Isaiah 23 (NET)

The Lord Will Judge Tyre

1 Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships,1

for the port is too devastated to enter!2

From the land of Cyprus3 this news is announced to them.

2 Lament,4 you residents of the coast,

you merchants of Sidon5 who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over 3 the deep waters!6

Grain from the Shihor region,7

crops grown near the Nile8 she receives;9

she is the trade center10 of the nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea11 says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.”12

5 When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.13

6 Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

7 Is this really your boisterous city14

whose origins are in the distant past,15

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

8 Who planned this for royal Tyre,16

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries17 of the earth?

9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,18

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

10 Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;

there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.19

11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,20

he shook kingdoms;

he21 gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.22

12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed23 virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.”24

13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,

these people who have lost their identity!25

The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.

They erected their siege towers,26

demolished27 its fortresses,

and turned it into a heap of ruins.28

14 Wail, you large ships,29

for your fortress is destroyed!

15 At that time30 Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years,31 the typical life span of a king.32 At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:33

16 “Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed!”34

17 At the end of seventy years35 the Lord will revive36 Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms.37 18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.38

123:1tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish. 223:1tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b. 323:1tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים. 423:2tn Or “keep quiet”; NAB “Silence!” 523:2map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3. 623:3tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word. 723:3tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר. 823:3tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.” 923:3tn Heb “[is] her revenue.” 1023:3tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.” 1123:4tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon. 1223:4tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were. 1323:5tn Heb “they will be in pain at the report of Tyre.” 1423:7tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre. 1523:7tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.” 1623:8tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view. 1723:8tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.” 1823:9tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.” 1923:10tc This meaning of this verse is unclear. The Hebrew text reads literally, “Cross over your land, like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish, there is no more waistband.” The translation assumes an emendation of מֵזַח (mezakh, “waistband”) to מָחֹז (makhoz, “harbor, marketplace”; see Ps 107:30). The term עָבַר (’avar, “cross over”) is probably used here of traveling over the water (as in v. 6). The command is addressed to personified Tarshish, who here represents her merchants. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has עבדי (“work, cultivate”) instead of עִבְרִי (’ivri, “cross over”). In this case one might translate “Cultivate your land, like they do the Nile region” (cf. NIV, CEV). The point would be that the people of Tarshish should turn to agriculture because they will no longer be able to get what they need through the marketplace in Tyre. 2023:11tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.” 2123:11tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here. 2223:11tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here. 2323:12tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible. 2423:12tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1. 2523:13tn Heb “this people [that] is not.” 2623:13tn For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 118 s.v. *בַּחוּן. 2723:13tn Or “laid bare.” For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 889 s.v. ערר. 2823:13sn This verse probably refers to the Assyrian destruction of Babylon. 2923:14tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” See the note at v. 1. 3023:15tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2. 3123:15sn The number seventy is probably used in a stereotypical, nonliteral sense here to indicate a long period of time that satisfies completely the demands of God’s judgment. 3223:15tn Heb “like the days of a king.” 3323:15tn Heb “At the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute.” 3423:16tn Heb “so you will be remembered.” 3523:17tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2. 3623:17tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.” 3723:17tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.” 3823:18tn Heb “for eating to fullness and for beautiful covering[s].”sn The point of this verse, which in its blatant nationalism comes precariously close to comparing the Lord to one who controls or manages a prostitute, is that Tyre will become a subject of Israel and her God. Tyre’s commercial profits will be used to enrich the Lord’s people.