Isaiah 13:21

wild beasts of the desert The word used means strictly "dwellers in the desert" and is applied to men in Psalms 72:9. In ch. Isaiah 34:14 it seems to denote a particular kind of desert creature.

doleful creatures Probably "howlers," but what kind of howlers are meant is altogether uncertain. Some render "owls," others "jackals," &c. The word does not occur elsewhere. Owlsshould undoubtedly be ostriches. The Heb. name (běnôth ya-ǎnah), as explained by Wetzstein (see Delitzsch, Comm. on Job, 2nd Ed., Eng. Tr., vol. II., p. 340) means "daughters of the desert." The Arabs have a similar designation for the bird, abu eṣ-ṣaḥârâ, "father of the desert."

satyrs shall dance there The noun also means "goats," as in Genesis 37:31; but the old translations have mostly perceived that goatshaped demons are here intended (so also in ch. Isaiah 34:14), the same beings to which Jewish superstition offered sacrifices (Leviticus 17:7; 2 Chronicles 11:15 A.V. "devils"). The transition from the natural to the supernatural seems strange to our minds, but in the East the belief in weird creatures (jinn) inhabiting waste places and dangerous spots is a commonplace.