Isaiah 23:1-10

1 This message came to me concerning Tyre: Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish, for the harbor and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumors you heard in Cyprus are all true.

2 Mourn in silence, you people of the coast and you merchants of Sidon. Your traders crossed the sea,

3 sailing over deep waters. They brought you grain from Egypt and harvests from along the Nile. You were the marketplace of the world.

4 But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon, for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says, “Now I am childless; I have no sons or daughters.”

5 When Egypt hears the news about Tyre, there will be great sorrow.

6 Send word now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live in distant lands!

7 Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city? What a long history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.

8 Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles.

9 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility.

10 Come, people of Tarshish, sweep over the land like the flooding Nile, for Tyre is defenseless.

Isaiah 23:1-10 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew Kittim; also in 23:12 .
• [b]. As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text reads Those who have gone over the sea have filled you.
• [c]. Hebrew from Shihor, a branch of the Nile River.
• [d]. Or for the god of the sea says; Hebrew reads for the sea, the fortress of the sea, says.
• [e]. The meaning of the Hebrew in this verse is uncertain.