Isaiah 13:22

Isa 13:22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in [their] pleasant palaces: and her time [is] near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

Ver. 22. And the wild beasts of the islands.] Heb., Ijim - i.e., desolate places and far remote.

And her time is near to come.] Though two hundred years hence and more ere it commence. So "Babylon is fallen, is fallen" {Rev 19:2} that is, certo, cito, penitus - surely, shortly, utterly.

“ O mora! Christe veni. ”

“O delay, Christ, be come.”

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.

wild beasts of the islands--rather, "jackals"; called by the Arabs "sons of howling"; an animal midway between a fox and a wolf [BOCHART and MAURER].

cry--rather, "answer," "respond" to each other, as wolves do at night, producing a most dismal effect.

dragons--serpents of various species, which hiss and utter dolorous sounds. Fable gave them wings, because they stand with much of the body elevated and then dart swiftly. MAURER understands here another species of jackal.

her time . . . near--though one hundred seventy-four years distant, yet "near" to Isaiah, who is supposed to be speaking to the Jews as if now captives in Babylon (Isa 14:1-2).

"It moves in lengthened elegiac measure like a song of lamentation for the dead, and is full of lofty scorn" [HERDER].

a pledge to assure the captives in Babylon that He who, with such ease, overthrew the Assyrian, could likewise effect His purpose as to Babylon. The Babylonian king, the subject of this prediction, is Belshazzar, as representative of the kingdom (Dan. 5:1-31).

Next: Isaiah Chapter 14

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. In their pleasant palaces - "In their palaces"] באלמנותיו bealmenothaiv; a plain mistake, I presume, for בארמנתיו bearmenothaiv. It is so corrected in two MSS., the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

Πουλυποδες δ' εν εμοι θαλαμας φωκαι τε μελαιναι

Οικα ποιησονται ακηδεα, χητεΐ λαων.

HOM. Hymn. in Apol. 77.

Of which the following passage of Milton may be taken for a translation, though not so designed: -

"And in their palaces,

Where luxury late reigned, sea monsters whelped,

And stabled." Par. Lost, xi. 750.

This image of desolation is handled with great propriety and force by some of the Persian poets: -

[Arabic]

[Arabic]

"The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar;

The owl stands centinel on the watch-tower of Afrasiab."

On this quotation Sir W. Jones observes, [Arabic] noubet is an Arabic word, signifying a turn, a change, a watch; hence [Arabic] noubet zudun in Persian signifies to relieve the guards by the sounds of drums and trumpets. Their office is given by the poet to the owl; as that of [Arabic] purdeh dar, or chamberlain, is elegantly assigned to the spider.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) Wild beasts of the islands . . .—The Authorised version rests on a false etymology of the words, which strictly mean “wailers,” and in its form ey probably represents the cry of a wild beast, such as the jackal, with which it is commonly identified (see Isa_34:14; Jer_50:39), or, possibly, the hyæna. Perhaps, however, as the word “jackal” is wanting in the next clause, it would be best to keep “wailers.”

In their desolate houses.—Literally, as the text stands, among their widows; but the word closely resembles that for “castles” or “fortresses” in Isa_32:14; Isa_34:13. The Authorised version is either an attempt to combine the two meanings, or to take the word “widow” figuratively, as in Isa_47:8, for a house bereaved of its owner.

Dragons in their pleasant palaces.—Better, jackals (Isa_34:13; Jer_51:37, and elsewhere) in their palaces of pleasure.

Her time.—The appointed day of visitation (Jer_46:21; Jer_50:27).

The whole passage finds a singular parallel in an inscription of Assurbanipal’s recording his devastation of the fields of Elam: “Wild asses, serpents, beasts of the desert and galhus (bull-shaped demons), safely I caused to lie down in them” (Records of the Past, i., p. 80). Isaiah may have known of such boasts, and if so, his words may have pointed to the working of a law of retribution like that invoked by the Babylonian exiles in Psa_137:8. The doom that Babylon had inflicted on others was to come upon herself. The language of modern travellers illustrates the fulfilment of the prediction. “Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal stalks among the furrows” (Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 484, quoted by Kay).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. the wild beasts of the islands] R.V. wolves. The word has certainly nothing to do with that for “island.” It probably comes from another root meaning “to howl”; but again it is impossible to specify the particular animal.

their desolate houses] The word is ’almânôth, “widows,” which A.V. following, as so often, Jewish authorities understands figuratively. It is either a by-form or a copyist’s error for ’armìnôthâm, their palaces (see ch. Isa_34:13). For dragons render jackals (R.V.).

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.

