Isaiah 23:1
The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
Isaiah 23:1 in other translations
| BSB | This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. |
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| WEB | The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. |
| ASV | The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. |
| YLT | The Burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For it hath been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the land of Chittim it was revealed to them. |
| DARBY | The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, none entering in. From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. |
| BBE | The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them. |
| Webster | The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. |
What does Isaiah 23:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Is 23:1-18. Prophecy Respecting Tyre.
Menander, the historian, notices a siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser, about the time of the siege of Samaria. Sidon, Acco, and Old Tyre, on the mainland, were soon reduced; but New Tyre, on an island half a mile from the shore, held out for five years. Sargon probably finished the siege. Sennacherib does not, however, mention it among the cities which the Assyrian kings conquered (thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh chapters). The expression, "Chaldeans" (Is 23:13), may imply reference to its siege under Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years. Alexander the Great destroyed New Tyre after a seven months' siege. 1. Tyre--Hebrew, Tsur, that is, "Rock." ships of Tarshish--ships of Tyre returning from their voyage to Tarshish, or Tartessus in Spain, with which the Phoenicians had much commerce (Eze 27:12-25). "Ships of Tarshish" is a phrase also used of large and distant-voyaging merchant vessels (Is 2:16; 1Ki 10:22; Psa 48:7). no house--namely, left; such was the case as to Old Tyre, after Nebuchadnezzar's siege. no entering--There is no house to enter (Is 24:10) [G. V. Smith]. Or, Tyre is so laid waste, that there is no possibility of entering the harbor [Barnes]; which is appropriate to the previous "ships." Chittim--Cyprus, of which the cities, including Citium in the south (whence came "Chittim"), were mostly Phoenician (Eze 27:6). The ships from Tarshish on their way to Tyre learn the tidings ("it is revealed to them") of the downfall of Tyre. At a later period Chittim denoted the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean (Da 11:30).Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
Prophecy denouncing the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, delivered upwards of one hundred and twenty years before its accomplishment, at a period when the Tyrians were in great prosperity, and the Babylonians in abject subjection to the Assyrian empire; and, consequently, when an event of so great magnitude was improbable in the highest degree, Isa 23:1-14. Tyre shall recover its splendor at the termination of seventy years, the days of One king, or kingdom, by which must be meant the time allotted for the duration of the Babylonish empire, as otherwise the prophecy cannot be accommodated to the event, Isa 23:15-17. Supposed reference to the early conversion of Tyre to Christianity, Isa 23:18. Verse 1 The burden of Tyre - Tyre, a city on the coast of Syria, about lat. 32 N. was built two thousand seven hundred and sixty years before Christ. There were two cities of this name; one on the continent, and the other on an island, about half a mile from the shore; the city on the island was about four miles in circumference. Old Tyre resisted Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years; then the inhabitants carried, so to speak, the city to the forementioned island, Isa 23:4. This new city held out against Alexander the Great for seven months; who, in order to take it, was obliged to fill up the channel which separated it from the main land. In a.d. 1289 it was totally destroyed by the sultan of Egypt; and now contains only a few huts, in which about fifty or sixty wretched families exist. This desolation was foretold by this prophet and by Ezekiel, one thousand nine hundred years before it took place! Howl, ye ships of Tarshish - This prophecy denounces the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It opens with an address to the Tyrian negotiators and sailors at Tarshish, (Tartessus, in Spain), a place which, in the course of their trade, they greatly frequented. The news of the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar is said to be brought to them from Chittim, the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean; "for the Tyrians," says Jerome on Isa 23:6, "when they saw they had no other means of escaping, fled in their ships, and took refuge in Carthage and in the islands of the Ionian and Aegean sea." From whence the news would spread and reach Tarshish; so also Jarchi on the same place. This seems to be the most probable interpretation of this verse.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 23:1-14
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Isaiah 23:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Isaiah 23:1
- Joel 3:4-8
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: …
- Genesis 10:4
And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
- Amos 1:9-10
Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant: But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.
- Jeremiah 25:22
And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
- Isaiah 2:16
And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
- Jeremiah 47:4
Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
- 1 Kings 10:22
For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
- 1 Kings 22:48
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion–geber.
- Jeremiah 2:10
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
- Zechariah 9:2-4
And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise. And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.
- Isaiah 23:12
And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.
- Isaiah 15:1-2
The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
15 Her restoration and whoredoms.
A.M. 3289. B.C. 715. burden.Tyre, whose destruction by Nebuchadnezzar is here foretold, was a city of Phoenicia, on the shore of the Mediterranean, twenty-four miles south of Sidon, and thirty-two north of Accho or Ptolemais, according to the Antonine and Jerusalem Itineraries, about lat. 33 degrees 18' N. long. 35 degrees 10' E. There were two cities of this name; one on the continent called Palæ Tyrus, or Old Tyre, according to Strabo, thirty stadia south of the other, which was situated on an island, not above 700 paces from the main land, says Pliny. Old Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, after a siege of thirteen years, B.C. 573, which he so utterly destroyed, that it never afterwards rose higher than a village. But previous to this, the inhabitants had removed their effects to the island which afterwards became so famous by the name of Tyre, though now consisting only of about 800 dwellings.
Jer 25:15,22; 47:4; Eze 26:1-28:25; Joe 3:4-8; Am 1:9,10
Zec 9:2,4
Howl.
15:2,8; Re 18:17-19
ye ships.
2:16; 60:9; 1Ki 22:48; 2Ch 9:21; Ps 48:7; Eze 27:25
for it is.
15:1; Jer 25:10,11; Re 18:22,23
the land.
12; Nu 24:24; Jer 2:10; Eze 27:6; Da 11:30
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Isaiah 23:1
The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
- Isaiah 23:2
Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
Isaiah 23:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | CARGA de Tiro. Aullad, naves de Tarsis, porque destruída es hasta no quedar casa, ni entrada: de la tierra de Chîttim les es revelado. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | *L’oracle sur Tyr. Hurlez, navires de Tarsis, car elle est dévastée, de sorte qu’il n’y a pas de maisons, personne qui entre. Du pays de Kittim cela leur est révélé. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Ausspruch über Tyrus. Heulet, ihr Schiffe von Tarsis! denn sie ist verwüstet, ohne Haus, ohne Eingehenden. Vom Lande der Kittäer her ist es ihnen kundgeworden. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Onus Tyri. Ululate, naves maris, quia vastata est domus unde venire consueverant: de terra Cethim revelatum est eis. |