Isaiah 23
23
Tyre and Sidon
1#This oracle, a satire directed against the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, is perhaps to be situated at the time of Sennacherib’s campaign against the Phoenician cities in 701 B.C, following his subjugation of their Babylonian allies in 703 B.C. Oracle on Tyre:
Wail, ships of Tarshish,
for your port is destroyed;
From the land of the Kittim#Kittim: Cyprus. The Hebrew word is derived from the term for the well-known city of Cyprus, Kition. In later centuries the term Kittim is used for the Greeks, the Romans, and other distant peoples.
the news reaches them.#Jer 25:22; Ez 26; Am 1:9; Zec 9:2, 4.
2Silence! you who dwell on the coast,
you merchants of Sidon,
Whose messengers crossed the sea
3over the deep waters,
Whose revenue was the grain of Shihor,#Shihor: a synonym for the Nile. the harvest of the Nile,
you who were the merchant among the nations.#Ez 27:3.
4Be ashamed, Sidon, fortress on the sea,
for the sea#The sea: here personified, it brings to distant coasts the news that Sidon must disown her children; her people are dispersed. has spoken,
“I have not been in labor, nor given birth,
nor raised young men,
nor reared young women.”
5When the report reaches Egypt
they shall be in anguish at the report about Tyre.
6Pass over to Tarshish,#Tarshish: perhaps Tartessus in Spain. Distant lands: the reference is to the far-flung colonies established by the Phoenicians throughout the Mediterranean, including North Africa, Spain, and Sardinia. Oceangoing vessels were therefore called Tarshish ships.
wail, you who dwell on the coast!
7Is this your exultant city,
whose origin is from old,
Whose feet have taken her
to dwell in distant lands?
8Who has planned such a thing
against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are the earth’s honored men?
9The Lord of hosts has planned it,
to disgrace the height of all beauty,
to degrade all the honored of the earth.#Is 14:24–27; 22:11; Ez 28:7.
10Cross to your own land,
ship of Tarshish;
the harbor is no more.
11His hand he stretches out over the sea,
he shakes kingdoms;
The Lord commanded the destruction
of Canaan’s strongholds:#Canaan’s strongholds: the fortresses of Phoenicia. #Is 14:27; Ps 65:8.
12Crushed, you shall exult no more,
virgin daughter Sidon.
Arise, pass over to the Kittim,
even there you shall find no rest.#Ez 28:21–22.
13#The reference here seems to be to Assyria’s subjugation of Babylon in 703 B.C., which left the coastal cities of Phoenicia as well as Judah open to Sennacherib’s invasion in 701 B.C. Founded it…its palaces…turn it: the city of Babylon. Look at the land of the Chaldeans,
the people that has ceased to be.
Assyria founded it for ships,
raised its towers,
Only to tear down its palaces,
and turn it into a ruin.#Is 13:21; 34:14; Jer 50:39.
14Lament, ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is destroyed.
15On that day, Tyre shall be forgotten for seventy years,#Seventy years: a conventional expression for a long period of time; cf. Jer 25:11 and 29:10. the lifetime of one king. At the end of seventy years, the song about the prostitute will be Tyre’s song:
16Take a harp, go about the city,
forgotten prostitute;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.
17At the end of the seventy years the Lord shall visit Tyre. She shall return to her hire and serve as prostitute#Her hire…prostitute: the international trade engaged in by Tyre will become a source of wealth to God’s people (cf. 45:14; 60:4–14; Zec 14:14). with all the world’s kingdoms on the face of the earth.#Rev 17:5; 18:3, 11, 13. 18But her merchandise and her hire shall be sacred to the Lord. It shall not be stored up or laid away; instead, her merchandise shall belong to those who dwell before the Lord, to eat their fill and clothe themselves in choice attire.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Isaiah 23
23
The Fall of Tyre
1The [mournful, inspired] oracle (#I.e. an urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.a burden to be carried) concerning #Ancient Tyre was a Phoenician trading center with two separate urban areas; the major trading center was located on a fortified island and the suburban center was located on the adjacent coast. They were connected by a causeway built by Alexander the Great during his siege of Tyre.Tyre:
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).
2Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You #So some versions; MT reads merchant.merchants of Sidon;
# The DSS so read. MT reads Who crossed the sea, they replenished you. Your messengers crossed the sea
3And they were on great waters.
The grain of the #An Egyptian name meaning “the pond of Horus”; it is probably a branch of the Nile or an unspecified lake.Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
4Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
5When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.
6Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles];
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].
7Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin dates back to antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?
8Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.
10Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].
11He has stretched out His hand over the sea,
He has shaken the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].
12He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
13Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their #Besieging a heavily fortified (walled) city was an ancient military tactic. The attackers would surround the city and cut off all supplies and communication to or from the inhabitants, then they would use siege towers to tear down the walls. The tower was a massive support structure for a heavy beam or log that was sharpened on one end and hung horizontally. It would be pushed against a wall and worked in such a way as to dislodge the stones that had been stacked to form the wall.siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.
14Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.
15Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:
16Take a harp, walk around the city,
O forgotten prostitute;
Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
17It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the Lord will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute’s wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be #Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 572 b.c. and lay desolate for seventy years. The new city built on the island was taken by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c. Eventually Christianity prevailed at Tyre. Jesus visited there (Matt 15:21) and so did Paul (Acts 21:3-6). In his commentary on Isaiah Eusebius says that when the church of God was founded in Tyre, much of its wealth was consecrated to God and presented for the support of ministers. This is also the testimony of Jerome, the Latin church father writing in the fourth century.dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.
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