Isaiah 34:13

13 And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.

Isaiah 34:13 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 34:13

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 ( Isaiah 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: 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, ( Revelation 12:3 ) ( Revelation 13:2 Revelation 13:11 ) : [and] a court for owls;
or, "daughters of the owl"; or "ostriches", as some render it.

Isaiah 34:13 In-Context

11 But [the] large bird and [the] hedgehog shall take possession of it, and [the] owl and [the] raven shall live in it. And he shall stretch [the] measuring line of confusion out over it, and [the] plumb line of emptiness.

12 Its nobles--but no kingdom is there--shall call, and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.

14 And desert creatures shall meet with hyenas, and a goat-demon shall call to his neighbor; surely there Lilith shall repose, and she shall find a resting place for herself.

15 There [the] owl shall nest and lay and hatch and care for her chicks in her shadow; surely there [the] birds of prey shall be gathered, each one [with] her mate.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "weed"
• [b] Hebrew "thistle plant"