Isaiah 23:9

9 It was the Lord All-Powerful who planned this. He decided to make these proud people unimportant; he decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.

Isaiah 23:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 23:9

The Lord of hosts hath purposed it
To destroy Tyre; who is wonderful in counsel, capable of forming a wise scheme, and able to put it in execution; being the Lord of armies in heaven and in earth: and his end in it was,

to stain the pride of all glory;
Tyre being proud of its riches, the extent of its commerce, and the multitude of its inhabitants, God was resolved, who sets himself against the proud, to abase them; to pollute the glorious things they were proud of; to deal with them as with polluted things; to trample upon them:

[and] to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth:
or, "to make light all the heavy ones of the earth" F4; all such, who are top heavy with riches and honour, God can, and sometimes does, make as light as feathers, which the wind carries away, and they fall into contempt and disgrace with their fellow creatures; and the Lord's thus dealing with Tyre was not merely on their account, to stain their pride and glory, and disgrace their honourable ones; but for the sake of others also, that the great ones of the earth might see and learn, by this instance of Tyre, how displeasing to the Lord is the sin of pride; what a poor, vain, and perishing thing, worldly honour and glory is; and what poor, weak, feeble creatures, the princes and potentates of the earth are, when the Lord takes them in hand.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Ura ydbkn lk lqhl) .

Isaiah 23:9 In-Context

7 Look at your once happy city! Look at your old, old city! People from that city have traveled far away to live.
8 Who planned Tyre's destruction? Tyre made others rich. Its merchants were treated like princes, and its traders were greatly respected.
9 It was the Lord All-Powerful who planned this. He decided to make these proud people unimportant; he decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.
10 Go through your land, people of Tarshish, like the Nile goes through Egypt. There is no harbor for you now!
11 The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. strong, walled cities be destroyed.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.