John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 51:37

"And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant." — Jeremiah 51:37 (ASV)

And Babylon shall become heaps
The houses should be demolished, and the stones lie in heaps one upon another, and become mere rubbish: a dwelling place for dragons ;
and other wild and savage creatures. Dragons, as Aelianus ^F1 observes, love to live in desert places, and such now Babylon is; it lies in ruins; and even its palace is so full of scorpions and serpents, as Benjamin of Tudela ^F2 says it was in his time, that men durst not enter into it; see (Jeremiah 50:39) (Isaiah 13:21Isaiah 13:22) ;

an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant ;
an astonishment to neighbouring nations, and to all that pass by; who shall hiss at the destruction of it, and rejoice, there being not so much as a single inhabitant in it; which is its case to this day; see (Jeremiah 50:13Jeremiah 50:39) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F1: De Animal. l. 6. c. 63.
• F2: Itinerarium, p. 76.