English Standard Version
Isaiah 23:2
2Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
Isaiah 23:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
- New International Version (NIV)Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon, Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Mourn in silence, you people of the coast and you merchants of Sidon. Your traders crossed the sea,
Context of Isaiah 23:2
1The 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. Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. 3And on many waters your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations. 4Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying: "I have neither labored nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women."
Read all of Isaiah 23Isaiah 23:2 word by word
דֹּ֖מּוּ יֹ֣שְׁבֵי אִ֑י סֹחֵ֥ר צִיד֛וֹן עֹבֵ֥ר יָ֖ם מִלְאֽוּךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Be stillדָּמַםdâmam · to wailH1826
- ye inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- of the isleאִי'îy · coastlandH339
- thou whom the merchantsסָחַרsâchar · to tradeH5503
- of Zidonצִידוֹןtsîydôn tsîydôn · SidonH6721
- that pass overעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
- the seaיָםyâm · seaH3220
- have replenishedמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
Cross-references for Isaiah 23:2
- Isaiah 41:1Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.
- Isaiah 47:5Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
- Psalms 46:10"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
- Habakkuk 2:20But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him."
- Ezekiel 27:3and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God: "O Tyre, you have said, 'I am perfect in beauty.'
- Ezekiel 28:2"Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: "Because your heart is proud, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,' yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
- Ezekiel 27:8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots.
Commentaries on Isaiah 23:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Be still "Be silent" - Silence is a mark of grief and consternation. See Isaiah 47:5. Jeremiah has finely expressed this image: - "The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, they are silent: They have cast up dust on their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground." Lamentations 2:10.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Be still - This is the description of a city which is destroyed, where the din of commerce, and the sound of revelry is no longer heard. It is an address of the prophet to Tyre, indicating that it would be soon still, and destroyed. Ye inhabitants of the isle - (of Tyre). The word isle‘ (אי 'iy ) is sometimes used to denote a “coast or maritime region” (see the note at Isaiah 20:6), but there seems no reason to doubt that here it means the island on which…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Sidon was a Phoenician port located to the north of Tyre. Tyre’s commercial network of traders was extensive.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Be still--"struck dumb with awe." Addressed to those already in the country, eye-witnesses of its ruin (La 2:10); or, in contrast to the busy din of commerce once heard in Tyre; now all is hushed and still. isle--strictly applicable to New Tyre: in the sense coast, to the mainland city, Old Tyre (compare Is 23:6; Is 20:6). Zidon--of which Tyre was a colony, planted when Zidon was conquered by the Philistines of Ascalon. Zidon means a "fishing station"…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 23:2
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries