Isaiah 34:14

14 And fiends, and wonderful beasts, like men in the higher part, and like asses in the nether part, and an hairy, shall meet; one shall cry to another. Lamia shall lie there, and find rest there to herself; (And fiends, and wonderful beasts, like men in the higher part, and like donkeys in the lower part, and hairy all over, shall meet; and one shall cry to the other. The lamia shall lie down there, and shall find rest there 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.


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 The noble men thereof shall not be there; rather they shall call the king into help, and all the princes thereof shall be into nought. (They shall call for its noble men to rule the kingdom, but no one shall be there; and all its leaders shall come to nothing.)
13 And thorns and nettles shall grow in the houses thereof, and a teasel in the strongholds thereof; and it shall be the couch of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches.
14 And fiends, and wonderful beasts, like men in the higher part, and like asses in the nether part, and an hairy, shall meet; one shall cry to another. Lamia shall lie there, and find rest there to herself; (And fiends, and wonderful beasts, like men in the higher part, and like donkeys in the lower part, and hairy all over, shall meet; and one shall cry to the other. The lamia shall lie down there, and shall find rest there for herself;)
15 there an urchin had ditches, and nourished out whelps (there a hedge-hog had dens, and nourished whelps), and digged about, and fostered in the shadow thereof; there kites were gathered together, one to another.
16 Seek ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read ye; one of those things failed not, one sought not (in vain for) another; for he commanded that thing, that goeth forth of my mouth, and his spirit, he gathered them together. (Seek ye diligently in the Book of the Lord, and read ye; not one of them shall fail, not one shall seek in vain for another; for he hath commanded it with his mouth, and with his breath, he hath brought them together.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.