Isaiah 23:6

6 Cross over to Tarshish! Howl, you who live on the coast!

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 Shame, Tzidon, for the sea speaks; the fortress of the sea says, "I no longer have labor pains or bear children, yet I have raised neither boys nor girls.
5 When the report reaches Egypt, they will be in anguish at the fate of Tzor.
6 Cross over to Tarshish! Howl, you who live on the coast!
7 Is this your boisterous city, whose feet long ago in antiquity carried her off to found distant colonies?
8 Who planned this against Tzor, the city that once bestowed crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are honored throughout the earth?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.