Isaiah 13:22 · Bible study
Isaiah 13:22 Commentary: Babylon's Desolation and Its "Near" Time
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Isaiah 13:22: hyenas and jackals in Babylon's palaces.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Babylon will become a desolate haunt of howling animals, and its appointed judgment will come without delay.
- Key words: אִיִּים (iim, hyenas/jackals), תַּנִּים (tannim, jackals/serpents), עָנָה (anah, to answer/cry), עֵת (et, appointed time).
- Main debate: How to interpret “her time is near” when fulfillment spanned centuries; answers include prophetic foreshortening, divine perspective, and audience reference.
- Theological theme: God's sovereign judgment on human pride, the certainty of His word, and the disparity between human impatience and divine timing.
- Best use: A sobering reminder that no earthly power lasts; a text for hope in God's justice; an invitation to trust God's clock over our calendars.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
KJV King James Version 1769
And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And Aiim have responded in his forsaken habitations, And dragons in palaces of delight, And near to come is her time, And her days are not drawn out!
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And jackals shall cry to one another in their palaces, and wild dogs in the pleasant castles. And her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y en sus palacios gritarán gatos cervales, y chacales en sus casas de deleite: y abocado está á venir su tiempo, y sus días no se alargarán.
E as hienas uivarão em suas fortalezas, e chacais em seus confortáveis palácios. Pois está chegando bem perto o seu tempo, e os dias dela não se prolongarão.
Les chacals hurleront dans ses palais,
und wilde Hunde in ihren Palästen heulen und Schakale in den lustigen Schlössern. Und ihre Zeit wird bald kommen, und ihre Tage werden nicht säumen.
En wilde dieren der eilanden zullen in zijn verlaten plaatsen elkander toeroepen, mitsgaders de draken in de wellustige paleizen; hun tijd toch is nabij om te komen, en hun dagen zullen niet vertogen worden.
Gli sciacalli ululeranno nei suoi palazzi, i cani salvatici nelle sue ville deliziose. Il suo tempo sta per venire, i suoi giorni non saran prolungati.
I będą się sobie ozywać straszne potwory na pałacach ich, a smoki na zamkach rozkosznych. A blisko tego że przyjdzie czas jego, a dni jego nie odwloką się.
Шакалы будут выть в чертогах их, и гиены - в увеселительных домах.
豺狼 必在它宮中 呼號；野狗 必在它華美 殿內吼叫。巴比倫受罰的時候 臨 近；它的日子 必不 長久。
And wolves will be answering one another in their towers, and jackals in their houses of pleasure: her time is near, and her days of power will quickly be ended.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 13:22
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree on the core picture: Babylon would become an uninhabited ruin, its luxurious palaces taken over by wild animals. The words for "hyenas" (אִיִּים, iim) and "jackals" (תַּנִּים, tannim) evoke howling creatures that cry out in the night, a sound of utter desolation. Barnes notes that the Hebrew verb "cry" (וְעָנָה) literally means "answer" or "respond", wolves howl to each other, heightening the loneliness. The more debated point is the declaration that "her time is near to come." Because Babylon's fall began with Cyrus in 539 BC but took centuries to complete, commentators offer different explanations. Calvin argues that from God's perspective a few centuries are like a moment, and the nearness was meant to hold believers' hope in suspense. Keil and Delitzsch use the term "prophetic foreshortening", like distant mountains that appear close on the horizon. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown suggest that Isaiah speaks as if the future exiles are already in Babylon, so for them it is near. Gill notes that the time seemed near when the prophecy was given, even though two hundred years away, because people felt it keenly. All agree: the judgment is certain and God's timing is sure.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Divine perspective (Calvin): God sees time differently; a few centuries are nothing to Him; the nearness addressed the believer's hope.
- Prophetic foreshortening (Keil & Delitzsch): The prophet collapses distant events into a near horizon, like mountains appearing close at sunrise.
- Audience reference (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown): Isaiah speaks as if the exiles are already in Babylon; from their standpoint, judgment is imminent.
