Isaiah 23

THe burden of Tyre The Prophecy of the heavy Calamity and Destruction of Tyre; which now stood in its Strength and Glory, being seated in an Island, upon a Rock, abounding in Riches, mighty in Naval Power, having lately conquered that Navy which the Assyrians brought against them. Yet this City was, according to this Prophecy, destroyed; and that twice, first by Nebuc... adnezzar, and long afterward by Alexander the Great. And although this Prophecy seem directly and properly to respect the former Destruction, yet it seems to have some reference to the latter also; only it is intimated, That after seventy years Tyrus should recover her former Power and Glory, before her second and final Destruction.. Howl, ye ships Either, 1 properly; to which Howling and Lamenting is ascribed by a known Figure called Prosopopaeia: or, 2. Metanymically, the Merchants and Owners of Ships, who had much Commerce with this illustrious Mart. of Tarshish Either, 1. of Tarsa..., a great Port of Cilicia, which anciently had the Dominion of that part of the Sea: or, 2. of the Ocean, which is so called 1 Kings 10. 22. Psal. 48. 8. Isa. 2. 16., for it is laid waste It shall shortly be laid waste; Which was fulfilled not by Shalmanezer, as some would have it; for though he straitned it for some time, yet he never took it; but by Nebuchadnezzar., so that there is no house, no entring in So effectually wasted, that there is not an House left in it, nor any Merchants or others that go into it, either to Trade in it, or to repair it.: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them The sense of the Words thus rendred may be this,, i. e. this Burden or Destruction of Tyre, is. i. e. shall be, revealed, declared or made known, the...; either, 1. to the Tyreans, to whom this Notice should be sent concerning the Preparations of their Enemies against them: or, 2. to the Ships, by which he means their Owners or Merchants, from the land of Chittim: which may be here mentioned either because they first had and gave them notice of it, as was now said; or, because their last and... orest Destruction was brought upon them by Alexander, who was of the land of Chittim, as is affirmed by that very ancient and venerable, though Apocryphal Writer, 1. 1. 1. & 8. 5. But this Place is otherwise rendred, both by ancient and later Interpreters, which seems to be more natural and easie, and no less agreeable to the Hebrew Text; either thus, that she is laid waste, so that there is no house, nor entring or coming in (to wit, for Traffick) from the land of Chittim, is made known to them, to wit, to the Ships or Merchants that used to resort thither for Traffick: or rather thus, for it is laid waste so that there is no house, (not any Houses left for the Citizens to dwell in) nor entring or coming in (to wit, of Merchants) from the land of Chittim: she (to wit, her People) is removed or gone into captivity, as this Word properly signifies, and is rendred Isa. 38. 12. And for the last Hebrew Word, lamo, which is rendred to them (which is the only Objection against this Interpretation) it is only added as an Elegancie of the Hebrew Language, and has no further Signification, as it is also Psal. 58. 7. and as the Particle lo, which signifies the same thing, and such other Pronouns, are frequently redundant and insignificant in the Hebrew Text, as has been oft observed by Grammarians and Interpreters. He mentions the land of Chittim, because this was an eminent Place for Shipping and Trading, as is manifest from Numb. 24. 24. Ezek. 27. 6. Dan. 11. 30. and therefore doubtless had great Dealings and Commerce with Tyre, and may here be put Synechdochically for all other Countries which Traded with her. It is not necessary, for the understanding of this Text, to what Chittim is, whether it was Italy, or Greece, or the Islands in those Parts; it is sufficient to know, that it was a Seafaring Place in the Midland Sea, and so much startled and concerned in the Destruction of Tyre..

Be still Heb. Be silent, as one confounded, and not knowing what to say; or as Mourners use to be, Iob 2. 8, 13. Isa. 47. 5. boast no more of thy Wealth and Power, as thou usedst to do. ye inhabitants of the isle Heb. of Tyrus, which now was an Island, Ezek. 27. 3. & 28. 2. till Alexander joined it to the Continent, as Pliny reports. Although the Title of Islands is oft given by the Hebrews to Places bordering upon the Sea., thou whom the merchants of Zidon An eminent City of Palestina, nigh unto Tyre, much concerned with her and for her., that pass over the sea That are a Seafaring People., have replenished With Mariners, Ezek. 27. 8. and Commodities..

