Isaiah 34:14

14 Wildcats and hyenas will meet there; and billy-goats call to each other; Lilit [the night monster] will lurk there and find herself a place to rest.

Isaiah 34:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 34:14

The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the
wild beasts of the islands
In Rome, and take up their abode there; of these creatures, the first of which the Targum renders monstrous ones, and the latter wild cats, (See Gill on Isaiah 13:22): and the satyr shall cry to his fellow;
or the "hairy" one ^F18; from which word the goat has its name; and these creatures are described by the ancients as half goats and half men; of which (See Gill on Isaiah 13:21). The Targum renders it demons; and with this well agrees the account of Babylon or Rome as fallen, that it shall be the habitation of, devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, ( Revelation 18:2 ) : the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place
of rest;
there being no inhabitants to disturb her. By the name "Lilith", it appears to be a night bird, which flies and is heard in the night. The Jews call a she demon by this name, which, they say {s}, has a human face, and has wings, and destroys children as soon as born; and therefore the Jews, especially in Germany, write upon the four corners of the bed of a new mother, Adam, Eve, out Lilith ^F20; the same with the Lamia of the Romans; and so the Vulgate Latin here renders it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (ryev) "pilosus", a (rev) "capillus."
F19 T. Bab. Nidda, fol. 24. 2.
F20 Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. col. 1140.

Isaiah 34:14 In-Context

12 Of its nobles, none will be called to be king, and all its princes will be nothing.

13 Thorns will overgrow its palaces, nettles and thistles its fortresses; it will become a lair for jackals, an enclosure for ostriches.

14 Wildcats and hyenas will meet there; and billy-goats call to each other; Lilit [the night monster] will lurk there and find herself a place to rest.

15 There the hoot owl will nest, lay her eggs, hatch and gather her young in its shade. There the vultures will assemble, every one with its mate.

16 Consult the book of ADONAI and read it: not one of these will be missing, none will be lacking a mate. For by his own mouth he gave the order, and by his Spirit he brought them together.