Isaiah Chapter 34 verse 11 Holy Bible

ASV Isaiah 34:11

But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.
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BBE Isaiah 34:11

But the birds of the waste land will have their place there; it will be a heritage for the bittern and the raven: and it will be measured out with line and weight as a waste land.
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DARBY Isaiah 34:11

And the pelican and the bittern shall possess it, and the great owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And he shall stretch out upon it the line of waste, and the plummets of emptiness.
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KJV Isaiah 34:11

But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
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WBT Isaiah 34:11


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WEB Isaiah 34:11

But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.
read chapter 34 in WEB

YLT Isaiah 34:11

And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 11. - The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it. Compare the prophecy against Babylon in Isaiah 14:23. The Hebrew word translated "cormorant," is now generally regarded as designating the "pelican," while the one rendered "bittern" is thought by some to mean "hedgehog" or "porcupine." Animals that delight in solitude are certainly meant, but the particular species is, more or less, matter of conjecture. He shall stretch out upon it; rather, and one shall stretch out upon it. The verb is used impersonally. The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness; rather, the line of desolation, and the plummet of emptiness (comp. 2 Kings 21:13; Lamentations 2:8; Amos 7:7, 8). The destruction of cities was effected by rule and measure, probably because different portions of the task were assigned to different sets of laborers, and, if the work was to be completely done, it required to be done systematically. Here, the measuring-tape and the plumb-line are to be these of tohu and vohu, or of the eternal chaos out of which God, by his word, produced order (Genesis 1:2).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it . . .--The picture of a wild, desolate region, haunted by birds and beasts that shun the abode of men, is a favourite one with Isaiah (comp. Isaiah 13:20-22; Isaiah 14:23), and is reproduced by Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:14). Naturalists agree in translating, The pelicans and hedgehogs; the owl, and the raven.The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness . . .--The "line" and the "stones" are those of the builder's plumb-line, used, as in 2Kings 21:13; Amos 7:7-9; Lamentations 2:8, for the work, not of building up, but for the destroying as with a scientific completeness. "Confusion" and "emptiness," are the tohu v'bohu, "without form and void" of the primeval chaos (Genesis 1:1). . . .