Isaiah 23:11-18

Context

23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,¹

he shook kingdoms;

he² gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.³

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed⁴ virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.”⁵

23:13 Look at the land of the Chaldeans,

these people who have lost their identity!⁶

The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.

They erected their siege towers,⁷

demolished⁸ its fortresses,

and turned it into a heap of ruins.⁹

23:14 Wail, you large ships,¹⁰

for your fortress is destroyed!

23:15 At that time¹¹ Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years,¹² the typical life span of a king.¹³ At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:¹⁴

23:16 “Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed!”¹⁵

23:17 At the end of seventy years¹⁶ the Lord will revive¹⁷ Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms.¹⁸ 23:18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.¹⁹

[23:11] ¹tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”

[23:11] ²tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here.

[23:11] ³tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here.

[23:12] ⁴tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

[23:12] ⁵tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.

[23:13] ⁶tn Heb “this people [that] is not.”

[23:13] ⁷tn For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 118 s.v. *בַּחוּן.

[23:13] ⁸tn Or “laid bare.” For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 889 s.v. ערר.

[23:13] ⁹sn This verse probably refers to the Assyrian destruction of Babylon.

[23:14] ¹⁰tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” See the note at v. 1.

[23:15] ¹¹tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[23:15] ¹²sn The number seventy is probably used in a stereotypical, nonliteral sense here to indicate a long period of time that satisfies completely the demands of God’s judgment.

[23:15] ¹³tn Heb “like the days of a king.”

[23:15] ¹⁴tn Heb “At the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute.”

[23:16] ¹⁵tn Heb “so you will be remembered.”

[23:17] ¹⁶tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[23:17] ¹⁷tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”

[23:17] ¹⁸tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”

[23:18] ¹⁹tn Heb “for eating to fullness and for beautiful covering[s].”