And by great waters By the Sea, which is very fitly called the great waters, Psal. 107. 23. understand, cometh, or is brought to her. the seed of Sihor The Corn of Egypt, wherewith Egypt abounded, and furnished divers other Parts of the World, whence it was called the Granary of the Roman Empire; which also was easily conveyed by Sea from Egypt to Tyre, and thence to divers other Countries. This is called seed here, as also Hag. 2. 19. and elsewhere, by an usual Metonymy; and the seed of Sihor, because it grew up the more abundantly because of the Overflow of the River, as all sorts of Authors have noted. For Sihor is nothing else but Nilus, as appears from Ier. 2. 18. which is called Sihor, as by the Greeks it was called Melas, from its black Colour. And this and no other River seems to be that Sihor which is so oft mentioned as one of the Bounds of the Land of Canaan, as Numb. 34. 5. &c. because that Land, at least in that extent which God allotted and gave it to the Israelites, though they through neglect or cowardise might not actually possess it, did reach to one of the Branches of that River: And indeed, if Sihor be not Nilus, that great and neighbouring River is not named in all the Scripture, which seems very improbable., the harvest of the river This Clause explains the former; that plentiful Harvest of Corn which comes from the Influence and Inundation of Nilus, which is emphatically called the river, as here, so also Exod. 1. 22. Isa. 19. 5. Ezek. 29. 3, 9. as Euphrates is in other Texts of Scripture. is her revenue Is as easily procured, and plentifully enjoyed by her, as if it grew in her own Territories., and she is a mart of nations A Place to which all Nations resort for Traffick..

Be thou ashamed, O Zidon For Zidon was a great City near Tyre, and strongly united to her by Commerce and League, and called by some the Mother of Tyre, which, they say, was built and first inhabited by a Colony of the Sidonians; and therefore she must needs be greatly concerned in the Destruction of Tyrus.; for the sea That part of the Sea in which Tyrus was, and from which Ships and Men were sent into all Countries. has spoken, even the strength of the sea This is added to explain what he meant by the sea, even Tyrus, who might be called the strength of the Sea, either actively, because it defended that part of the Sea from Pyracies and Injuries; or passively, because it was defended and strengthened by the Sea, which encompassed it. And this Title is here given to Tyrus, to show what great cause of Confusion and Fear Sidon had from this Example, which for Strength was much inferiour to Tyrus., saying, I travel not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins I who was so exceeding fruitful and populous, that I sent forth Colonies into other Countries, (of which the famous City of Carthage was one) am now become barren and desolate..

As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre According to this Translation the sense is, All the neighbouring Nations shall be no less terrified at the Tidings of the Destruction of Tyrus, than they were of old upon the Report of God's former and dreadful Judgments upon the Egyptians; of which see Exod. 15 14, 15, 16. Ios. 2. 9, 11. because they shall despair of resisting that Enemy against whom that vast and potent City, which was deemed impregnable, could not defend it self. But the Words are by the Seventy, and other both ancient and later Interpreters, rendred otherwise, and that very agreeably to the Hebrew Text, When the report (to wit, of the Destruction of Tyre) came, or shall come, (which Word is easily understood, as it is above, v. 3. and in other Texts of Scripture before mentioned) to the Egyptians, they shall be sorely pained according to the report of Tyre; their Grief shall be answerable to the Report; as the Report is very dreadful, so their Grief and Anguish shall be very great: or, they shall fear lest they should be destroyed in like manner as Tyrus was destroyed..

Pass ye over to Tarshish Flee from your own Country to Tarsus of Cilicia, and there bewail your Calamities. Or, rather, as others render the Place, Pass over the sea, which is oft called Tarshish; of which see on v. 1., howl ye inhabitants of the isle Of Tyrus, as before, v. 2..

Is this your joyous city That formerly lived in so much Pomp, and Pleasure, and Security., whose antiquity is of ancient days Being built before Ioshua's time, as is manifest from Ios. 19. 29.? her own feet shall carry her Whereas before, like a delicate Lady, she would not set the Sole of her Foot to the ground, as the Expression is Deut. 28. 56. but used to be carried in stately Chariots, or magnificent Vessels. afar off to sojourn To seek for new Habitations. For, as some of the Tyrians were taken and carried Captive into Chaldea and other Places, so others fled by Sea into several Parts of the World, Carthage, and divers other Towns of the Midland Sea, as is recorded by ancient Historians..

