Isaiah 23 · Verse 10

Isaiah 23:10

Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
Isaiah 23:10, King James Version

Isaiah 23:10 in other translations

BSBCultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
WEBPass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no restraint any more.
ASVPass through thy land as the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint any more.
YLTPass through thy land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, there is no more a girdle.
DARBYOverflow thy land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish: there is no more restraint.
BBELet your land be worked with the plough, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer any harbour.
WebsterPass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

What does Isaiah 23:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
10. a river--Hebrew, "the river," namely, Nile. daughter of Tarshish--Tyre and its inhabitants (Is 1:8), about henceforth, owing to the ruin of Tyre, to become inhabitants of its colony, Tartessus: they would pour forth from Tyre, as waters flow on when the barriers are removed [Lowth]. Rather, Tarshish, or Tartessus and its inhabitants, as the phrase usually means: they had been kept in hard bondage, working in silver and lead mines near Tarshish, by the parent city (Eze 26:17): but now "the bond of restraint" (for so "strength," Margin, "girdle," that is, bond, Psa 2:3, ought to be translated) is removed, since Tyre is no more.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 10 O daughter of Tarshish - Tyre is called the daughter of Tarshish; perhaps because, Tyre being ruined, Tarshish was become the superior city, and might be considered as the metropolis of the Tyrian people; or rather because of the close connection and perpetual intercourse between them, according to that latitude of signification in which the Hebrews use the words son and daughter to express any sort of conjunction and dependence whatever. מזח mezach, a girdle, which collects, binds, and keeps together the loose raiment, when applied to a river, may mean a mound, mole, or artificial dam, which contains the waters and prevents them from spreading abroad. A city taken by siege and destroyed, whose walls are demolished, whose policy is dissolved, whose wealth is dissipated, whose people is scattered over the wide country, is compared to a river whose banks are broken down, and whose waters, let loose and overflowing all the neighboring plains, are wasted and lost. This may possibly be the meaning of this very obscure verse, of which I can find no other interpretation that is at all satisfactory. - L.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 23:1-14

The overthrow of Tyre. (Is. 23:1-14) It is established again. (Is. 23:15-18) Verses 1-14 Tyre was the mart of the nations. She was noted for mirth and diversions; and this made her loth to consider the warnings God gave by his servants. Her merchants were princes, and lived like princes. Tyre being destroyed and laid waste, the merchants should abandon her. Flee to shift for thine own safety; but those that are…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 23:1-14 →

Isaiah 23:10 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.

עִבְרִ֥י'iv.Ripass overH5674
אַרְצֵ֖ךְ'ar.Tzekhland yourH776
כַּיְאֹ֑רkay.'Orlike the RiverH2975
בַּת\־bat-O daughter ofH1323
תַּרְשִׁ֕ישׁtar.ShishTarshishH8659
אֵ֖ין'einthere notH369
מֵ֥זַחMe.zach[is] a restraintH4206
עֽוֹד\׃odstillH5750

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 23:10

  • 1 Samuel 28:20

    Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

  • Isaiah 23:14

    Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

  • Job 12:21

    He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.

  • Psalms 18:32

    It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

  • Romans 5:6

    For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

  • Lamentations 1:6

    And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

  • Haggai 2:22

    And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
O daughter.
12
no more.
14; 1Sa 28:20; Job 12:21; La 1:6; Hag 2:22; Ro 5:6
strength. Heb. girdle.
Ps 18:32

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 23:9

    The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

  • Isaiah 23:10

    Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

  • Isaiah 23:11

    He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

Read all of Isaiah 23

Isaiah 23:10 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Pasa cual río de tu tierra, oh hija de Tarsis; porque no tendrás ya más fortaleza.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Répands-toi sur ton pays comme le Nil, fille de Tarsis; il n’y a plus rien qui retienne!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Überflute dein Land wie der Nil, Tochter Tarsis! es gibt keinen Gürtel mehr.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Transi terram tuam quasi flumen, filia maris! non est cingulum ultra tibi.