Yesaya 34:14-15

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ¹ 

wild goats will bleat to one another. ² 

Yes, nocturnal animals ³  will rest there

and make for themselves a nest. ⁴ 

34:15 Owls ⁵  will make nests and lay eggs ⁶  there;

they will hatch them and protect them. ⁷ 

Yes, hawks ⁸  will gather there,

each with its mate.

Yesaya 36:5

36:5 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. ⁹  In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me?

Yesaya 43:24

43:24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; ¹⁰ 

you did not present to me ¹¹  the fat of your sacrifices.

Yet you burdened me with your sins;

you made me weary with your evil deeds. ¹² 

[34:14]  ¹ tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

[34:14]  ² tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

[34:14]  ³ tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”

[34:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

[34:15]  ⁵ tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.

[34:15]  ⁶ tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.

[34:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”

[34:15]  ⁸ tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.

[36:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.

[43:24]  ¹⁰ tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”

[43:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.”

[43:24]  ¹² sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.