Isaiah 23:5-15

5 When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish— wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

7 Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away?

8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?

9 The Lord of hosts has planned it— to defile the pride of all glory, to shame all the honored of the earth.

10 Cross over to your own land, O ships of Tarshish; this is a harbor no more.

11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea, he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its fortresses.

12 He said: You will exult no longer, O oppressed virgin daughter Sidon; rise, cross over to Cyprus— even there you will have no rest.

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people; it was not Assyria. They destined Tyre for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, they tore down her palaces, they made her a ruin.

14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress is destroyed

15 From that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the lifetime of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song about the prostitute:

Isaiah 23:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 23

This chapter gives an account both of the desolation and restoration of Tyre, an ancient city of Phoenicia. Its desolation is described as so complete, that a house was not left in it, Isa 23:1 and by the fewness and stillness of the inhabitants of it, with which it had been replenished, it having been a mart of nations, Isa 23:2,3 and by the shame and pain Zidon, a neighbouring city, was put into, on account of it, Isa 23:4,5 and by the removal of its inhabitants to other places, Isa 23:6,7,12 all which is attributed to the counsel, purpose, and commandment of God, to destroy it; whose view was to stain their pride, and bring them into contempt, Isa 23:8-11 the means and instruments made use of to this purpose were the Assyrians or Chaldeans, Isa 23:13 and its desolation is further aggravated by the loss of its trade; hence the merchants of other countries are called to mourning, Isa 23:1,14 the date and duration of this desolation were seventy years, Isa 23:15 after which it should be restored, and its merchandise and commerce with all the nations of the earth be revived again, Isa 23:15-18.

Footnotes

• [a]. Cn Compare Gk: Heb [like the Nile, daughter]
• [b]. Cn: Heb [restraint]
• [c]. Meaning of Heb uncertain