Isaiah 23:2

23:2 Lament, ¹  you residents of the coast,

you merchants of Sidon ²  who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over

Isaiah 23:12

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed ³  virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.” ⁴ 

Isaiah 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ⁵  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.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 23:11

23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea, ⁷ 

he shook kingdoms;

he ⁸  gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses. ⁹ 

[23:2]  ¹ tn Or “keep quiet”; NAB “Silence!”

[23:2]  ² map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[23:12]  ³ tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

[23:12]  ⁴ tn 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.

[23:4]  ⁵ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

[23:4]  ⁶ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”

[23:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here.

[23:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here.