Isaiah 23:2

2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle! The merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished thee.

Isaiah 23:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 23:2

Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle
Either the isles of Chittim, or other islands that traded with Tyre, the singular being put for the plural, called upon to grieve and mourn, because the city of their merchandise was destroyed, as Kimchi; or of Tyre itself, which being situated at some distance from the shore, was an island itself, until it was joined to the continent by Alexander F17; and even old Tyre might be so called, it being usual in Scripture to call places by the seashore isles; and besides, old Tyre included in it new Tyre, the island, as Pliny F18 suggests; who are instructed to be silent as mourners, and to cease from the hurries of business, which they would be obliged to, and not boast of their power and wealth, as they had formerly done, or attempt to defend themselves, which would be in vain:

thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have
replenished;
Zidon was a very ancient city of Phoenicia, more ancient than Tyre; for Tyre was a colony of the Zidonians, and built by them, and so might be said to be replenished by them with men from the first, as it also was with mariners, ( Ezekiel 27:8 ) and likewise with merchants and wares, they being a trading and seafaring people; wherefore they are spoken of as merchants, and as passing over the sea: or this may be understood of the isles replenished with goods by the merchants of Tyre and Zidon, but now no more, and therefore called to mourning.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19.
F18 Ibid.

Isaiah 23:2 In-Context

1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, none entering in. From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle! The merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished thee.
3 And on great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of the nations.
4 Be thou ashamed, Sidon, for the sea hath spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, I have not travailed nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men [nor] brought up virgins
5 -- When the report came into Egypt, they were sorely pained at the news of Tyre.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or 'of the [sea] coast,' as ver. 6.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.