Chapter Twenty-Three

1–14. The destruction of Tyre. 15–18. The restoration of Tyre.

Isa 23:1-7. Ships come to Tyre from the distant Tyrian colony of Tarshish, but from the islands of the Mediterranean they are told that Tyre no longer exists! How great was the significance of this world trading city! Here goods were brought from all over the world, and from here they were distributed to many other countries. Therefore all are astonished by the news of its fall, especially the Phoenicians themselves, who now must seek shelter in foreign lands.

Isaiah 23:1. Prophecy concerning Tyre. – Wail, ships of Tarshish, for it is destroyed; there are no houses, and there is no one to enter the houses. So it is proclaimed to them from the land of Kittim. “Tyre” (in Hebrew Zor, meaning narrowness, rock), which was the chief city of Phoenicia, is now a small and poor town with a pitiful excuse for a marketplace, where chiefly beans, tobacco, dates, and lemons are sold. A group of miserable houses, one or two stories high, dirty alleys instead of streets – such is modern Tyre (Geikie, The Holy Land, p. 1059). In the cliffs running along the seashore to the south, the ancient Tyrians built harbors, quays, small docks, and surrounded the city with a magnificent wall. Remains of this wall are still visible even now, and the causeway has also been preserved, which in ancient times connected Tyre, built on an island, with the Tyre located on the seashore – on the mainland. This causeway was raised by Alexander the Great in order to take the island Tyre. The Tyrians called both parts of Tyre sarra. The old or mainland Tyre was located on a fertile plain and was a luxurious garden (Hos 9:13). Here was the ancient royal fortress and sanctuary of Melkart or Hercules, while the island Tyre was built with various warehouses and houses for sailors. Old Tyre first suffered from enemies during the invasion of Shalmaneser in 729 BC, and then the attacks of the Chaldeans, Persians, and Greeks (especially Alexander the Great) gradually destroyed it more and more, and earthquakes caused considerable harm to Tyre: thus in 523 BC this city was completely destroyed by an earthquake. According to tradition, Tyre was founded 2750 years before the Common Era.

Isaiah 2:16. “Ships of Tarshish” – see Is.2:16. “He,” that is, Tyre. “Them,” that is, the sailors sailing from Tarshish to Tyre. “No one” – more precisely, there is no refuge! “The land of Kittim” – the islands of the Mediterranean generally, and in particular, Cyprus (Gen 10:4; Num 24:24), lying on the sea route from Tyre to Tarshish. Condamin translates the entire verse thus: “Wail, O ships from Tarshish, because your port is destroyed!” – they are informed of this upon returning from the land of Kittim.

Isaiah 23:2. Be silent, inhabitants of the island, whom the merchants of Sidon, sailing across the sea, filled. “Be silent.” Formerly in this lively, trading city was an incessant cry, because there was buying and selling of goods on the shore, and the multitude of traveling sailors produced even more noise in the city. “Inhabitants of the island” – more precisely, inhabitants of the seacoast, the shore. “Merchants of Sidon” – more correctly: Phoenician. Sidon here, as in verses 4 and 12, designates all of Phoenicia (cf. Deut 3:9; Josh 13:4; Judg 10:12; Judg 18:7). Perhaps the Phoenicians are here called Sidonians because Sidon was the most powerful state in the earliest epoch of Israelite history: Tyre only later took its place in the eyes of the Hebrews, when Sidon had lost its power, but the Hebrews continued to call the Phoenicians Sidonians, remembering the significance of Sidon in Phoenicia.

Isaiah 23:3. From the great waters grain was brought to it – the harvest of the Nile – and it was the market of nations. “Great waters” – the Mediterranean Sea. “Sichor” – the river Nile (cf. Isa 19:7). “Market of nations” – the central hub of all grain trade.

Isaiah 23:4. Be ashamed, O Sidon; for thus says the sea, the fortress of the sea: “I have not labored, nor given birth, nor raised young men, nor brought up maidens. “Sidon” – that is, Phoenicia. This country, having lost Tyre and its harbors, is compared to a mother deprived of her children. “The sea speaks.” The sea was itself as it were the mother who had given birth to Tyre with its harbors. “Fortress of the sea” – that is, the mighty sea, on whose shores Tyre is located. “As though I had not labored,” that is, all my children have perished! Tyre and its harbors no longer exist and as if they had never existed!

Isaiah 23:5. When the news comes to the Egyptians, they will tremble at hearing about Tyre. “They will tremble” (the Egyptians) – not only because of their commercial ties with Tyre, but also because the mighty Tyre was, so to speak, a lightning rod for Egypt, diverting the attention of a significant part of the Assyrian armies to itself.

Isaiah 23:6. Flee to Tarshish, wail, inhabitants of the island! The Phoenicians must now seek refuge in their colonies and, of course, first of all in wealthy Tarshish.

Isaiah 23:7. Is this your jubilant city, whose beginning was from ancient days? His feet carried him to settle in a distant land. “Whose beginning was from ancient days.” See verse 1. “His feet carried him” – more precisely: carried. Tyre had so much strength that it could not stay at home and sent out expeditions to establish its colonies in distant lands. Isa 23:8-14. Who crushed the power of Tyre? The Lord, who punished Tyre for its pride. The Assyrians became in the hands of Jehovah a mighty instrument for the punishment of Tyre.

Isaiah 23:8. Who determined this concerning Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the renowned of the earth? Isaiah 23:9. The Lord of hosts determined it, to bring low the pride of all glory, to humble all the renowned of the earth. “Bestower of crowns,” that is, set whom he would on the throne in his colonies, among which was the renowned Carthage. The voice of Tyre, of course, had significance in the change of dynasties in other states as well.

