Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 14:23

"I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of hosts." — Isaiah 14:23 (ASV)

I will also make it a possession for the bittern - The word 'bittern,' in English, means a bird with long legs and neck that stalks among reeds and sedge, feeding upon fish. The Hebrew word (קפד qı̂ppod) occurs only five times (Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14). According to Bochart and Gesenius, it means the hedgehog. It has been variously rendered. Some have supposed it to be a land animal; some an aquatic animal; and most have regarded it as a fowl. Bochart has proved that the hedgehog or porcupine is found on the shores of the Euphrates. He translates this passage: 'I will place Babylon for a habitation of the porcupine, even the pools of water;' that is, the pools that are around Babylon will become so dry that porcupines can dwell there (see Bochart, “Hieroz.” iii. 36. pp. 1036-1042).

And pools of water - Bochart supposes this means, even the pools of water will become dry. But the common interpretation is to be preferred, that Babylon itself would become filled with pools of water. This was done by Cyrus’s directing the waters of the Euphrates from their channel when the city was taken, and by the fact that the waters never returned again to their natural bed, so that the region was overflowed with water (see the notes on Isaiah 13).

And I will sweep it with the besom of destruction - A besom is a broom; and the sense here is that God would entirely destroy Babylon and render it wholly uninhabitable.