.” In the Assyrian tablets it means “The city of the dispersion of the tribes.” The monumental list of its kings reaches back to…
Dance — Found in Judg. 21:21, 23; Ps. 30:11; 149:3; 150:4; Jer. 31:4, 13, etc., as the translation of hul, which points to the whirling motion of Oriental sacred dances. It is the rendering of a word…
Devil — (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also “the accuser of the brethen” (Rev. 12:10). In Lev. 17:7 the word “devil” is…
Doleful creatures — (occurring only Isa. 13:21. Heb. ochim, i.e., “shrieks;” hence “howling animals”), a general name for screech owls (howlets), which occupy the desolate palaces of Babylon. Some render the word…
Goat — (1.) Heb. ‘ez, the she-goat (Gen. 15:9; 30:35; 31:38). This Hebrew word is also used for the he-goat (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 4:23; Num. 28:15), and to denote a kid (Gen. 38:17, 20). Hence it may be regarded…
Owl — (1.) Heb. bath-haya’anah, “daughter of greediness” or of “shouting.” In the list of unclean birds (Lev. 11:16; Deut. 14:15); also mentioned in Job 30:29; Isa. 13:21; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 50:39; Micah…
Satyr — Hairy one. Mentioned in Greek mythology as a creature composed of a man and a goat, supposed to inhabit wild and desolate regions. The Hebrew word is rendered also “goat” (Lev. 4:24) and “devil”,…
B · Found in: Deserts — Found in: Deserts
Babylon · Predictions respecting: Destruction of — Predictions respecting: Destruction of
Cyrus · Prophecies concerning — Prophecies concerning
Deserts · Infested with wild beasts
John Calvin on Isaiah 13:21
But the Ziim shall lie there. [209] He continues the description of a desert place, and alludes to what he had formerly said, that Babylon will be destitute of inhabitants. In what way tsyym (tziim) ought to be translated I cannot easily say, on account of the diversity in the opinions of translators, who differ in this, as in various names of animals and herbs. The use of these things did not continue among them; and the Jews, who are themselves ignorant and unskilful, do not retain the knowledge of these things, though there are some of them who know nothing about either herbs or animals, and yet have the impudence to boast of being physicians. Of those who think that tsyym (tziim) is the…
Babel, like the cities of the Pentapolis, had now become a perpetual desert. "She remains uninhabited for ever, and unoccupied into generation of generations; and not an Arab pitches his tent there, and shepherds do not make their folds there. And there lie beasts of the desert, and horn-owls fill their houses; and ostriches dwell there, and field-devils hop about there. And jackals howl in her castles, and wild dogs in palaces of pleasure; and her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged." The conclusion is similar to that of the prophecy against Edom, in Isa 34:16-17. There the certainty of the prediction, even in its most minute particulars, is firmly declared; here the ne…
Babylon will never be inhabited again: Babylon, often a symbol of idolatry, immorality, imperialism, and oppression in Scripture, will one day come completely to an end (see Rev 18:2; 19:2).
Rashi on Isaiah 13:21
martens Heb. צִיִּים. Jonathan translates: תַּמְוָן, identical with נִמִּיּוֹת [found in the Talmud] martrines in O.F.
ferrets Heb. אֹחִים. I do not know what kind of animal they are. [אֹחִים is an expression of thorns, thistles, and briars.]
and satyrs demons.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
— Infested with wild beasts
Houses · Desolation of, threatened as a punishment — Desolation of, threatened as a punishment
Ostriches · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Owl · In R. V. ostrich is substituted — In R. V. ostrich is substituted
Owl, The · Inhabits deserted cities and houses — Inhabits deserted cities and houses
Satyr · R. V., margin) — R. V., margin)
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