Who has taken this counsel against Tyre Words of Admiration: Who and where is he that could imagine or durst attempt such a thing as this? This is the Work of God, as is expressed v. 9. and not of Man., the crowning city Which was a Royal City, Ier. 25. 22. and called a kingdom, Ezek. 28. 2, 12. and carried away the Crown from all other Cities, and Crowned her self and her Citizens with Glory and Delights., whose merchants are princes Equal to Princes for Wealth, and Power, and Reputation., whose traffiquers are the honourable of the earth?

The LORD of hosts has purposed it This is the Lord's own doing; therefore do not doubt it, nor wonder at it., to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth God's Design is by this one Example to abate and abase the Pride of all the Potentates of the Earth, that they may see and know what weak and wretched Creatures they are, when God leaves them, and sets himself against them..

Pass through thy land Tarry no longer in thy own Territories, but flee through them, and beyond them, into other Countries, for Safety and Relief. as a river Swiftly, lest you be prevented; and continually, till you be all gone; and in Sholes and Multitudes., O daughter of Tarshish O Tyrus; for of her he speaks both in the foregoing and following Words. And Tyrus might well be called the daughter of Tarshish, i. e. of the Sea, as that Word is used v. 1. and elsewhere, because it then was an Island, and therefore as it were born of the Sea, and nourished and brought up by it., there is no more strength Heb. no more girdle. the Girdle, which strengthens the Loins of a Man, is put for Strength, as Iob 12. 21. & 38. 3. It behoveth you, O People of Tyrus, to flee away, as I advise you; for your City is unable to defend you; your Wealth, the Sinews of War, is lost; your Walls broken down; the Sea, which, like a Girdle, surrounded and defended you, is now in part filled up by your Enemies, who have joined you to the main Land; your former Friends and Allies forsake you..

He The Lord, expressed v. 9. stretched out his hand To strike it, the Antecedent being put for the Consequent. over the sea Or, against the sea; i. e. against Tyrus, the Daughter of the Sea, as she was now called; and consequently against all those Ships and Men which used to Traffique with Tyrus, and were enriched by that Trade, and therefore suffered in her Fall., he shook the kingdoms Heb. He made the kingdoms to tremble; either, 1. the two Kingdoms of Tyre and Sidon; or rather, 2. the neighbouring and confederate Kingdoms, as appears by comparing this with Ezek. 26. 15, 16, 17, 18. who might justly quake at her Fall, partly for the dreadfulness and unexpectedness of the thing; partly because Tyre was a Bulwark, and a Refuge, and a great Advantage to them; and partly because her Fall made way for their Ruine, as being destroyed by their Common Enemy.: the LORD has given a commandment Has contrived and purposed it, as was said v. 8, 9. has put this Design into the Heads and Hearts of her Enemies, and given them Courage to attempt, and Strength to execute so difficult an Enterprise. against the merchant city Heb. against Canaan: the Word Canaan being taken either, 1. for a merchant, as it is used Iob 41. 6. Hos. 12. 7. or rather, 2. for the Proper Name of a Place or People, as it is generally used: for the Tyrians and Sidonians were descended from Canaan, Gen. 10. 15. and were the only considerable Remainders of that cursed Race whom God had devoted to Destruction. And so this Phrase may be here used both as an Evidence and as an Argument of their intended and approaching Ruine., to destroy the strong holds thereof.

And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin So he calls her, either for her Pride and Beauty, and living in great Ease and Pleasure; or because she had hitherto never born the yoke of a conquering Enemy: though withal he declares, that she should be oppressed or deflowred very suddenly., daughter of Zidon Whereby he understands either, 1. Zidon her self, who suffered in and with Tyre; for so this Phrase seems generally to be used, the daughter of Sion, or of Ierusalem, or of Babel, or Egypt, &c. being nothing else but Sion, Ierusalem, Babel, Egypt, &c. or rather, 2. Tyrus, as most Interpreters both Jewish and Christian understand it, of whom this whole Context and Prophecy speaks; which may well be called the daughter of Zidon, because she was first built and possessed by a Colony of the Sidonians; as Pliny calleth Carthage the Daughter of Tyre because she was built by a Colony of Tyrians. And the Title of daughter is oft-times given in Scripture unto Towns or Cities which had their Being from, or Dependence upon other Cities; in which sense we read of the daughter of Heshbon, Numb. 21. 25. and of Rabbah, Ier. 49. 2, 3. and of Sodom, and of Samaria, Ezek. 16. 46, 49, 53. And the daughter of Tarshish here above, v. 10. is not meant of Tarshish it self, but of Tyrus, which had a Relation to, and Dependence upon Tarshish.: arise, pass over to Chittim Of which Place, see on v. 1., there also shalt thou have no rest Thither thine Enemies shall pursue thee, and there shall they overtake thee, although thou wilt think thy self secure when thou art fled to remote Parts beyond the Sea..

