New English Translation
Isaiah 23:2
2Lament, you residents of the coast, you merchants of Sidon who travel over the sea, whose agents sail over
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon, Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
Context of Isaiah 23:2
1Here is a message about Tyre: Wail, you large ships, for the port is too devastated to enter! From the land of Cyprus this news is announced to them. Lament, you residents of the coast, you merchants of Sidon who travel over the sea, whose agents sail over 3the deep waters! Grain from the Shihor region, crops grown near the Nile she receives; she is the trade center of the nations. 4Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea says this, O fortress of the sea: “I have not gone into labor or given birth; I have not raised young men or 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 41:1“Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! Let the nations find renewed strength! Let them approach and then speak; let us come together for debate!
- Isaiah 47:5“Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’
- Psalms 46:10He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!”
- Habakkuk 2:20But the Lord is in his majestic palace. The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”
- Ezekiel 27:3Say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance of the sea, merchant to the peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘O Tyre, you have said, “I am perfectly beautiful.”
- Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘Your heart is proud and you said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” – yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike.
- Ezekiel 27:8The leaders of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were your captains.
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries