New International Version
Isaiah 23:17
17At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
Isaiah 23:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
- English Standard Version (ESV)At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Yes, after seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world.
Context of Isaiah 23:17
15At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 16“Take up a harp, walk through the city, you forgotten prostitute; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered.” At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.
Read all of Isaiah 23Isaiah 23:17 word by word
וְהָיָ֞ה מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ שִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֗ה יִפְקֹ֤ד יְהוָה֙ אֶת־צֹ֔ר וְשָׁבָ֖ה לְאֶתְנַנָּ֑ה וְזָֽנְתָ֛ה אֶת־כָּל־מַמְלְכ֥וֹת הָאָ֖רֶץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And it shall come to pass after the endקֵץqêts · endH7093
- of seventyשִׁבְעִיםshib‛îym · seventyH7657
- yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
- that the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- will visitפָּקַדpâqad · to reckon: visitH6485
- Tyreצֹרtsôr tsôr · TyreH6865
- and she shall turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- to her hireאֶתְנַן'ethnan · wagesH868
- and shall commit fornicationזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
- with all the kingdomsמַמְלָכָהmamlâkâh · kingdomH4467
- of the worldאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- upon the faceפָּנֶהpânîym · face: surfaceH6440
- of the earthאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: planetH127
Cross-references for Isaiah 23:17
- Jeremiah 29:10This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
- Zephaniah 2:7That land will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes.
- Acts 15:14Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.
- Deuteronomy 23:18You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God to pay any vow, because the Lord your God detests them both.
- Ezekiel 16:31When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
- Ezekiel 22:13“ ‘I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst.
- Ezekiel 27:6Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, adorned with ivory.
- Hosea 12:7The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud.
- Micah 1:7All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
- Micah 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.”
- 1 Timothy 3:3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
- 1 Peter 5:2Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;
- Nahum 3:4all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.
- Revelation 17:2With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”
- Revelation 18:9“When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
- Revelation 19:2for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Commentaries on Isaiah 23:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17After the end of seventy years - Tyre, after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, recovered, as it is here foretold, its ancient trade, wealth, and grandeur; as it did likewise after a second destruction by Alexander. It became Christian early with the rest of the neighboring countries. St. Paul himself found many Christians there, Acts 21:4. It suffered much in the Diocletian persecution. It was an archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerusalem, with…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17The Lord will visit Tyre - He will restore her to her former wealth and magnificence. And she shall turn to her hire - The word hire‘ here denotes the wages or reward that is given to an harlot; and the idea which was commenced in the previous verses is here continued - of Tyre as an harlot - frivolous, splendid, licentious, and holding intercourse with strangers and foreigners. The gains of that commerce with other nations are here represented as her…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-18Verses 15-18 The desolations of Tyre were not to be for ever. The Lord will visit Tyre in mercy. But when set at liberty, she will use her old arts of temptation. The love of worldly wealth is spiritual idolatry; and covetousness is spiritual idolatry. This directs those that have wealth, to use it in the service of God. When we abide with God in our worldly callings, when we do all in our power to further the gospel, then our merchandise and hire are…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17Metaphorically, Tyre was like a prostitute because it was willing to sell anything to anyone without concern (see Revelation 17:2; 18:3, 12–13).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. visit--not in wrath, but mercy. hire--image from a harlot: her gains by commerce. After the Babylonian dynasty was ended, Tyre was rebuilt; also, again, after the destruction under Alexander.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 23:17
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
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