Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
Parallel Translations
-
Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
-
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.
-
And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of wild-dogs, an enclosure for ostriches.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Isaiah 34:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 9:11 “I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Jeremiah 10:22 The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.
- Psalms 44:19 though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death.
- Malachi 1:3 but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.”
- Isaiah 13:21-22 But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. Wolves will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
- Isaiah 32:13-14 Thorns and briers will come up on my people’s land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city. For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
- Isaiah 35:7 The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay.
- Jeremiah 49:33 Hazor will be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever. No man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.”
- Jeremiah 50:39-40 Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein; and it will be inhabited no more forever; neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein.
- Jeremiah 51:37 Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
- Hosea 9:6 For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.
- Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.
- Revelation 18:2 He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird!
- Revelation 18:20-24 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.” A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all. The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you. The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 34:13 And thorns shall come up in her…
Isa 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.
Ver. 13. A court for owls.] Or, Ostriches. See on Isa 34:11.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This is another mark and evidence of extreme desolation,…
This is another mark and evidence of extreme desolation, as it is also, Hos 9:6.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And thorns shall come up in her palaces,.... Where…
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 Isa 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:
Read full note →
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 dragon, Rev 12:3,
and a court for owls; or, "daughters of the owl"; or "ostriches", as some render it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. And thorns shall come up in her…
Verse 13. And thorns shall come up in her palaces] ועלו בארמנותיה vealu bearmenotheyha; so read all the ancient versions.
A court for owls.] יענה yaanah, the ostrich, from ענה anah, to cry, because of the noise it makes. "They roar," says Dr. Shaw, "sometimes like a lion-sometimes like a bull. I have often heard them groan as if in the utmost distress."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And thorns ... - (see the note at Isa…
And thorns ... - (see the note at Isa 5:6)
It shall be an habitation of dragons - On the meaning of the word ‘dragons,’ see the note at Isa 13:22.
Read full note →
Court for owls - A place of resort, a residence of owls. The word rendered ‘court’ (חציר châtsı̂yr) means a dwelling-place, a habitation, as well as an enclosure or court. The margin is, ‘Daughters of the owl,’ or ‘ostriches’ (see the note at Isa 13:21). ‘I would,’ says Stephens, when standing amidst the ruins of Petra, the capital of Idumea (see the note at Isa 16:1), and with this passage of Isaiah in his eye, ‘I would that the sceptic could stand as I did, among the ruins of this city among the rocks, and there open the sacred book, and read the words of the inspired penman, written when this desolate place was one of the greatest cities in the world. I see the scoff arrested, his cheek pale, his lip quivering, and his heart quaking with fear, as the ancient city cries out to him in a voice loud and powerful as one risen from the dead; though be would not believe Moses and the prophets, he believes the hand-writing of God himself, in the desolation and eternal ruin around him.’ (Incidents of Travel in Egypt, etc., vol. ii. p. 76.)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Dragons, Thannim, chap. xiii. 22. (Haydock) --- Ostriches, or…
Dragons, Thannim, chap. xiii. 22. (Haydock) --- Ostriches, or swans.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain dragons--(See on Isa 13:21; Isa 13:22).
dragons--(See on Isa 13:21; Isa 13:22).
court for owls--rather, "a dwelling for ostriches."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. The natural consequence of Edom’s depopulation follows. In…
13. The natural consequence of Edom’s depopulation follows. In her palaces, and over all her ruined walls of fortresses, there grow up thorns, nettles, and brambles. Thither also the wild beasts of the desert congregate. Wolves, or wild dogs, (not dragons,) have their homes there, and the court, or grassy plots among the ruins, are resorted to by ostriches, (not owls.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. The mention of nobles and princes naturally leads…
13. The mention of nobles and princes naturally leads to the palaces and castles.
dragons … owls] jackals … ostriches (R.V.). See on ch. Isa_13:21 f.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) An habitation of dragons, and a court for…
(13) An habitation of dragons, and a court for owls . . .—The wild creatures named are identified, as elsewhere, with “jackals” (“wild dogs,” Delitzsch) and “ostriches.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thorns shall come up in her palaces. The "palaces"…
Thorns shall come up in her palaces. The "palaces" of Bozrah are mentioned also by Amos, (Amo_1:12) and are threatened with destruction by fire. Amid their ruins should grow up thorns and briars. It shall be a habitation of dragons; or, of jackals (see the comment on Isa_13:22). Owls; literally, daughters of screaming a description better suited to the owl than to the ostrich, which some regard as the bird meant.
Vers. 13-15. The witness of desolate lands.
Read full note →
In every age there have been such. In the forefront of the world"s history there was desolated Sodom and Gomorrah, witnessing to Israelites, and witnessing to all the world. Our Lord, as a Teacher, called attention to its message. Attention may be directed to Babylon, Tyre, Palestine; and for modern times, to the decay of the commercial cities of Italy, to Holland, etc. countries which may be spoken of as "desolate" when compared with former prosperities. Edom, or Idumea, is the country alluded to by the prophet, and travelers describe very forcibly the completeness of its desolation. "Captains Irby and Mangles tell us that the Arabs about Akaba are a very bad people, notorious robbers, and at war with all others. The desolation of the land is utter and perpetual a terrible monument of the Divine displeasure against wickedness and idolatry. The whole land lies under a curse; the ruins of its cities of rock, and the remains of architectural skill and ingenuity, attest its former greatness, while they set forth the solemn fact that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Dr. Robinson says, "A more frightful desert it had hardly been our lot to behold. Now and then a lone shrub of the Ghudah was almost the only trace of vegetation. The mountains beyond presented a most uninviting and hideous aspect; precipices and naked conical peaks of chalky and gravelly formation rising one above another without a sign of life or vegetation." Dr. Olin speaks of it as in "a state of desolation and ruin the most absolute and irretrievable, such as probably no portion of the globe once populous and fertile now exhibits." What, then, is the message which such a desolate land bears for all the world and for us? This may be worked out and illustrated under the following divisions.
I IT WITNESSES FOR GOD. He is known by the judgments which he executeth." There is evidently more than a mere operation of natural forces there is Divine direction of natural forces to effect Divine ends. This may get more familiar illustration from Palestine, which is a country with God"s curse on it.
II IT WITNESSES FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. "Righteousness exalteth a nation." Righteousness is sure defense, security, stability. If a land is desolate, it calls to all other lands, saying, Hold fast by righteousness." Lands fall through the iniquity of the peoples.
III IT WITNESSES FOR JUDGMENT. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." Sooner or later every kingdom, every nation, will find that God will arise and vindicate himself, and render a reward to the proud. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Thorns ... nettles ... thistles
Thorns ... nettles ... thistles
These are all weeds with thorns. Nettles' thorns have poison that causes itching.
Read full note →
jackals ... ostriches ... wild animals ... hyenas ... Owls
Translate the names of these animals the same as you did in Isaiah 13:21-22.
Nocturnal animals
animals that are awake and active at night
hawks
birds that kill small animals for food
translationWords
goat
rest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.