Isaiah 34:15
in Isaiah 34There the owl will make her nest; she will lay and hatch her eggs and gather her brood under her shadow. Even there the birds of prey will gather, each with its mate.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.
KJV
There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
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This verse in Isaiah 34
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThere shall the great owl make her nest,.... Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, say that "kippoz" here is the same with "kippod", rendered "bittern" in Isa 34:11 but Aben Ezra takes them to be two different birds; it is hard to say what is designed by it.
This site's exposition
No nobles will be left
on Isaiah 34:12-15
The ruling class is gone: No nobles will be left to proclaim a king, and all her princes will come to nothing. Thorns overgrow her towers, and the land passes to desert creatures. Ostriches and owls, named in verses 13 and 15, stand among the birds Leviticus 11 calls detestable.
This site's exposition
There the owl will make her nest
The creature rendered owl is the qippoz, found only here in the Bible. Barnes follows those who took it for the arrow-snake, which lays eggs, while older Jewish readers linked it with the bird of verse 11. Either way, the ruin becomes a nursery for wild things.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 8 and following) For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retribution in the judgment of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur; its land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will pass through it forever. The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Hence it is rightly said through the prophet, under the similitude of Judah, to the soul that sins and excuses itself, "There the urchin had her nest."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Whom those resemble that are morose, unsociable, and unconversable, and affect a melancholy retirement; they are like these solitary creatures that take delight in desolations. What a dismal change sin makes; it turns a fruitful land into barrenness, a frequented city into a wilderness.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There shall the great owl - (קפוז qı̂pôz). Gesenius supposes that this is the arrow-snake, so called from its darting or springing, in the manner of the rattle-snake - from an obsolete root to draw oneself together, to contract. Bochart (Hieroz. ii. 3. 11. 408-419) has examined the meaning of the word at length, and comes to the conclusion that it means the serpent which the Greeks called acontias, and the Latins, jaculus - the arrow-snake. The serpent is oviparous, and nourishes its young.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
great owl--rather, "the arrow snake," so called from its darting on its prey [GESENIUS]. lay--namely, eggs. gather under her shadow--rather, "cherishes" her young under, &c.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The great owl - קפוז kippoz, the ακοντιας, or darter, a serpent so called because of its suddenly leaping up or darting on its prey. Probably the mongoose or ichneumon may be intended. The vultures - דיות daiyoth, the black vultures. My old MS. Bible renders these names curiously: And ageyn cumen schul devylis: the beste, party of an asse, and party of a mam: and the wodwose, the tother schal crien to the tother. There schal byn lamya, that is, thrisse, or a beste, havynge the body liic a woman, and hors feet. Ther hadde dichis, the yrchoun, and nurshide out littil chittis. There ben gadred kiitis, the top to the top. What language! Every one with her mate - A MS. adds אל el after אשה ishshah, which seems necessary to the construction; and so the Syriac and Vulgate. Another MS. adds in the same place את eth, which is equivalent.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁ֣מָּה | shamah | there <towards> | H8033 → | 834 times |
| קִנְּנָ֤ה | kinenah | it will make a nest | H7077 → | |
| קִפּוֹז֙ | kipoz | owl[s] | H7091 → | |
| וַתְּמַלֵּ֔ט | vatemalet | and it laid eggs | H4422 → | 95 times |
| וּבָקְעָ֖ה | uvakeah | and it will hatch | H1234 → | 51 times |
| וְדָגְרָ֣ה | vedagerah | and it will gather a brood | H1716 → | |
| בְצִלָּ֑הּ | vetzilah | in shadow its | H6738 → | 49 times |
| אַךְ־ | ʾakh- | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| שָׁ֛ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| נִקְבְּצ֥וּ | nikbetzu | they will be gathered | H6908 → | 127 times |
| דַיּ֖וֹת | daiyot | black kites | H1772 → | |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | each | H802 → | 781 times |
| רְעוּתָֽהּ׃ | reutah | companion its | H7468 → |
שָׁ֣מָּהthere <towards>
shamahH8033 →834 times
קִנְּנָ֤הit will make a nest
kinenahH7077 →
קִפּוֹז֙owl[s]
kipozH7091 →
וַתְּמַלֵּ֔טand it laid eggs
vatemaletH4422 →95 times
וּבָקְעָ֖הand it will hatch
uvakeahH1234 →51 times
וְדָגְרָ֣הand it will gather a brood
vedagerahH1716 →
בְצִלָּ֑הּin shadow its
vetzilahH6738 →49 times
אַךְ־surely
ʾakh-H389 →161 times
שָׁ֛םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
נִקְבְּצ֥וּthey will be gathered
nikbetzuH6908 →127 times
דַיּ֖וֹתblack kites
daiyotH1772 →
אִשָּׁ֥הeach
ʾishahH802 →781 times
רְעוּתָֽהּ׃companion its
reutahH7468 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.