34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow 1 in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there. 2
34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; 3
wild goats will bleat to one another. 4
Yes, nocturnal animals 5 will rest there
and make for themselves a nest. 6
34:15 Owls 7 will make nests and lay eggs 8 there;
they will hatch them and protect them. 9
Yes, hawks 10 will gather there,
each with its mate.
1 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 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)
3 tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”
4 tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”
5 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.”
6 tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”
7 tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.
8 tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.
9 tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”
10 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.