And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses,.... The Targum and Syriac version, "in their palaces", and so the Vulgate Latin; or "with their widows", such as have lost their mates: what creatures are here meant is very uncertain; we in general call them the wild beasts of the islands, because the word is sometimes used for islands; the Targum renders it "cats", wild ones; the Syriac version, "sirens"; and the Arabic, the "hyaenae"; the Septuagint version, "onocentaurs"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "owls", which live in desolate houses, and cry or answer to one another, which is the sense of the phrase here:

and dragons in their pleasant palaces; where they delight to be, though otherwise very dismal. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "hedgehogs": the Syriac version, "wild dogs"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "sirens"; the word is commonly used for "whales", and sometimes for serpents, which seems to be the sense here; and to this agrees the account that R. Benjamin Tudelensis (r) gives of Babylon, who, when he was there, about five or six hundred years ago, saw the palace of Nebuchadnezzar in ruins, but men were afraid to enter into it, because of serpents and scorpions, which were within it. Rauwolff, a German traveller, about the year 1574, reports of the tower of Babylon, that it was so ruinous, so low, and so full of venomous creatures, which lodge in holes made by them in the rubbish, that no one durst approach nearer to it than within half a league, excepting during two months in the winter, when these animals never stir out of their holes (s):

and her time is near to come; that is, the time of the destruction of Babylon, as the Targum expresses it; which, though two hundred years or more from the time of this prophecy, yet but a short time with God; and when this was made known to the Jews in captivity, for whose comfort it is written, it was not afar off:

and her days shall not be prolonged; the days of her prosperity and happiness, but should be shortened.

(r) Itinerarium, p. 76. (s) Vid. Prideaux's Connection, par. 1. p. 569.

Next: Isaiah Chapter 14

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And the wild beasts of the islands - (איים 'ı̂yı̂ym); see the notes at Isa 11:11; Isa 41:1, on the word rendered ‘islands.’ The word denotes islands, or coasts, and as those coasts and islands were unknown and unexplored, the word seems to have denoted unknown and uninhabited regions in general. Boehart supposes that by the word here used is denoted a species of wolves, the jackal, or the “thoes.” It is known as a wild animal, exceedingly fierce, and is also distinguished by alternate howlings in the night (“see” Bochart’s “Hieroz.” i. 3. 12). The word wolf probably will not express an erroneous idea here. The Chaldee renders it, ‘Cats.’

Shall cry - Hebrew, ‘Shall answer, or respond to each other.’ This is known to be the custom of wolves and some other wild animals, who send forth those dismal howls in alternate responses at night. This alternation of the howl or cry gives an additional impressiveness to the loneliness and desolation of forsaken Babylon.

And dragons - (תנין tannı̂yn). This word, in its various forms of “tannim, taninim, tannin, and tannoth,” denotes sometimes “jackals or thoes,” as in Job 30:29; Psa 44:19; Mic 1:8; Mal 1:3. But it also denotes a great fish, a whale, a sea monster, a dragon, a serpent. It is translated ‘a whale’ in Gen 1:21; Job 7:12; Eze 32:2; ‘serpents,’ Exo 7:9-10, Exo 7:12; ‘dragons,’ or ‘dragon,’ Deu 32:33; Neh 2:13; Psa 44:19; Psa 74:13; Psa 91:13; Psa 148:7; Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9; Jer 14:6; Jer 51:34; Mal 1:3, “et al.;” and once ‘sea monsters,’ Lam 4:3. A “dragon” properly means a kind of winged serpent much celebrated in the dark ages. Here it may not improperly be rendered “jackal” (“see” Bochart’s “Hieroz.” i. 1. 9, p. 69).

In their pleasant palaces - Hebrew, ‘Their palaces of luxury and pleasure.’ The following testimonies from travelers will show how minutely this was accomplished: ‘There are many dens of wild beasts in various parts.’ ‘There are quantities of porcupine quills.’ ‘In most of the cavities are numberless bats and owls.’ ‘These caverns, over which the chambers of majesty may have been spread, are now the refuge of jackals and other savage animals. The mouths of their entrances are strewed with the bones of sheep and “goats;” and the loathsome smell that issues from most of them is sufficient warning not to proceed into the den.’ - (Sir R. K. Porter’s “Travels,” vol. ii. p. 342.) ‘The mound was full of large holes; we entered some of them, and found them strewed with the carcasses and skeletons of animals recently killed. The ordure of wild beasts was so strong, that prudence got the better of curiosity, for we had no doubt as to the savage nature of the inhabitants. Our guides, indeed, told us that all the ruins abounded in lions and other wild beasts; so literally has the divine prediction been fulfilled, that wild beasts of the deserts should lie there.’ - (Keppel’s “Narrative,” vol. i. pp. 179, 180.)

