Discovery BoxIsaiah 13:21 
Context13:21 Wild animals will rest there,
the ruined 1 houses will be full of hyenas. 2
Ostriches will live there,
wild goats will skip among the ruins. 3
Isaiah 34:13
Context34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow 4 in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there. 5
Isaiah 43:20
Context43:20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
1 tn The word “ruined” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn The precise referent of this word in uncertain. See HALOT 29 s.v. *אֹחַ. Various English versions translate as “owls” (e.g., NAB, NASB), “wild dogs” (NCV); “jackals” (NIV); “howling creatures” (NRSV, NLT).
3 tn Heb “will skip there.”
4 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 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)
