Isaiah 23:1-14

The Burden against Tyre

1 This is the burden against Tyre: ¹ Wail, O ships of Tarshish, ^[a] for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. ^[b]

2 Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whose traders have crossed the sea. ^[c]

3 On the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women.”

5 When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coastland!

7 Is this your jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet have taken her to settle far away?

8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are renowned on the earth?

9 The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth.

10 Cultivate ^[d] your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.

11 The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.

12 He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus— even there you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans ^[e]— a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin.

14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor has been destroyed!

Isaiah 23:1-14 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.

Cross References

• 1. (Ezekiel 26:1–21)

Footnotes

• [a] Or Wail, O fleet of trading ships; also in verse 14
• [b] Hebrew Kittim; also in verse 12
• [c] DSS and LXX; MT whom the seafarers have enriched
• [d] DSS and some LXX manuscripts; MT Overflow
• [e] That is, the Babylonians