As for the first question, the NKJV, perhaps,
follows the Hebrew text more closely. The first word in Hebrew (ha’ayit)
is certainly vulture or bird of prey. It is attested in a number of other
passages, for example, Gen 15:11, Is 18:6, Ezek 39:4. The following word (tsabua’),
which modifies “bird of prey,” occurs only here in the Old Testament. It may
mean “speckled” or “spotted,” coming from an Aramaic verb that means “dip” or
“dye,” but which is not used in the Old Testament (this is the explanation
given in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon). Hence, “speckled vulture”
makes good sense of the Hebrew text. But the word “speckled” may in fact be
another word that means “hyena.” This meaning is attested in the newer Hebrew
lexicons. This possibility is strengthened by the fact that the Septuagint
translates it by the standard Greek word for hyena. The first word in the verse
the Septuagint translates as “cave,” though this is not the meaning of ‘ayit.
It is not clear where the Septuagint translator got the idea of “cave” here. At
any rate, the ESV has essentially followed the Septuagint and the Hebrew if the
word tsabua’ means hyena. The NKJV has followed the Hebrew text more
closely, assuming that tsabua’ means “speckled.”
The second issue is whether this line is a question
or not. The first syllable of the first word is usually parsed as the
interrogative particle. Hence the ESV, the Holman CSB, and the NASB translate
it as a question. This particle may, however, function to introduce a
rhetorical question with a presumed affirmative answer, so other translations
have rendered this as a plain statement.
