New International Version
Isaiah 23:2
2Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.
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.
- 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.
- 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
1A 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. Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched. 3On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations. 4Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
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“Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment.
- Isaiah 47:5“Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.
- Psalms 46:10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
- Habakkuk 2:20The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.
- Ezekiel 27:3Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “ ‘You say, Tyre, “I am perfect in beauty.”
- Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “ ‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.” But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.
- Ezekiel 27:8Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.
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
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