What is clear: Babylon's total desolation and the certainty of God's appointed judgment are not in dispute across traditions.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identification of the animals | The creatures are wild, howling animals that inhabit desolate ruins. | Some commentators specify jackals or hyenas (אִיִּים and תַּנִּים); others translate 'wolves,' 'dragons,' or 'wild cats.' The exact species is uncertain, but the image of howling in the night is consistent. |
| Meaning of 'her time is near' | The phrase declares that Babylon's judgment is certain and will come at God's appointed moment. | Calvin says 'near' from God's eternal perspective; Keil and Delitzsch use prophetic foreshortening; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown hear it as words for future exiles. The timing is relative, not chronological. |
| Literal desolation vs. symbolic decay | Babylon was physically abandoned and became a ruin over time. | Some see a direct prophecy of permanent uninhabitation (Matthew Henry), while others note that Babylon was inhabited for centuries after the prophecy but gradually declined (Barnes, Keil). |
| The textual variant in 'desolate houses/palaces' | The Hebrew reads 'almenothaiv (widows), causing a figurative translation. | Adam Clarke and the Cambridge Bible treat it as a copyist error for 'armenothaiv (palaces); others accept the Masoretic text's 'widows' as a metaphor for desolate homes. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Babylon was the ancient world's greatest city, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride" (Isa 13:19). Its hanging gardens, massive walls, and luxurious palaces symbolized human achievement and arrogant self-sufficiency. The prophecy in Isaiah 13 uses vivid images to announce its complete desolation. Medes and Persians would conquer the city; verse 20 declares it will never be inhabited again.
The animals named, hyenas, jackals, dragons, are symbols of wilderness and curse. In ancient Near Eastern poetry, wild creatures taking over a city marked divine judgment. Barnes cites travelers who found jackals and bats in the ruins. The Hebrew word for "palaces" in verse 22 (אלמנות, almenoth) literally means "widows", likely a scribal variation of "palaces" (ארמנות). Adam Clarke and the Cambridge Bible note this textual issue, but the meaning is clear: the places of pleasure become haunts of howling beasts.
Historically, Babylon's decline was gradual. Cyrus spared the city, but Darius Hystaspis leveled the walls. Xerxes destroyed the temple of Belus. Seleucia drew away the population. By Strabo's time (born 60 BC), Babylon was a desert. The prophecy's claim that "her time is near" must be understood from God's perspective and for the original audience. For God, "a thousand years are like a day" (2 Pet 3:8). For the prophet speaking to a future generation of exiles, the judgment was imminent in the sense that it would surely come soon in the flow of history. The cross-reference from Habakkuk 2:3, "Though it takes time, wait for it", captures the tension between divine immediacy and human waiting.
Textual Notes
The verse contains one notable textual issue. The Hebrew reads בְּאַלְמנוֹתָיו (be'almenothaiv), which literally means "in his widows." English translations almost uniformly read "palaces" (from ארמנות, armenoth). Adam Clarke calls this "a plain mistake" in the Masoretic text, corrected by the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate. The Cambridge Bible similarly suggests it is a copyist's error or a by-form for "palaces." The word for "hyenas" (אִיִּים, iim) is also uncertain, related to a root meaning "to howl", and some manuscripts link it to islands or coasts, though the sense of a wild, howling creature is agreed upon. No other significant variants are noted in the consulted sources.
Reception History
Isaiah 13:22 has been read for millennia as a dramatic fulfillment of divine judgment. Early Christian writers like Jerome saw in it the historical destruction of Babylon and a type of final judgment. The haunting image of wild animals in palaces was taken up by John Milton in Paradise Lost, where he describes sea-monsters whelping in luxurious halls, a parallel the Adam Clarke commentary notes. Persian poets used comparable imagery, picturing owls standing guard on the towers of Afrasiab and spiders holding the veil in Caesar's palace. During the Reformation, Calvin used the verse to teach patience, arguing that God's timing is not ours. In modern scholarship, the passage is studied for its poetic power and its place in the ancient Near Eastern tradition of city-laments. Across all eras, the verse has served as a sober reminder that no empire stands forever, and that God's appointed time always arrives.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- From Luxury to Howling, The palaces of delight become dens of hyenas and jackals. Human pride ends in desolation.
- The Judgment Is Certain, Babylon's siege and gradual decay show that God's word holds true even when fulfillment takes centuries.
- God's Timing Is Not Our Timing, The declaration that "her time is near" challenges us to trust God's clock, not our impatience.
Five-point outline
- A City of Splendor Reversed, Babylon was the "glory of kingdoms" (v.19); now it is a scene of desolation.
- The Creatures of the Wild, Hyenas and jackals respond to each other in the night, a haunting chorus of judgment.
- The Place of Pleasure Becomes a Grave, "Pleasant palaces" (v.22) become the habitation of howling beasts.
- The Nearness of God's "Time", The Hebrew word עֵת (et) points to an appointed moment, not a calendar date.
- Days Not Prolonged, God's decree fixes a limit; no power can extend Babylon's days beyond what He has appointed.
