Isaiah Chapter 14 verse 23 Holy Bible

ASV Isaiah 14:23

I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
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BBE Isaiah 14:23

And I will make you a heritage for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will go through it with the brush of destruction, says the Lord of armies.
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DARBY Isaiah 14:23

And I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts.
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KJV Isaiah 14:23

I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
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WBT Isaiah 14:23


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WEB Isaiah 14:23

I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Yahweh of Hosts.
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YLT Isaiah 14:23

And have made it for a possession of a bittern, And ponds of waters, And daubed it with the mire of destruction, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts!
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 23. - A possession for the bittern. Some water-bird or other is probably intended, since the word used is joined in Isaiah 36:11 with the names of three other birds, and is also certainly a bird's name in Zephaniah 2:14; but the identification with the "bittern" is a mere guess, and rests on no authority. And pools of water. The swampy character of the country about the ruins of Babylon is generally noticed by travelers. It arises from neglect of the dams along the course of the Euphrates. Ker Porter says that "large deposits of the Euphrates water are left stagnant in the hollows between the ruins" ('Travels,' vol. 2. p. 389).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) I will also make it a possession for the bittern . . .--Naturalists are not agreed as to the meaning of the noun. In the LXX. and Vulgate it appears as "hedgehog," or "porcupine," and the "tortoise," "beaver," "otter," and "owl" have all been suggested by scholars. Its conjunction with "pelican in Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14, and with" pools of water "here, is in favour of some kind of water-fowl. The "hedgehog" frequents dry places, and not marshes, and does not roost, as in Zephaniah 2:14, on the capitals of ruined columns. On the whole, therefore, "bittern" (Botaurus stellaris) may as well stand.Pools of water.--These were the natural result of the breaking up of the canals, sluices, reservoirs, which had kept the overflow of the Euphrates within bounds (Diod. Sic., ii. 7).I will sweep it with the besom of destruction . . .--The phrase has its parallel in the "sieve of vanity," in Isaiah 30:28. (Comp. Isaiah 34:11) The force of the image must not be lost sight of Babylon is to be swept away as men sweep away some foul rubbish from their house. The world is cleaner for its destruction. The solemn doom closes the "burden" of Babylon. . . .