Yeremia 9:11

9:11 The Lord said, ¹ 

“I will make Jerusalem ²  a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ³ 

I will destroy the towns of Judah

so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Yeremia 10:22

10:22 Listen! News is coming even now. ⁴ 

The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ⁵  from a land in the north. ⁶ 

It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,

places where only jackals live.

Yeremia 49:33

49:33 “Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,

a place where only jackals live. ⁷ 

No one will live there.

No human being will settle in it.” ⁸ 

Yeremia 50:39

50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.

Ostriches ⁹  will dwell in it too. ¹⁰ 

But no people will ever live there again.

No one will dwell there for all time to come. ¹¹ 

[9:11]  ¹ tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:11]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:11]  ³ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

[10:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “The sound of a report, behold, it is coming.”

[10:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “ coming, even a great quaking.”

[10:22]  ⁶ sn Compare Jer 6:22.

[49:33]  ⁷ sn Compare Jer 9:11.

[49:33]  ⁸ sn Compare Jer 49:18 and 50:40 where the same thing is said about Edom and Babylon.

[50:39]  ⁹ tn The identification of this bird has been called into question by G. R. Driver, “Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 (1955): 137-38. He refers to this bird as an owl. That identification, however, is not reflected in any of the lexicons including the most recent, which still gives “ostrich” (HALOT 402 s.v. יַעֲנָה) as does W. S. McCullough, “Ostrich,” IDB 3:611. REB, NIV, NCV, and God’s Word all identify this bird as “owl/desert owl.”

[50:39]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Therefore desert creatures will live with jackals and ostriches will live in it.”

[50:39]  ¹¹ tn Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage in Ps 100:5 and Isaiah 13:20. Since the first half of the verse has spoken of animals living there, it is necessary to add “people” and turn the passive verbs into active ones.