Isaiah 23:1-18 | The Way of Scripture

Isaiah 23:1-18

What becomes of Tyre’s wealth when the Lord brings down its pride?

Berean Standard Bible

1 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. 2 Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whose traders have crossed the sea. 3 On 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. 4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women.” 5 When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre. 6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coastland! 7 Is this your jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet have taken her to settle far away?
8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are renowned on the earth? 9 The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth. 10 Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor. 11 The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed. 12 He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus— even there you will find no rest.” 13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans— a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin. 14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor has been destroyed!
15 At 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, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered.” 17 And 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. 18 Yet 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.

What is the context?

The message against Tyre reaches across the sea to the ships, traders and neighboring peoples connected with its trade. News of its ruined harbor brings mourning. The grain of the Nile had made Tyre a merchant of the nations; the loss therefore reaches beyond one city.

The central question asks who planned this against a city whose merchants were treated like princes. The answer is the Lord of Hosts. The judgment exposes the pride attached to beauty, reputation and wealth.

The warning includes flight toward Cyprus and a reference to the Chaldeans and Assyrian devastation. Even a move overseas will not bring the promised rest. Tyre’s strength cannot preserve it from the Lord’s purpose.

The closing verses give a limit to its neglect: seventy years, compared with a king’s lifespan. Afterward the city resumes its trade, pictured through the song of a forgotten prostitute seeking attention again. The final surprise is the use of its earnings: they are set apart to the Lord and provide food and clothing for those who live before Him.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Henry, Wesley and Gill read the chapter as bringing down commercial pride. They connect Tyre’s humiliation with its confidence in wealth and its later activity with the return of trade.

The historical sequence receives different explanations. Henry emphasizes the Chaldeans as the instrument of judgment, and Wesley connects the seventy years with the Babylonian captivity. The NABRE notes instead suggest an Assyrian setting for the main warning and understand the seventy years as a conventional long period.

Henry, Wesley and Gill apply the final earnings to wealth devoted to God’s service and the needs of His people. They see a change in what riches are for: resources once tied to pride become useful in worship and care for others.

Where does this fit in God's plan?

The nations bringing their wealth into God’s service is a theme developed later in Isaiah 60:5–9. There the riches of the sea and the resources of the nations come with praise of the Lord.

Revelation 21:22–27 gives a fuller picture: God and the Lamb are the city’s temple and light, the nations walk by that light, and the kings bring their glory into it. Nothing unclean enters.

This is a connection through the wider theme, rather than a claim that Revelation directly quotes Isaiah 23. The direction is toward the nations’ honor and resources serving God’s glory, instead of being stored up as a monument to human importance.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

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