Isaiah 23:10. Go through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish; there is no more restraint. Isaiah 23:11. He stretched forth his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms; the Lord commanded concerning Canaan to destroy its fortresses. “Daughter of Tarshish” – the colonists inhabiting this distant colony. “There is no more restraint.” Tarshish is now independent, since Tyre, under whose power Tarshish was, no longer exists. “Over the sea,” that is, the Mediterranean Sea, on whose shore Tyre stood. “Shook the kingdoms.” The prophet here clarifies that he means the kingdoms of Canaan and especially those that lay on the seashore, in the lowland. The word Canaan (genaan) means lowland.

Isaiah 23:12. and said: You shall not exult anymore, you oppressed virgin, daughter of Sidon! Arise, pass over to Kittim; but even there you will find no rest. “Oppressed virgin.” Tyre until now could be called a pure maiden; now, after being conquered by enemies, it has, as it were, lost its virginal purity. “Daughter of Sidon,” that is, the population of Phoenicia in general and, in particular, the inhabitants of Tyre. “Kittim” – the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, where nevertheless the Tyrians will not find peace from enemies.

Isaiah 23:13. Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people did not exist; Assyria founded it for the inhabitants of the desert. They raise their towers, they destroy its palaces, they turn it into ruins. Isaiah 23:14. Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For your fortress is laid waste. Isaiah 13:21. “Behold, the land of the Chaldeans.” Most commentators find the mention of the Chaldeans completely inappropriate and see here a scribe’s error. They propose reading here either the expression: Canaanites, or: like Sodom, or: Kittim (in Hebrew here stands the word: gasdim). Meanwhile, all ancient translations, beginning with the LXX, agree with the present Masoretic text, and this testimony compels us to recognize the correctness of the reading: land of the Chaldeans. But how is this place to be translated? After all, there could not yet be any talk of the Babylonian kingdom. It seems to us that a fairly natural sense would result if we recognize the expression used by the prophet as a designation of Phoenicia. The origin of the Phoenicians is not precisely known. It is quite possible that the prophet in this case wanted to say that Phoenicia received its inhabitants from among the ancient settlers of Chaldea. In such a case the entire verse could be translated thus: “Behold, it is the Chaldean region! It has become nothing: Assyria (that is, the Assyrian kings, who attacked Tyre) left it to the inhabitants of the deserts (that is, to wild beasts – cf. Is.13:21). They...” etc. 23 “Your fortress,” that is, Tyre, where these ships found safety and security. Isa 23:15-18. For a long time Tyre will remain in humiliation and oblivion, but in the end it will rise again to life. However, the fruits of its commerce will be dedicated to it not to idols and will not be spent on its own pleasures, but on the service of the True God and His chosen ones.

Isaiah 23:15. And it shall be in that day that Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. After seventy years, Tyre will be like the harlot in the song: Isaiah 23:16. “Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot! Play skillfully, sing many songs, that you may be remembered. Isaiah 2:11. “In that day” – see Is.2:11. “Will be forgotten” – that is, Tyre will lose its world political and trading importance. “For seventy years” – a round and moreover large number (7×10). “In proportion to the days,” that is, for the extreme period of the longest reign: hardly any king reigned for more than 70 years. “Go about the city.” Harlots in Eastern cities sat on the streets, before the city gates, went about the city (respectable women remained at home) with singing and music, dressed finely, with wreaths on their heads.

Isaiah 23:17. And it shall be, after seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre; and she shall return to her wages and commit harlotry with all the kingdoms of the earth. Isaiah 23:18. And her merchandise and her wages shall be dedicated to the Lord; it shall not be stored up or hoarded, but her merchandise shall be for those who dwell before the Lord, for food and fine clothing. “Will commit harlotry,” that is, trade. Trade is compared to harlotry because, just like the latter, it presupposes intercourse with many, and moreover this intercourse is not free from base motives (profit). “For those who dwell before the Lord,” that is, for the Hebrews, dwelling on Zion, or better, for the Church of Christ. Special remarks. Regarding the authenticity of the prophecy concerning Tyre, criticism raises no serious objections. Only verses 15–18 are considered an addition, probably made after the Babylonian captivity, because here are found certain expressions foreign to Isaiah’s style (mikez – verse 17; haadmah – world, verse 18) and, moreover, it is difficult here to establish a division into strophes. Regarding the time of the origin of the prophecy, critics speak differently. Some affirm that Isaiah uttered this prophecy on the occasion of the invasion of Phoenicia by Sennacherib (in 701 BC), while others ascribe the prophecy to an earlier time – namely to the siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser (727–722), completed under Sargon, the successor of Shalmaneser. As for the fulfillment of the prophecy, it is probable that the restoration of Tyre, which Isaiah describes from verse 15, took place under Darius Hystaspes. As is known, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Tyre – not only the old, but also the new, which was built on the island, and this destruction is what Isaiah foretells to Tyre in the first 14 verses of chapter 23 (Isa 23:1-14), but Darius Hystaspes, correcting the mistakes of the Babylonian kings, again restored this important trading city. The final words of the prophecy were fulfilled in the conversion of Tyre to Christianity, which even in the time of the apostles became Christian (Acts 21:3). The archbishop of Tyre was second only to the patriarch of Jerusalem. During the persecution of Diocletian, Tyre gave many martyrs for the name of Christ. The strophes are divided in the prophecy as follows; First strophe – verses 1–5 – (1, 3, 2, 1) Second strophe – verses 6–10 – (1, 2, 3, 1) Third strophe – verses 11–14 – (2, 2, 2 and repetition of verse 1) The end, except for the harlot’s song, is prose. * * *

Isaiah 23:13. – “and into the land of the Chaldeans, but that also was laid waste by the Assyrians, how its wall fell.” Note of the editor.