Isaiah 23:17

17 And it shall be, after seventy years, the Lord shall visit Tyre, and shall bring it again to his hire; and again it shall be, when it shall do fornication with all [the] realms of [the] earth, on the face of [the] earth. (And so it shall be, that after seventy years, the Lord shall visit Tyre, and she shall hire herself out again; and it shall be, that once again she shall do fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth, upon the face of the earth.)

Isaiah 23:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 23:17

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years,
&c.] When the seventy years before mentioned are ended: that the Lord will visit Tyre;
not in judgment, as before, but in mercy: and she shall return to her hire;
trade and merchandise; that shall revive, and be as in times past: and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world,
upon the face of the earth;
be a mart of nations again, as in ( Isaiah 23:3 ) that is, trade and traffic with all nations of the earth, in the most ample and public manner; this is called committing fornication, in agreement with the simile of a harlot before used, whereunto Tyre is compared; as well as to observe the illicit ways and methods used in her commerce. The Targum is,

``and her merchandise shall be sufficient to all the kingdoms of the people, which are upon the face of the earth;''

and so the Septuagint,

``and shall be a mart to all the kingdoms of the world, upon the face of the earth.''

The phrase is used of mystical Tyre or Babylon, and of her merchants, in ( Revelation 18:3 ) .

Isaiah 23:17 In-Context

15 And it shall be, in that day, thou, Tyre, shalt be in forgetting by seventy years, as the days of one king; but after seventy years, as the song of a whore shall be to Tyre. (And it shall be, from that day, O Tyre, thou shalt be forgotten for seventy years, like the days, or the life, of one king; and then after seventy years, Tyre shall be like the whore in the song:)

16 Thou whore, given to forgetting, take an harp, compass the city; sing thou well, use thou oft a song, that mind be of thee. (O whore, now forgotten, take up a harp, and go around the city; sing thou well a song, and sing thou it often, so that thou will be remembered again.)

17 And it shall be, after seventy years, the Lord shall visit Tyre, and shall bring it again to his hire; and again it shall be, when it shall do fornication with all [the] realms of [the] earth, on the face of [the] earth. (And so it shall be, that after seventy years, the Lord shall visit Tyre, and she shall hire herself out again; and it shall be, that once again she shall do fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth, upon the face of the earth.)

18 And the merchandises thereof and the meeds thereof shall be hallowed to the Lord; they shall not be hid, neither shall be laid up; for why the merchandise thereof shall be to them that dwell before the Lord (for its merchandise shall be for those who worship the Lord), (so) that they eat to fullness, and be clothed till to eldness.