Isaiah — Chapter 23
The “Tyre” Pronouncement.Howl, you ships of Tarshish!aships of Tarshish See note at 2.16. For havoc has been wrought, not a house is left;As they came from the land of Kittim,This was revealed to them.
Moan, you coastland dwellers,You traders of Sidon,Once thronged by seafarers,
Over many watersYourbYour Heb. “Her.” revenue came:From the trade of nations,From the grain of Shihor,The harvest of the Nile.
Be ashamed, O Sidon!For the sea—this stronghold of the sea—declares,“I am as one who hascI am as one who has Lit. “I have.” never labored,Never given birth,Never raised youthsOr reared maidens!”
When the Egyptians heard it, they quailedAs when they heard about Tyre.
Pass on to Tarshish—Howl, you coastland dwellers!
Was such your merry cityIn former times, of yore?Did her feet carry her offTo sojourn far away?
Who was it that planned thisFor crown-wearing Tyre,Whose merchants were nobles,Whose traders the world honored?
GOD of Hosts planned it—To defile all glorious beauty,To shame all the honored of the world.
Traverse your land like the Nile,Fair Tarshish;dTraverse your land like the Nile, / Fair Tarshish Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Pass on to the land of Kittim, / You ships of Tarshish.” This is a harboreharbor Meaning of Heb. uncertain; taking mezaḥ as a by-form of maḥoz: cf. Ps. 107.30. no more.
GOD poised an arm o’er the seaAnd made kingdoms quake—Decreeing destructionFor Phoenicia’sfPhoenicia’s Heb. “Canaan’s.” strongholds,
And said,“You shall be exultant no more,O plundered one, Fair Maiden Sidon.Up, cross over to Kittim—Even there you shall have no rest.”
gMeaning of verse uncertain. Emendation yields “The land of Kittim itself— / Which the Sidonian people founded, / Whose watchtowers they raised, / Whose citadels they erected— / Exists no more; / Assyria has turned it into a ruin.” Behold the land of Chaldea—This is the people that has ceased to be.Assyria, which founded it for ships,Which raised its watchtowers,Erected its ramparts,Has turned it into a ruin.
Howl, O ships of Tarshish,For your stronghold is destroyed!
In that day, Tyre shall remain forgotten for seventy years, equaling the lifetime of one king. After a lapse of seventy years, it shall go with Tyre as with the prostitute in the ditty:
Take a lyre, go about the town,Prostitute long forgotten;Sweetly play, make much music,To bring you back to mind.
For after a lapse of seventy years, GOD will take note of Tyre, and she shall resume her “fee-taking” and “play the prostitute”h“fee-taking” and “play the prostitute” I.e., “trading … trade.” with all the kingdoms of the world, on the face of the earth.
But her profits and “hire” shall be consecrated to GOD. They shall not be treasured or stored; rather shall her profits go to those who abide before GOD, that they may eat their fill and clothe themselves elegantly.