Isaiah 23:6

6 Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island.

Isaiah 23:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 23:6

Pass ye over to Tarshish
Either to Tartessus in Spain, or to Tarsus in Cilicia, which lay over against them, and to which they might transport themselves, families, and substance, with greater ease; or "to a province of the sea", as the Targum, any other seaport; the Septuagint says to Carthage, which was a colony of the Tyrians; and hither the Assyrian F21 historians say they did transport themselves; though Kimchi thinks this is spoken, not to the Tyrians, but to the merchants that traded with them, to go elsewhere with their merchandise, since their goods could no more be disposed of in that city as usual.

Howl, ye inhabitants of the isle:
of Tyre, as in ( Isaiah 23:2 ) or of every isle, as Aben Ezra, which traded here, because now their commerce was at an end; so Kimchi.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Apud Hieron. in loc.

Isaiah 23:6 In-Context

4 Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins
5 When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre:
6 Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island.
7 Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth?
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