Behold the land of the Caldeans You Tyrians, who think your City impregnable, cast your Eyes upon the Land and Empire of the Chaldeans, or Babylonians; which, though now it be a flourishing Kingdom, and shall shortly grow far more glorious and potent, even the glory of kingdoms, as it is called Isa. 13. 19. yet shall certainly be brought to utter ruine: and therefore your Presumption is most vain and unreasonable.; this people was not The Chaldeans at first were not a People, not formed into any Commonwealth or Kingdom., till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness Till Nimrod, the Head and Founder of the Assyrian Monarchy, built Babel, Gen. 10, 9. now the Head of the Chaldean Monarchy, which he built for those People, who then lived in Tents, and were dispersed here and there in wild and waste Places, that he might bring them into Order, and under Government, and thereby establish and promote his own Empire.: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof The Chaldeans being by this means brought together into a Body, fell to the Work of Building their City, and its Towers and Palaces, and thereby got Power and Dominion over their Neighbours, till at last they grew the greatest of all the Monarchies that then were upon Earth., and he The Lord, who is expressed before, and is frequently designed in Scripture by this indefinite Pronoun he, as has been many times observed: Whereby he insinuates the true Reason why neither the Chaldeans nor the Tyrians should be able to stand, because the Almighty God was engaged against them. brought it to ruine Will infallibly bring that great Empire to ruine. He speaks of a future thing as if it were already past, as the Prophets use to do. The Chaldeans shall now return to their first Nothing, and become no People again..

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength The City of Tyre, where you found Safety and Wealth. is laid waste.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten Neglected and forsaken by those who used to resort thither. seventy years During the whole time of the Jewish Captivity in Babylon. For Tyrus was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, Ier. 27. 3, 8. Ezek. 26. 7. a little after the taking of Ierusalem, and was restored by the favour of the Persian Monarchs after the Return of the Jews from the Captivity of Babylon., according to the days of one king Either, 1. of the Kingdom of Babylon, which lasted so long after this time; the Word king being put for kingdom, as it is Dan. 7. 17. & 8. 21. or, 2. of one Royal Race, of Nebuchadnezzar, including his Son, and his Son's Son, in whom his Family and Kingdom were to expire, as we read Ezek. 28. 7.: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot She shall by degrees return to her former State of Prosperity and Traffick, whereby she shall easily entice the Merchants of the World to converse and trade with her, as Harlots use to entice their Customers by Lascivious Songs..

Take an harp, go about the city As Harlots use to do, to allure Customers., thou harlot So he calleth Tyre, partly because she enticed Merchants to deal with her by various Artifices, and even by dishonest Practices, as Harlots use: and partly because of the great and general Uncleanness which was both committed and tolerated in it. that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayst be remembred By those who had forgotten thee, v. 15..

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre To wit, in mercy, as this Phrase is used Ruth 1. 6. Psal. 65. 9. and elsewhere., and she shall turn to her hire The Hebrew Word properly signifies, the hire of an harlot; which agrees well with the fornication in the next Clause: although these Phrases are not to be understood properly, but metaphorically, of Trading or Commerce with others., and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world Shall trade promiscuously with People of all sorts and Nations, as Harlots entertain all Comers. upon the face of the earth.

And her merchandise, and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD He speaks not here of what the Tyrians would do immediately after their Restitution, but some time after it, even in the days of the Messiah; of which even some of the Jewish Rabbies understand it, and to which the Prophets have a special respect in their several Prophecies, and Isaiah among and above the rest of them. So this is a Prophecy concerning the Conversion of the Tyrians to the True Religion, of the Accomplishment whereof, something is said Acts 21. 3, 4, 5. and more in other Authors.: it shall not be treasured nor laid up Either out of Covetousness, or for the service of their Pride and Luxury, as they formerly did; but now they shall freely lay it out upon Pious and Charitable Uses.: for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD For the Support and Encouragement of the Ministers of Holy Things, who shall teach the good Knowledge of the Lord, who dwell in God's House, and minister in his Presence; the Support of such Persons being not only an Act of Justice and Charity, but also of Piety, and of great use and necessity to maintain and propagate Religion in the World. Although this does not exclude, but rather imply their Liberality in contributing to the Necessities of all Christians, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.