Isaiah 34:14

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.

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 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.

16 Seek from the book of Yahweh and {read}; none of these shall be missing; none shall miss her mate. For my mouth {is the one that} has commanded, and his spirit {is the one that} has gathered them.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew transliteration; possibly a proper name for a Mesopotamian night-demon