Isaiah 34:11 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 34:11

The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.

KJV

But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

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Commentary

3 voices

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah (1274)

As to the free habitation of beasts: the bittern, which is the same as the pelican, shall possess it, as if without fear, and the ibis, a bird hostile to snakes: "ibex, ibicis" is a four-footed beast; "ibis, ibidis" is a bird, and the ibis …

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Dwell - It shall be entirely possessed by those creatures which delight in deserts and waste places. Stretch - He shall use the line, or the stone or plummet joined to it, not to build them, but to mark them out to destruction, as workmen commonly use them to mark what they are to pull down.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

But the cormorant - This and the following verses contain a description of the desolations of Edom in language remarkably similar to that employed in the account of the destruction of Babylon Isa 13:20-22; Isa 14:23. The word here translated ‘cormorant’ (קאת qâ'ath), occurs in this place and in Zep 2:14, where it is rendered ‘cormorant,’ and in Lev 11:18; Deu 14:17; Psa 102:6, where it is rendered ‘pelican.’ Bochart supposes it is the ardea stellaris, or bitourn, which frequents watery places in deserts, and makes a horrible noise. The pelican is a sea-fowl, and cannot be intended here.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וִירֵשׁ֙וּהָ֙	vi.re.Shu.ha	and they will take possession of it	H3423 →
קָאַ֣ת	ka.'At	desert owl	H6893 →
וְקִפּ֔וֹד	ve.ki.Pod	and hedgehog	H7090 →
וְיַנְשׁ֥וֹף	ve.yan.Shof	and great owl	H3244 →
וְעֹרֵ֖ב	ve.'o.Rev	and raven	H6158 →
יִשְׁכְּנוּ־	yish.ke.nu-	they will dwell	H7931 →
בָ֑הּ	Vah	in it
וְנָטָ֥ה	ve.na.Tah	and he will stretch out	H5186 →
עָלֶ֛יהָ	'a.Lei.ha	over it	H5921 →
קַֽו־	kav-	a measuring-line of	H6957 →
תֹ֖הוּ	To.hu	formlessness	H8414 →
וְאַבְנֵי־	ve.'av.nei-	and stones of	H68 →
בֹֽהוּ׃	Vo.hu	emptiness	H922 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Kings 21:13
I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping…
leads to
- Amos 7:7–8
  This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Lamentations 2:8
  The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together…
Through
Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
leads to
- Revelation 14:8
  Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Jeremiah 51:8
  Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
- Jeremiah 51:37
  Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Jeremiah 50:39–40
  So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
- Jeremiah 51:60–64
  Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon.
Through
Lamentations 2:8
The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together…
leads to
- 2 Kings 21:13
  I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping…

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 34 →The featured study →

PlaceTransjordanEdomThe highland nation descended from Esau that refused Israel passage on the King's Highway, and whose pride the prophets answered.

Continue: Isaiah 34 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Isaiah