But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
Wild beasts of the desert - Hebrew, tsiyiym (H6728), animals dwelling in arid wastes (from tsiyah (H6723), dryness). Wild cats, remarkable for their howl (Bochart).
Their houses shall be full of doleful creatures - howling beasts. Hebrew, Ochim; literally, 'howlings' (Maurer). From ach, an exclamation of pain.
Owls shall dwell there - rather, ostriches; a timorous creature, delighting in solitary deserts, and making a hideous noise (Bochart). Hebrew, bªnowt (H1323) ya`ªnaah (H3284), 'daughters of shouting,' from the root х `aanaah (H6030)], to shout. Or, as Gesenius explains, 'daughters of voracity,' from a root х yaa`an (H3282)], to be voracious. The ostrich will swallow any substance-iron, large stones, etc.-to assist the triturating action of the gizzard. The former view suits best the context here.
Satyrs shall dance there - Hebrew, sª`iyriym (H8163); sylvan demi-gods-half-man, half-goat-believed by the Arabs to haunt these ruins; probably animals of the goat-ape species (Vitringa). Devil worshippers, who dance amidst the ruins on a certain night (J. Wolff). The Hebrew means hairy, rough (as the Latin hircus is from hirtus, hirsutus), applicable to the he-goat. The worship of sª`iyriym (H8163), whether meaning the he-goat or, as Hamilton Smith thinks, the dog-faced baboon (Cynocephalus), was accompanied with dances. It was really devils that were thus worshipped (Leviticus 17:7, "they (the Israelites) shall no more (as in Egypt) offer their sacrificed unto devils" ( sª`iyriym (H8163)) (2 Chronicles 11:15).