Isaiah 23

This is the message about Tyre. Wail, you ships of Tarshish, because Tyre is destroyed. No house is left, and there is no harbor to enter. The news reached the sailors from the land of Cyprus.

1The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

Note"Burden" is the King James word for a prophetic oracle, usually one announcing doom; the Hebrew term can mean both a load to be carried and an utterance. Tyre was the richest Phoenician seaport, on the coast of what is now Lebanon, built partly on an island just offshore and partly on the mainland. Tarshish was a distant port reached by long ocean voyages, probably in southern Spain; "ships of Tarshish" became a standard phrase for the large deep-water merchant vessels that made such runs. Chittim (Cyprus) lay on the sea route home, so returning Tyrian crews would hear of the disaster there before reaching port.

2Be silent, you people who live along the coast. You were kept supplied by the traders of Sidon, who cross the sea.

2Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

NoteThe "isle" or coastland is Tyre's own territory: the main city stood on a rocky island a short distance from shore. Sidon was the other great Phoenician port, about twenty-five miles up the coast; its name is often used, as here, for Phoenicia and its merchants generally.

3Across the wide waters came the grain grown along the Nile; the harvest of that river was her income. Tyre was the marketplace of the nations.

3And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

NoteShihor is a name for the Nile, or for an eastern branch of it near Egypt's border. Egypt was the grain basket of the region, and Tyre grew wealthy shipping and reselling that grain, hence "the marketplace of the nations."

4Be ashamed, Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the fortress of the sea. It says, "I have never been in labor and never given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women."

4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.

Note"The fortress of the sea" is Tyre. The sea is imagined speaking as a mother who denies ever having borne the children now lost: with Tyre destroyed, the sea can claim no offspring at all. In this culture childlessness was a public disgrace, which is why Sidon is told to be ashamed.

5People will twist in pain at the news about Tyre, just as they did at the news about Egypt.

5As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

NoteThe Hebrew allows two readings, and translators split between them: either that people will react to Tyre's fall as they once reacted to news of Egypt's, or that the news will reach Egypt itself and cause anguish there. Egypt was Tyre's chief trading partner.

6Cross over to Tarshish. Wail, you people who live along the coast.

6Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

7Is this your happy city, the one whose beginnings go back to ancient times? Her own feet will carry her far away to live as a stranger.

7Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

NoteTo "sojourn" is to live somewhere as a resident foreigner, housed, but without land, kin, or legal standing. The proud city becomes a refugee on foot.

8Who planned this against Tyre, the city that hands out crowns, whose merchants are princes and whose traders are the most respected people on earth?

8Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

Note"The crowning city" or "bestower of crowns": Tyre founded colonies around the Mediterranean (Carthage among them) and installed their rulers. Calling merchants "princes" was pointed, in most ancient societies rank came from land and warfare, not trade.

9The LORD of Hosts planned it, to spoil the pride of everything glorious and to shame all the respected people on earth.

9The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

Note"The LORD of hosts" renders a Hebrew title meaning commander of armies. Printed in small capitals, LORD stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which readers of the Hebrew did not pronounce aloud.

10Spread out over your own land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no strength left to hold you in.

10Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

NoteThe Nile flooded each year and spread across the land with nothing to hold it in. The final Hebrew word is uncertain: it can mean a restraining belt (hence "no more strength" to hold you in) or a harbor, which is why other translations read "there is no longer a harbor." "Daughter of Tarshish" is a normal Hebrew way of saying the people of that city.

11He stretched out his hand over the sea and made kingdoms shake. The LORD has given an order against Canaan, the land of merchants, to destroy its strongholds.

11He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

NoteThe Hebrew word here is "Canaan," the wider land Phoenicia belonged to; the same word was also used to mean "trader," which is why the King James renders it "the merchant city."

12He said, "You will celebrate no more, you crushed young woman, daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus. Even there you will find no rest."

12And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

NoteA "virgin daughter" of a city means a city never yet captured, the image is of a town whose walls have never been forced. "Daughter of Sidon" again means the people of Sidon.

13Look at the land of the Chaldeans. These people were not a nation until Assyria set them up for those who live in the desert. They put up their siege towers and stripped its palaces bare, and he brought it to ruin.

13Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

NoteThis verse is unusually obscure in the Hebrew and translations differ widely. The Chaldeans were the people of southern Babylonia. The gist is a warning example: a nation Assyria built up, besieged, and left in ruins, the same could happen to Tyre.

14Wail, you ships of Tarshish, because your stronghold is destroyed.

14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

15At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the length of one king's life. At the end of the seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song about the prostitute:

15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

NoteSeventy years is a round figure for a long, complete span. "The days of one king" means the length of a single reign or a king's lifetime, i.e. a whole generation would pass with Tyre out of business.

16"Pick up a harp and walk around the city, you forgotten prostitute. Play a sweet tune and sing many songs, so people will remember you."

16Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

NoteThe picture is an aging prostitute no longer sought out, walking the streets with an instrument and singing to draw customers back. Applied to Tyre, it means the city must court its old trading partners all over again.

17At the end of the seventy years the LORD will turn his attention to Tyre. She will go back to earning her pay, selling herself to every kingdom in the world, all across the face of the earth.

17And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

Note"Visit" in the King James means to turn attention to someone, for help or for punishment; here it is for restoration. Prophets routinely described a city's trade and treaty dealings with many foreign nations as prostitution: partners courted for payment. "Her hire" is the prostitute's fee, and stands for Tyre's commercial profits.

18But her goods and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD. They will not be stored away or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live in the LORD's presence, for plenty of food and for lasting clothing.

18And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Note"Holiness to the LORD" was the phrase engraved on the gold plate worn on the high priest's turban; it marks something set apart for God's exclusive use rather than describing a moral quality. "Not treasured nor laid up" means not banked in Tyre's vaults but spent as it comes in. "Those that dwell before the LORD" are the people serving at the temple in Jerusalem, who lived on what worshipers brought.