Isaiah 23 · Verse 3

Isaiah 23:3

And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
Isaiah 23:3, King James Version

Isaiah 23:3 in other translations

BSBOn the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations.
WEBOn great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.
ASVAnd on great waters the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the mart of nations.
YLTAnd in many waters is the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook is her increase, And she is a mart of nations.
DARBYAnd on great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of the nations.
BBEWho get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations.
WebsterAnd by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

What does Isaiah 23:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. great waters--the wide waters of the sea. seed--"grain," or crop, as in 1Sa 8:15; Job 39:12. Sihor--literally, "dark-colored"; applied to the Nile, as the Egyptian Jeor, and the Greek Melas, to express the "dark, turbid" colors given to its waters by the fertilizing soil which it deposits at its yearly overflow (Jr 2:18). harvest of the river--the growth of the Delta; the produce due to the overflow of the Nile: Egypt was the great granary of corn in the ancient world (Ge 41:1-57; 42:1-38; 43:1-34). her revenue--Tyrian vessels carried Egyptian produce obtained in exchange for wine, oil, glass, &c., into various lands, and so made large profits. mart--(Eze 27:3). No city was more favorably situated for commerce.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 The seed of Sihor "The seed of the Nile" - The Nile is called here Shichor, as it is Jer 2:18, and 1Chr 13:5. It had this name from the blackness of its waters, charged with the mud which it brings down from Ethiopia when it overflows, Et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat arena; as it was called by the Greeks Melas, and by the Latins Melo, for the same reason. See Servius on the above line of Virgil, Georg. 4:291. It was called Siris by the Ethiopians, by some supposed to be the same with Shichor. Egypt by its extraordinary fertility, caused by the overflowing of the Nile supplied the neighboring nations with corn, by which branch of trade the Tyrians gained great wealth.

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 23:3 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.

וּבְמַ֤יִםu.ve.Ma.yimand on watersH4325
רַבִּים֙ra.BimmanyH7227
זֶ֣רַעZe.ra'[was] [the] seed ofH2233
שִׁחֹ֔רshi.ChorShihorH7883
קְצִ֥ירke.Tzir[the] harvest ofH7105
יְא֖וֹרye.'or[the] RiverH2975
תְּבֽוּאָתָ֑הּte.vu.'a.Tahrevenue herH8393
וַתְּהִ֖יva.te.Hiand it becameH1961
סְחַ֥רse.Char[the] traffic ofH5504
גּוֹיִֽם\׃go.YimnationsH1471

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

Cross references for Isaiah 23:3

  • 1 Chronicles 13:5

    So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath–jearim.

  • Jeremiah 2:18

    And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

  • Ezekiel 27:3-23

    And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. …

  • Isaiah 23:8

    Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

  • Joel 3:5

    Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

  • Deuteronomy 11:10

    For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

  • Isaiah 32:20

    Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

  • Revelation 18:11-13

    And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

  • Isaiah 19:7

    The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

  • Ezekiel 27:33

    When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

  • Ezekiel 28:4

    With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Sihor.
1Ch 13:5; Jer 2:18
the harvest.
32:20; De 11:10
she is.
8; Eze 27:33; 28:4; Joe 3:5; Re 18:11-13

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

Context

  • Isaiah 23:2

    Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

  • Isaiah 23:3

    And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

  • Isaiah 23:4

    Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.

Read all of Isaiah 23

Isaiah 23:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Su provisión era de las sementeras que crecen con las muchas aguas del Nilo, de la mies del río. Fué también feria de gentes.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et sur de grandes eaux la semence du Shikhor, la moisson du Nil, était son revenu; et elle était le marché des nations.
German
Elberfelder 1871
und auf großen Wassern war die Saat des Sichor, die Ernte des Nil ihr Ertrag; und sie war die Erwerbsquelle der Nationen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
In aquis multis semen Nili; messis fluminis fruges ejus: et facta est negotiatio gentium.