Isaiah 34:13

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
thorns	סִירִ֔ים si.Rim	H5518	a pot · noun, common masculine plural absolute
up	וְעָלְתָ֤ה ve.'al.Tah	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
palaces	אַרְמְנֹתֶ֙יהָ֙ 'ar.me.no.Tei.ha	H759	a citadel (from its height) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
nettles	קִמּ֥וֹשׂ ki.Mos	H7057	a prickly plant · noun, common masculine singular absolute
brambles	וָח֖וֹחַ va.Cho.ach	H2336	a thorn · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fortresses	בְּמִבְצָרֶ֑יהָ be.miv.tza.Rei.ha	H4013	a fortification · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
habitation	נְוֵ֣ה ne.Veh	H5116	(adjectively) at home · noun, common masculine singular construct
dragons	תַנִּ֔ים ta.Nim	H8577	a marine or land monster · noun, common masculine plural absolute
court	חָצִ֖יר cha.Tzir	H2681	a court or abode · noun, common masculine singular absolute
owls	לִבְנ֥וֹת liv.Not	H1323	a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct

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

Jeremiah 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
Jeremiah 10:22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of d…
Psalms 44:19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
Malachi 1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Isaiah 13:21-22 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 s…
Isaiah 32:13-14 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Isaiah 35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be gr…
Jeremiah 49:33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 34:9–end

This prophecy looks very black, but surely it looks so further than upon Edom and Bozrah. 1. It describes the melancholy changes that are often made by the divine Providence, in countries, cities, palaces, and families. Places that have flourished and been much frequented strangely go to decay. We know not where to find the places where many great towns, celebrated in history, once stood. Fruitful countries, in process of time, are turned into barrenness, and pompous populous cities into ruinous heaps. Old decayed castles look frightful, and their ruins are almost as much dreaded as ever their garrisons were. 2. It describes the destroying judgments which are the effects of God's wrath and t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 34:13

dragons--(See on Isa 13:21; Isa 13:22). court for owls--rather, "a dwelling for ostriches."

John Gill on Isaiah 34:13

And thorns shall come up in her palaces,.... Where their kings and princes dwelt, and kept their courts, popes and cardinals; here will be the tokens of God's curse, as thorns are, these being the people of his curse, as in Isaiah 34:5, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof; alluding to "Bozrah" which signifies a fortress; referring to the towers and fortifications of the city of Rome, and all other fortified cities within its jurisdiction: and it shall be a habitation of dragons; literally, as it figuratively had been the seat of the old dragon, the devil, and of the beast to whom the dragon gave his power, seat, and authority; and who, though he looked like a lamb, spoke like a…

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John Calvin on Isaiah 34:13

In her palaces she shall bring forth thorns. He pursues the same subject; for he describes a frightful desolation, by which splendid houses and palaces are levelled to the ground, or reduced to a state so wild that they are of no use to men, but produce only briers, thorns, and nettles; which is more disgraceful than if they had been turned into fields and meadows. In this manner does the Lord punish the insolence of those who built lofty and magnificent houses and costly palaces, that the remembrance of them might be handed down to the latest posterity. Having banished men, he turns those dwellings into nests of birds and dens of wild beasts, that, instead of being, as they expected, the tr…

The Church Fathers

Which conduct the Lord by the Prophet well reproves, under the character of Babylon, saying; "Thorns and nettles shall spring up in her houses, and the bramble in the fortresses thereof." For what do we understand by 'nettles,' but the irritations of thoughts, and what by 'thorns,' but the piercings of sins? Nettles therefore and thorns spring up in the houses of Babylon, because in the disorder of a reprobate mind there arise longings of thoughts which exasperate, and sinful deeds which wound. But they who act thus have others also more wicked than themselves as their defenders. Whence he there fitly subjoined immediately, "And the bramble in the fortresses thereof." For the bramble is crowded with such a circle of thorns, that it can hardly be touched from its roughness. The nettle and the thorn therefore spring up within, but both of them are fortified without by the bramble: because, namely, smaller offenders commit any kinds of evil, but greater and most abandoned ones defend them.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 33

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bramble — (1.) Hebrew atad, Judg. 9:14; rendered “thorn,” Ps. 58:9. The LXX. and Vulgate render by rhamnus, a thorny shrub common in Palestine, resembling the hawthorn. (2.) Hebrew hoah, Isa. 34:13 (R.V.…
Dragon — (1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps. 44:19; Isa. 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 10:22; Micah 1:8; Mal. 1:3); probably, as…
Nettle — (1.) Heb. haral, “pricking” or “burning,” Prov. 24:30, 31 (R.V. marg., “wild vetches”); Job 30:7; Zeph. 2:9. Many have supposed that some thorny or prickly plant is intended by this word, such as the…
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…
Thistle — (1.) Heb. hoah (2 Kings 14:9; Job 31:40). In Job 41:2 the Hebrew word is rendered “thorn,” but in the Revised Version “hook.” It is also rendered “thorn” in 2 Chr. 33:11; Prov. 26:9; Cant. 2:2;…
Bramble · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dragon · A serpent or the — A serpent or the
Dragon, The · Found in: Dry places — Found in: Dry places
Edomites, The · Predictions respecting: Utter desolation of their country — Predictions respecting: Utter desolation of their country
Fortresses · Often: Deserted, & c — Often: Deserted, & c
Nettles · An obnoxious plant — An obnoxious plant
Ostriches

Isaiah 34:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 34:9–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 34:13

John Gill on Isaiah 34:13

John Calvin on Isaiah 34:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 34:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 34:9–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 34:13

John Gill on Isaiah 34:13

John Calvin on Isaiah 34:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 34:13-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 34:11-14

Rashi on Isaiah 34:13