Isaiah 13:20-22
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This verse doesn't just predict desolation; it emphasizes the totality of it by including nomadic peoples, the Arabs, who were accustomed to finding temporary refuge in even the most unlikely places. The prophecy states that Babylon's ruins will be so forsaken and even feared that even those who lived by wandering would shun it, marking a profound curse beyond mere destruction.
It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This prophecy describes the utter desolation of Babylon following its conquest, emphasizing its permanent ruin. It follows the preceding verses that detail the terrifying downfall of the mighty city and precedes verses that paint a picture of the desolate landscape filled with wild animals instead of people. The text here highlights that even nomadic groups, like the Arabs who traditionally sought temporary resting places in the wilderness, and shepherds looking for pasture, would avoid this cursed land.
We often think of judgment as a one-time event. But what if God's judgment leaves a place utterly uninhabitable, a perpetual warning?
Isaiah 13:20 paints a picture of more than just destruction; it describes a place so utterly ruined that it becomes a curse.
A City Cursed
This goes beyond military defeat; it's a divine declaration of permanent abandonment, a testament to God's judgment on the city's pride and wickedness.
Who determines the fate of nations? This prophecy reveals a divine hand at work, orchestrating judgment with a purpose.
Isaiah doesn't just predict the fall of Babylon; he reveals who is behind it and why.
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God's Sovereign Hand
This emphasizes that even the rise and fall of mighty empires are under God's sovereign control. He uses nations as tools to carry out His justice against wickedness.
Understand the original words
tsiyim · Hebrew Noun
Refers to beasts of the wilderness that inhabit desolate or ruined places, often used in prophetic literature to symbolize divine judgment and the reversal of human civilization.
bayith · Hebrew Noun
Refers to the place of abode or the ruinous state of a dwelling place left abandoned, representing the complete collapse of human society or city structures under divine judgment.
ochim · Hebrew Noun
A term used for desert creatures or owls, often evoking the sound of mourning or wailing, symbolizing the desolation of a place once full of human life.
ya'anah · Hebrew Noun
A large bird of the desert, associated in biblical literature with the wasteland and places abandoned by God's people due to judgment.
sa'ir · Hebrew Noun
A term denoting 'hairy ones' or satyrs, often associated in biblical imagery with demonic entities or wild, unkempt desert creatures that inhabit ruins.
iyim · Hebrew Noun
Wild canines or scavenging animals that dwell in abandoned ruins, serving as a sign of the total abandonment and degradation of a city or nation.
almanah · Hebrew Noun
A structure associated with city defenses, which, when empty and inhabited by wild beasts, signals the complete failure of human protection and the triumph of God's sovereign judgment.
tannim · Hebrew Noun
A scavenger animal often found in deserted or ruined places, representing the final state of destruction and the removal of human glory.
hekhal · Hebrew Noun
Magnificent residences or palaces, which in prophetic judgment represent the pride and worldly power of a nation that will be reduced to ruin.
eth · Hebrew Noun
The ordained moment or season determined by God for judgment to occur, emphasizing that historical events are under His sovereign control.
This prophecy paints a vivid picture of absolute desolation, not just that the city would fall, but that it would become so shunned and barren that even nomadic peoples and shepherds would avoid it. The text's fulfillment centuries later highlights the long-term, utter ruin God decreed for this once-great empire.
c. 539 BC
Fall of Babylon to Persia
Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire. While the city itself was not immediately destroyed, this marked the beginning of its decline.
c. 300 BC
Founding of Seleucia
The Seleucid Empire founds a new capital city, Seleucia on the Tigris, which gradually draws population and importance away from Babylon.
c. AD 100
Babylon still inhabited
Despite its decline, Babylon still possessed a significant population and was a place of consequence, as noted by historical sources like Josephus and Trajan's visit.
c. AD 1000
Babylon largely abandoned
By this period, Babylon had fallen into significant disrepair and was largely uninhabited, with travelers like Benjamin of Tudela noting only ruins.
c. 1500 AD— this verse
Desolate ruins
Travelers like Rauwolff describe the site as being without houses, a desolate desert landscape, fulfilling the prophecy of perpetual uninhabitability.
This passage echoes Isaiah's prophecy by describing Babylon being covered by a flood of enemies, signifying its complete destruction and abandonment.
Revelation 18:2This New Testament prophecy directly parallels Isaiah's description, calling Babylon a 'dwelling place for demons' and 'a haunt for every impure spirit,' highlighting its future desolation.
Psalm 37:35-36This psalm contrasts the fate of the wicked, whose prosperity is fleeting and disappears like a flourishing plant, with the righteous, providing a theological backdrop to Babylon's ultimate ruin.
Ezekiel 26:14This prophecy against Tyre, another great ancient city, shares a similar theme of utter destruction and becoming a place for drying nets, emphasizing that even magnificent cities are subject to God's judgment.
cambridgeIsaiah 13:20: "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there."
20 . the Arabian ] Cf. Jeremiah 3:2 . The word seems originally to mean “dweller in the desert,” but ultimately acquired the force of a proper name (see Jeremiah 25:24 ; 2 Chronicles 9:14 , &c.). The site of Babylon will be shunned even by the wandering nomad, as an accursed and “uncanny” place. 20…
barnesIsaiah 13:20: "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there."
It shall never be inhabited - This has been completely fulfilled. It is now, and has been for centuries, a scene of wide desolation, and is a heap of ruins, and there is every indication that it will continue so to be. From Rauwolff's testimony it appears, that in the sixteenth century 'there was n…
This verse doesn't just predict desolation; it emphasizes the totality of it by including nomadic peoples, the Arabs, who were accustomed to finding temporary refuge in even the most unlikely places. The prophecy states that Babylon's ruins will be so forsaken and even feared that even those who lived by wandering would shun it, marking a profound curse beyond mere destruction.
This prophecy describes the utter desolation of Babylon following its conquest, emphasizing its permanent ruin. It follows the preceding verses that detail the terrifying downfall of the mighty city and precedes verses that paint a picture of the desolate landscape filled with wild animals instead of people. The text here highlights that even nomadic groups, like the Arabs who traditionally sought temporary resting places in the wilderness, and shepherds looking for pasture, would avoid this cursed land.
This prophecy describes the utter desolation of Babylon following its conquest, emphasizing its permanent ruin. It follows the preceding verses that detail the terrifying downfall of the mighty city and precedes verses that paint a picture of the desolate landscape filled with wild animals instead of people. The text here highlights that even nomadic groups, like the Arabs who traditionally sought temporary resting places in the wilderness, and shepherds looking for pasture, would avoid this cursed land.
"It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be f…" — This verse doesn't just predict desolation; it emphasizes the totality of it by including nomadic peoples, the Arabs, who were accustomed to finding temporary refuge in even the most unlikely place…
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Last reviewed October 2026