Illustration hooks
- A forgotten factory. Walk through an abandoned manufacturing plant where workers once operated humming machines. Now only wind and stray animals occupy the space. The shift from productivity to silence mirrors Babylon's fate.
- The patience of an heirloom seed. A farmer plants a seed that takes seventy years to mature into a tree. The wait feels long, but the harvest is certain. Prophecy works on that scale.
- Howling at dusk. Coyotes calling across a suburban field at night remind us that wild spaces reclaim what humans abandon. Babylon is a permanent poem of that return.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God judged Babylon so thoroughly, does He still judge nations and empires today?
- How do we wait for God's promises when they seem delayed, especially justice for the oppressed?
- What does it mean for us that Babylon's "time" was both near and centuries away?
Leading a Discussion
Isaiah 13:22 closes the judgment oracle against Babylon with a stark picture of howling animals in abandoned palaces and a declaration that "her time is near." This verse invites us to consider how God's judgment unfolds in history, and what it means to trust God's timing when we cannot see the end. Use these questions to open a conversation in your group.
Discussion questions
- Read Isaiah 13:19, 22 together. What images stand out to you? Why do the hyenas and jackals “cry” or “answer” each other?
- The Hebrew word for “cry” (עָנָה) means to respond, like howling wolves calling to one another. How does that detail deepen the sense of desolation?
- In verse 22, why does the prophet add “her time is near to come” when Babylon’s fall began over a century later? What does this teach us about God's relationship to time?
- Compare this verse with Habakkuk 2:3 (“Though it takes time, wait for it”). How do we balance patient waiting with the urgency of God’s promises?
- Babylon’s judgment was gradual, over decades and centuries. In what ways do we see God’s judgments unfolding slowly in our own world? How does that affect our faith?
- The prophecy says Babylon's days “shall not be prolonged.” What does that tell us about God’s sovereignty over the rise and fall of nations?
- How does this passage comfort or challenge you personally concerning a situation where you are waiting for God to act?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 32:35 | Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.” |
| Isaiah 25:2 | For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built. |
| Isaiah 34:13 | Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. |
| Isaiah 35:7 | The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay. |
| Jeremiah 51:33 | For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest comes for her.” |
| Ezekiel 7:7 | Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land! The time has come! The day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains. |
| Ezekiel 7:10 | “‘Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has gone out. The rod has blossomed. Pride has budded. |
| Habakkuk 2:3 | For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it, because it will surely come. It won’t delay. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke argues that the original Hebrew should read simply "in their palaces," not "pleasant palaces," a correction supported by ancient manuscripts and versions. He then drives home the scene of total desolation by quoting poets: spiders and owls now inhabit what were once royal courts and watchtowers.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes focuses on the Hebrew words for "wild beasts" and "dragons," arguing they actually refer to known animals like wolves and jackals, not mythical creatures. He then uses this lexical analysis to highlight the exact, literal fulfillment of the prophecy in Babylon's desolation, citing travelers who reported dens of wild beasts in the ruins.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that the prophecy of Babylon's swift ruin must not be measured by human impatience. Though its full destruction came slowly, the judgment was already certain from God. Believers should accept even the first signs of His justice, learning to wait by lifting their hearts to heaven rather than demanding immediate results.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator focuses on textual details: the phrase "wild beasts of the islands" actually comes from a word meaning "to howl," not islands. He also notes that "their desolate houses" may be a copyist's error for "their palaces," and "dragons" should be understood as jackals.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note stresses that Babylon's judgment is both certain and immediate. The desolation will be total, leaving only wild beasts in what were once royal palaces, and the appointed time for this will not be delayed a single day beyond what God has fixed.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill marshals medieval travel accounts as evidence that the prophecy was literally fulfilled: Babylonian ruins became so infested with serpents and venomous creatures that no one dared approach. He treats this physical desolation, not just symbolic language, as confirmation that Babylon's judgment was certain and near.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB specifies that the "wild beasts" are jackals whose howling echoes back and forth, and the "dragons" are serpents or possibly another jackal species. They also note that the judgment is called "near" not chronologically but prophetically, spoken as if the exile has already begun.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch observe that the prophecy of Babylon's desolation was not fulfilled immediately but over centuries, compressed by the "law of perspective foreshortening" typical of prophecy. They argue that the specific details—complete ruin, no tent pitched, wild animals and demons inhabiting the site—have been literally verified by history and travelers' accounts.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that Babylon's destruction, while gradual rather than sudden, was as complete as Sodom's overthrow. The once glorious city fell during Belshazzar's careless revelry, and over time it wasted away until nothing remained, just as God had foretold.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Prolonged - Beyond the time appointed by God.