And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work.
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her - of sheep, answering to "beasts" in the parallel clause. Wide pastures for sheep, and haunts for wild beasts, shall be where once there was a teeming population (cf. Zephaniah 2:6). Maurer, needlessly for the parallelism, makes it 'flocks of savage animals.'
All the beasts of the nations - i:e., "beasts of the earth" (Genesis 1:24). Not as Rosenmuller, 'all kinds of beasts that form a nation' - i:e., gregarious beasts (Proverbs 30:25-27).
Both the cormorant, х qaa'at (H6893)] - rather, the pelican (so Psalms 102:6; margin, Isaiah 34:11); or spoonbill (Buxtorf), an aquatic bird; unclean in the eye of the law (Leviticus 11:18), [derived from quw', to vomit, as it vomits out shellfish, which it swallows. Aristotle, 'History of Animals,' 9: 10].
Bittern - delighting in "pools of water," which shall be the condition of the whole region of Babylon, soon to be reduced to its original state, a marsh near the Euphrates. Zephaniah has in view Isaiah's words, "I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water" х qipowd (H7090)] (Isaiah 14:23). Maurer translates, 'the hedgehog;' Henderson, 'the porcupine.' But its connection with the "pelican" (or cormorant) here, and its being "in the upper lintels" (or capitals of columns) make it more likely that some bird is meant; some think 'the duck-hawk' (anataria aquila).
Upper lintels, х bªkaptoreyhaa (H3730)] - rather, 'the capitals of her columns'-namely, in her temples and palaces (Maurer). Or, 'on the pomegranate-like knops at the tops of the houses' (Grotius).
Their voice shall sing in the windows. The desert-frequenting birds' "voice in the windows" implies desolation reigning in the upper parts of the palaces, answering to "desolation ... in the thresholds" - i:e., in the lower.
For he shall uncover the cedar-work - laying the cedar wainscoting on the walls, and carved beams of the ceiling, bare to wind and rain, the roof being torn off, and the windows and doors broken through. All this is designed as a consolation to the Jews, that they may bear their calamities patiently, knowing that God will avenge them.