Isaiah 23:1-18·~1 min

The Burden against Tyre

Isaiah opens with a call for the ships of Tarshish and the coastlands to wail because Tyre's harbor city is laid waste, cutting off the commercial life that once linked sea and shore. Sidon, Egypt, and distant traders are drawn into the lament, and the prophet asks whether this shattered place can really be the jubilant city whose antiquity and self-confidence once carried her influence across the world.

T¹his is the burden against Tyre: ²Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland, ³On the great waters ⁴Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, ⁵When the report reaches Egypt, ⁶Cross over to Tarshish; ⁷Is this your jubilant city,

The reason for Tyre's humiliation is made explicit: the LORD of Hosts planned it in order to stain the pride of all glory and bring low those honored on earth. The prophet then describes the unraveling of Tyre's control, the shaking of kingdoms, the end of secure harbors, and the example of the Chaldeans, all combining to show that the power once thought unassailable has been deliberately broken by God's outstretched hand.

⁸Who planned this against Tyre, ⁹The LORD of Hosts planned it, ¹⁰Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; ¹¹The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; ¹²He said, “You shall rejoice no more, ¹³Look at the land of the Chaldeans — ¹⁴Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

Tyre is then pictured as forgotten for seventy years, like a harlot whose song must be taken up again if she is to be remembered. Yet when the LORD visits her and she returns to commerce among the kingdoms, the final surprise is that her profit is no longer stored for self-exaltation but set apart to support those who dwell before the LORD with abundance and dignity.

¹⁵At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years— the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: ¹⁶“Take up your harp, ¹⁷And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. ¹⁸Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.

Section summaryThe oracle begins with ships, coastlands, and trading partners wailing over Tyre's collapse, then traces that ruin back to the LORD's decision to profane proud glory and humble all honored status on earth. After describing Tyre's seventy-year eclipse, the chapter closes by showing that even when the city returns to commerce, her gain will no longer culminate in self-exalting wealth but will be set apart for those who live before the LORD.

Role in the chapterThis section presents Tyre's judgment and restoration as a demonstration that the LORD rules over commerce, prestige, and the destiny of nations.