Yeshayah 23:17

17 And it shall come to pass at the end of shiv’im shanah, that Hashem will visit Tzor, and she shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the mamlakhot HaAretz upon the face of ha’adamah.

Yeshayah 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 ) .

Yeshayah 23:17 In-Context

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tzor shall be forgotten shiv’im shanah, according to the yamim of melech echad; after the end of shiv’im shanah shall Tzor sing as a zonah.

16 Take a kinnor, go about the Ir, thou zonah that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many shir, that thou mayest be remembered.

17 And it shall come to pass at the end of shiv’im shanah, that Hashem will visit Tzor, and she shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the mamlakhot HaAretz upon the face of ha’adamah.

18 And her gain and her hire shall be kodesh to Hashem; it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her [Tzor’s] earnings shall be for them that live before Hashem, to eat sufficiently, and for choice clothing.