Wild Goats; Goat-Demons
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Isa. 13:21)—the Hebrew se‘irim literally means “hairy ones” and can denote male goats or goat-like beings associated with desolate places and illicit worship (Lev. 17:7). Older interpreters compared them to the satyrs of Greek mythology. In Isaiah’s oracle the image contributes to the eerie abandonment of Babylon; it need not assert the literal existence of Greek mythological creatures.