And her time is near to come - This was spoken about 174 years before the destruction of Babylon. But we are to bear in mind that the prophet is to be supposed to be speaking to the captive Jews “in” Babylon, and speaking to them respecting their release (see Isa 14:1-2; compare remarks on the Analysis of this chapter). Thus considered, supposing the prophet to be addressing the Jews in captivity, or ministering consolation to them, the time was near. Or if we suppose him speaking as in his own time, the period when Babylon was to be destroyed was at no great distance.

On this whole prophecy, we may observe:

(1) That it was uttered at least 170 years before it was fulfilled. Of this there is all the proof that can be found in regard to any ancient writings.

(2) When uttered, there was the strongest improbability that it would be fulfilled. This improbability arose from the following circumstances:

(a) The Jews were secure in their own land, and they had no reason to dread the Babylonians; they had no wars with them, and it was improbable that they would be plucked up as a nation and carried there as captives. Such a thing had never occurred, and there were no circumstances that made it probable that it would occur.

(b) The great strength and security of Babylon rendered it improbable. It was the capital of the pagan world; and if there was any city that seemed impregnable, it was this.

(c) It was improbable that it would be overthrown by “the Medes.” Media, at the time when the prophecy was uttered, was a dependent province of Assyria (note, Isa 13:17), and it was wholly improbable that the Medes would revolt; that they would subdue their masters; that they would be united to the Persians, and that thus a new kingdom would arise, that should overthrow the most mighty capital of the world.

(d) It was improbable that Babylon would become uninhabitable. It was in the midst of a most fertile country; and by no human sagacity could it have been seen that the capital would be removed to Susa, or that Seleucia would be founded, thus draining it of its inhabitants; or that by the inundation of waters it would become unhealthy. How could mere human sagacity have foreseen that there would not be a house in it in the sixteenth century; or that now, in 1839, it would be a wide and dreary waste? Can any man now tell what London, or Paris, or New York, or Philadelphia, will be two years hence? Yet a prediction that those cities shall be the residence of ‘wild beasts of the desert,’ of ‘satyrs’ and ‘dragons,’ would be as probable now as was the prediction respecting Babylon at the time when Isaiah uttered these remarkable prophecies.

(3) The prophecy is not vague conjecture. It is not a “general” statement. It is minute, and definite, and particular; and it has been as definitely, and minutely, and particularly fulfilled.

(4) This is one of the evidences of the divine origin of the Bible. How will the infidel account for this prophecy and its fulfillment? It will not do to say that it is accident. It is too minute, and too particular. It is not human sagacity. No human sagacity could have foretold it. It is not “fancied fulfillment.” It is real, in the most minute particulars. And if so, then Isaiah was commissioned by Yahweh as he claimed to be - for none but the omniscient Jehovah can foresee and describe future events as the destruction of Babylon was foreseen and described. And if “this” prophecy was inspired by God, by the same train of reasoning it can be proved that the whole Bible is a revelation from heaven. For a very interesting account of the present state of the ruins of Babylon, furnishing the most complete evidence of the fulfillment of the Prophecies in regard to it, the reader may consult an article in the “Amos Bib. Rep.,” vol. viii. pp. 177-189. (See also the two “Memoirs on the Ruins of Babylon,” by C. John Rich, Esq. London, 1816 and 1818.) The frontispiece to this volume, compiled from the sketches of recent travelers, gives accurate and interesting views of those ruins.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Owls. Or jackals, which resemble foxes, and going in packs, will devour the largest creatures. (Bochart) (Parkhurst in aje.) (Haydock) --- But St. Jerome explains it of birds, Job xxviii. 7., and Leviticus xiv. --- Sirens, fabulously supposed to be sweet singing women with wings. --- Thannim denotes some great sea monsters, such as whales or sea calves. (Calmet)

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).

Her time is near to come; so it was, though not according to man’s rash judgment and impatient expectation, yet according to God’s estimation, and to the eye of faith, whereby Abraham saw Christ’s day as present, many ages before it came, Joh 8:56; and comparatively; for it happened within two hundred years; which is but a small proportion of time, if it be compared either with the foregoing or following ages of the world, or with the immense duration of eternity, from whence it was decreed by God, and therefore might well be said now to be near the accomplishment of it. In like manner the apostles speak of the day of judgment as near in their time, though it was at many ages distance.

Her days shall not be prolonged beyond the time prefixed and appointed by God. Compare Hab 2:3.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Beasts of the islands — See note on Isa_11:11. Literally, the first idea is islands, then coasts, and, on further advance of the conception, some desolate place.

Shall cry — As in responsive wailing, like that of jackals.

Dragons — The word may mean serpents, and when the idea is fitted to the conditions of the place, it probably does mean this. See further in notes on Job_7:12; Job_30:29. No man ever excelled Isaiah in painting deep, strong, tragic, thrilling words into a scene. Compare Isa_10:28-32.

