Isaiah 23:1

Isaiah 23:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)A prophecy against Tyre: Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The burden against Tyre. Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, So that there is no house, no harbor; From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.

Context of Isaiah 23:1

This is a message about Tyre. Weep aloud, you people in the great ships of Tarshish. An enemy has destroyed the port and the houses of Tyre. They heard this news in Cyprus. 2Weep quietly, you people who live on the coast of the sea. Yes, weep, you traders of Sidon city. Your sailors travelled across the sea and you became rich. 3They brought grain to you from Shihor region in Egypt. You received crops that had grown beside the Nile river. Tyre became an important city where traders from many nations came.

Isaiah 23:1 word by word

מַשָּׂ֖א צֹ֑ר הֵילִ֣ילוּ׀ אֳנִיּ֣וֹת תַּרְשִׁ֗ישׁ כִּֽי־שֻׁדַּ֤ד מִבַּ֙יִת֙ מִבּ֔וֹא מֵאֶ֥רֶץ כִּתִּ֖ים נִגְלָה־לָֽמוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The burdenמַשָּׂאmaώώâ' · oracleH4853
• of Tyreצֹרtsôr tsôr · TyreH6865
• Howlיָלַלyâlal · to wailH3213
• ye shipsאֳנִיָּה'onîyâh · a shipH591
• of Tarshishתַּרְשִׁישׁtarshîysh · TarshishH8659
• for it is laid wasteשָׁדַדshâdad · to ruinH7703
• so that there is no houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• no entering inבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): towardsH935
• from the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• of Chittimכִּתִּיkittîy kittîyîy · CyprusH3794
• it is revealedגָּלָהgâlâh · to reveal: revealH1540

Cross-references for Isaiah 23:1

• Jeremiah 25:15The Lord, Israel's God, said to me, ‘Take this cup from me. It is full of wine that shows my great anger. Take it to the nations where I send you. Make them drink this wine of punishment.
• Jeremiah 47:4The time has come when the Lord will destroy all the Philistines. None of them will remain to give help to Tyre and Sidon. The Lord is ready to destroy the Philistines who remain. Those are the people who came from the island of Crete.
• Ezekiel 26:1The Lord gave this message to me on the first day of the month, in the 11th year:
• Ezekiel 27:1The Lord gave this message to me:
• Ezekiel 28:1The Lord gave this message to me:
• Joel 3:4You people in Tyre, Sidon, and of all the land of the people called Philistines, listen. You cannot say that I have done anything wrong. You want to punish me. If you do this, I will soon do the same to you.
• Amos 1:9The Lord says, ‘The people in Tyre have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them. Before, they had been friends with the people in Israel. They had promised to those people, “We will be like brothers.” But the people from Tyre did not do what they had promised. They took my people away. They sold my people to the people in Edom and my people became slaves.
• Zechariah 9:2The Lord speaks against the country called Hamath. (It is next to the country called Hadrach.) The people in Tyre and Sidon cities are very wise. But the Lord also speaks against them.
• Isaiah 15:2The people in Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. They have gone up to the altars where they worship their gods. Moab's people are weeping because of what has happened at Nebo and Medeba. They are so upset that they have cut off their hair and their beards.
• Revelation 18:17But in one single hour God has destroyed all those valuable things.’ All the sailors and the people who travel on ships will also be sad. They include every ship's captain, and everyone who works on ships on the sea. They will stand a long way from the city.
• Isaiah 2:16He will destroy the great ships that travel across the seas, and all the beautiful boats.
• Isaiah 60:9People from lands across the seas are coming to find me. Their big ships are leading them. They are bringing your children from far away, as well as silver and gold. They come to give honour to the name of the Lord your God. He is Israel's Holy God. They come here because he has shown that you are great.
• 1 Kings 22:48Jehoshaphat built some big ships to bring back gold from Ophir. But they never left Ezion-Geber because a storm destroyed them. So they never travelled anywhere.
• 2 Chronicles 9:21The king had many large ships that King Hiram's men could sail across the seas. Every three years they returned to Solomon with their loads. They brought to him gold, silver and ivory. They also brought apes and monkeys.
• Psalms 48:7You push them away, like an east wind that destroys great ships.
• Ezekiel 27:25Big ships from Tarshish carried your valuable things across the sea. You, Tyre, were like a great ship in the middle of the sea. You were full with a heavy load of many things.

Commentaries on Isaiah 23:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1The 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1The burden of Tyre - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1) Howl - This is a highly poetic description of the destruction that was coming on Tyre. The ships of Tarshish traded there; and the prophet now addresses the ships, and calls upon them to lament because the commerce by which they had been enriched was to be destroyed, and they were to be thrown out of employ. Ye ships of Tarshish - (see the note at Isaiah 2:16). The Tarshish‘ here referred to, was…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The 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 uneasy in one place, will be so in another…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1The ships of Tarshish traveled the sea between the Phoenician coast and the port of Tarshish in Spain (see Isaiah 2:16; 23:6). Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus: Cyprus was the last stop for sailors returning from Spain before their final journey to Tyre.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-18Menander, 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 23:1

• Chittim
• Tarshish

In the dictionaries

• Tarshish
• Tyre
• Tyre, Tyrians
• Chittim
• Commerce
• Evil
• Isaiah
• Island; Isle
• Kittim
• Perseus

Commentaries on Isaiah 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings