Edom is near to the Dead Sea, and the country is volcanic, and these facts suggest this lurid picture of judgment. Edom's rivers will be turned to pitch, its dust to brimstone, the land shall be a smoking, desolate wilderness for ever and ever. Pelican and bittern (Isaiah 14:23 *), owl and raven, shall dwell in it; it shall be reduced to utter chaos. Satyrs shall dwell in it, its rulers shall be destroyed. The palaces will be overrun with thorns and thistles, and be the dwelling-place of wild beasts and uncanny monsters. Let those who read this book verify the description for themselves, for Yahweh has allotted Edom to these creatures as their promised land, just as He allotted Canaan to the tribes of Israel.
Isaiah 34:11 b. Confusion and emptiness are the words which describe the primeval chaos in Genesis 1:2. The line and plummet are used to secure exactness in building. With just the same care and completeness Yahweh will execute the work of destruction.
Isaiah 34:12. Read, partially following LXX, And satyrs shall dwell therein, Her rulers shall not be; There shall be no kingdom there to proclaim, And all her princes shall be no more.
Isaiah 34:13-15. Cf. Isaiah 13:21 f.*
Isaiah 34:14. night monster: better Lilith (mg.), a night demon among the Babylonians and Assyrians. The Jews of Mesopotamia kept up the superstition about her till late in the Christian era, and she is the subject of several Rabbinical stories. The representation of her as Adam's first wife appears in Faust. place of rest: cf. Matthew 12:43; Luke 11:24.
Isaiah 34:15. arrowsnake: the reference to hatching seems to favour the view that a bird is intended, but the writer may have been unaware that pythons are the only snakes that hatch. gather under her shadow: read, brood over her eggs.