That Cyrus, at the head of the greet Medo-Persian army, is seen in the foreground as the commencing agency of this terrific desolation, there can be no doubt. Unbelievers admit this. But the point of chief importance in this prediction is, the thorough eventual desolation of Babylon. For hundreds of years the prophecy has been completely fulfilled. Travellers furnish a description quite well enough answering to a state of things presented in the prediction. It answers little for an objection to this, even if here and there, on the large tract once occupied by the great city, a miserable village or larger town like Hillah has now and then sprung up, for the main truth stands; and as to Hillah, a town of ten thousand inhabitants, (NEWMAN’S Babylon and Nineveh,) Rawlinson is authority for doubt whether it stands on any part of the ancient site. Be it that it does so stand, it occupies but a speck in the area of two hundred square miles or more of old Babylon. The prophet’s vision had “its appointed time;” but at the end it spake, and did not lie: it came and tarried not. Hab_2:3.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wild beasts of the islands. In the Hebrew, iyyim, which means "wailers" or "howlers," probably "jackals." The Revised Version gives "wolves." In their desolate houses; or, in their castles (Cheyne). And dragons; i.e. "serpents." These have not been observed recently; but one of our old travelers notes that "the lande of Baby-lone," in his day, "was fulle of dragons and grote serpentes, and dyverse other veney-mouse ecstes alle abouten" (Mandeville, quoted by Ker Porter, "Travels," vol. 2. p. 36). Near to come. About one hundred and eighty years elapsed between the utterance of this prophecy and the fall of Babylon a short period in the lifetime of a nation.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Prolonged - Beyond the time appointed by God.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And wolves shall howl in his (the king of Babylon’s) palaces, and jackals in the temples of pleasure. And near to come is her (Babylon’s) time, and her days shall not be prolonged.” The latest writers seem to be agreed that these are different appellations of the jackal, but in order to retain the original variety of expression, substitute another animal in one of the clauses, such as wolves, wild-cats, etc. Whatever be the species here intended, the essential idea is the same as in the foregoing verse, viz. that Babylon should one day be inhabited exclusively by animals peculiar to the wilderness, implying that it should become a wilderness itself.

The contrast is heightened here by the particular mention of palaces and abodes of pleasure, as about to be converted into dens and haunts of solitary animals. This fine poetical conception is adopted by Milton in his sublime description of the flood. ‘And in their palaces,’ where luxury late reigned, sea-monsters whelped and stabled. The meaning of the word translated palaces, in every other case where it occurs, is widows, in which sense some rabbinical and other writers understand it here. It is possible that the two forms were designedly confounded by the writer, in order to suggest both ideas, that of palaces and that of widowhood or desolation. This explanation is adopted in the English Version, which has palaces in the margin, but in the text desolate houses.

The last clause of the verse may be strictly understood, but in application to the Jewish captives in the Babylonian exile, for whose consolation the prophecy was partly intended. Or we may understand it as denoting proximity in reference to the events which had been passing in the Prophet’s view. He sees the signals erected, he hears a noise in the mountains, and regarding these as actually present, he exclaims, her time is near to come! It may, however, mean, as similar expressions do in other cases, that when the appointed time should come, the event would certainly take place, there could be no postponement or delay.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And cats shall dwell in his palaces Heb. וְעָנָה אִיִּים בְּאַלְמְנוֹתָיו. And cats shall dwell in his palaces.

וְעָנַָה is similar to (Hosea 2:17) “And she shall dwell (וְעָנְתָה) there.” Also (Nahum 2:13) “And his dens (וּמְעוֹנוֹתָיו) with what he had torn.” וְעָנָה may also be interpreted as an expression of raising the voice.

and serpents shall dwell [or howl] in their temples of pleasure.

and her days The days of her flourishing shall not be extended, for Israel was promised (Jer. 29:10): “When seventy years of Babylon are over, I will remember you.” And that remembering will be through Cyrus king of Persia, who will take the kingdom from Babylon after Darius the Mede, for they both, Media and Persia, joined over it, [i.e., over Babylon,] and stipulated between themselves, if the kings are from us, the governors are from you.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

איים Vultures. Plural of אַיׇה Vulture (Lev. 11:14).

וענה And will sing or And will dwell; comp. מעון habitation (Ps. 26:8).

באלמנותיו According to some the same as בארמנותיו in his palaces; comp. Ez. 19:7; but as the letters—with the exception of אׄ הׄ וֹ יׄ—do not interchange;, Moznaim, sub voce המתהפכים. it is better to explain the expression thus: And every one of the vultures will sing with his widows.

ותנים And dragons. Comp. Job 30:29

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.