1. Isaiah 13:20–22 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is the significance of the Arabs and shepherds in contrast to that of the wild animals?

Isaiah 13:20–22 (ESV)

20 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.

The result of the judgment would be complete desolation. The land would always be uninhabited—it would not even be used as a temporary dwelling place by nomadic people, like the Arabs, or as a place for shepherds to graze their sheep.

In stark contrast to the shepherds and their flocks, the desert creatures would be the only remaining living things in this desolated landscape. Babylon would be utterly forsaken, and only wilderness would remain.