Jeremiah Chapter 12 verse 9 Holy Bible
Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.
read chapter 12 in ASV
My heritage is like a brightly coloured bird to me; the cruel birds are attacking her on every side: go, get together all the beasts of the field, make them come for destruction.
read chapter 12 in BBE
My heritage is unto me [as] a speckled bird of prey; the birds of prey round about are against her. Go, assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.
read chapter 12 in DARBY
Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
read chapter 12 in KJV
read chapter 12 in WBT
Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go you, assemble all the animals of the field, bring them to devour.
read chapter 12 in WEB
A speckled fowl `is' Mine inheritance to Me? Is the fowl round about against her? Come, assemble, every beast of the field, Come ye for food.
read chapter 12 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 9. - The first part of this verse is mistranslated. Instead of Mine heritage is unto me, etc., it should be, Is mine heritage unto me (i.e. to my sorrow, a dativus ethics) a colored bird of prey? Are birds of prey round about her? The passage is difficult, but the following seems the most plausible explanation: - Jehovah is represented as surprised to see his chosen people a prey to the heathen (a strongly anthropomorphic description, as if Jehovah had not anticipated that his "giving up" his people would have such sad results). It seems to him (adopting human modes of speech) as if Israel were "a colored bird of prey," the bright plumage of which excites the animosity of its less brilliant comrades, who gather round it and pull it to pieces. It is an allusion to the phenomenon, well-known to the ancients (Tacit., 'Ann.' 6:28; Suet., 'Caes.,' 81; Plin.,' Hist. Nat.,' 10:19), of birds gathering round and attacking a strange-looking bird appearing in their midst. The prophet might have simply said "a bird;" why does he say "a bird of prey ('ayit)"? Probably because he has just described the hostile attitude of Israel towards Jehovah under the figure of a lion. Some particular, rare kind of vulture seems to be intended. Sennacherib apparently uses a cognate word ('it) for the vulture ('Taylor Cylinder,' 3. 68). Bochart and Gesenius, following the Septuagint, think "hyena," and not "bird of prey," is the right rendering in the first clause; but Gesenius does not offer any other passage for the meaning bestia rapax. Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field. There is a parallel passage in Isaiah 56:9, where, as here, the "beasts of the field (i.e. the wild beasts of the open country) are the heathen powers employed as God's instruments for chastising Israel (comp. also Ezekiel 34:5, where the same figure occurs). "The prophet adopts the strongest way of expressing that Israel, utterly bereft of his natural defenders, lies at the mercy of the great heathen empire" (note on Isaiah 56:9). Come to devour; rather, bring them to devour.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(9) Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird.--The Hebrew is interrogative, Is mine heritage . . .? Are the birds come round about against her? The word for "bird" in both cases means a "bird of prey" (Isaiah 46:11; Genesis 15:11), and the "speckled bird" is probably, but not certainly, some less common species of vulture. The image was probably suggested by something the prophet had observed, birds of prey of one species collecting and attacking a solitary stranger of another, joined by the "beasts of the field," the wolves and jackals and hyaenas, who scent their prey. The word "speckled," perhaps, points to the bird attacked as being of more goodly plumage than the others (one, it may be, of the kingfishers that abound in Palestine), and therefore treated as a stranger and an enemy. The fact is one which strikes every observer of bird life (Tac. Ann. vi. 28; Sueton. Caes. c. 81).