Judgment · The merchant city judged and restored

Isaiah 23:1-18

Isaiah · ~700 BC · Status: Fulfilled · Confidence: 65%
“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.”
King James Version · the opening — all 18 verses are below

Isaiah's burden against Tyre — the great merchant city laid waste, then after seventy years restored, her commerce ultimately consecrated to the LORD.

Read the whole passage — all 18 verses (KJV)

23:1The 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.

23:2Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

23:3And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

23:4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.

23:5As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

23:6Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

23:7Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

23:8Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

23:9The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

23:10Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

23:11He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

23:12And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

23:13Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, til the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

23:14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

23:15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

23:16Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

23:17And 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.

23:18And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

Fulfillment References

Ezekiel 26:1-21 Isaiah 23:15 Psalm 45:12 Acts 21:3-6

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalEven Tyre's merchandise becomes 'holiness to the LORD' — the one God claiming the wealth of the nations for His glory.
JewishJudgment on the proud trading city and its eventual restoration; the consecration of its wealth read of God's claim over the nations' riches.
CatholicThe humbling and later restoration of Tyre, its 'holiness to the LORD' anticipating the nations drawn into God's purposes.
ProtestantA fulfilled judgment-and-restoration oracle; Tyre's later gospel connection (Acts 21) is sometimes seen in the 'holiness to the LORD.'
OrthodoxThe judgment and restoration of the city under God's providence.
DispensationalFulfilled history; the consecration of Tyre's wealth anticipates the nations' tribute in the kingdom.
AcademicScholars discuss the 'seventy years' (paralleling Jeremiah's Babylon figure) as a conventional span and date the oracle's layers amid the Assyrian/Babylonian threats to Phoenicia.
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