I. Name

The noun ʾiyyîm, the plural of I אִי*, is attested in Isa. 13.22; Isa. 34.14 (1QIsa.^a ʾyyʾmym [?]) and Jer. 50.39. It is generally derived either from Eg. jw or jwjw ‘dog’ (cf. Arab. ibn ʾāwā ‘jackal’) or from III אִי* (< אִיִּי*) ‘(ghostly) islander, beach demon, goblin’ (HALAT 37; Ges.¹⁸ 44). The ancient versions (LXX ὀνοκένταυροι, Vg. sirenes, onocentauri, fauni) imagine a tailless ape, or in a derived sense an impure demon. Even if the meaning of the word ʾiyyîm is controversial, nothing speak…