Isaiah 23:3-8

Context
23:3 the deep waters!¹

Grain from the Shihor region,²

crops grown near the Nile³ she receives;⁴

she is the trade center⁵ of the nations.

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea⁶ 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.”⁷

23:5 When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.⁸

23:6 Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

23:7 Is this really your boisterous city⁹

whose origins are in the distant past,¹⁰

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre,¹¹

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries¹² of the earth?

[23:3] ¹tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.

[23:3] ²tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.

[23:3] ³tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”

[23:3] ⁴tn Heb “[is] her revenue.”

[23:3] ⁵tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.”

[23:4] ⁶tn 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] ⁷tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:5] ⁸tn Heb “they will be in pain at the report of Tyre.”

[23:7] ⁹tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.

[23:7] ¹⁰tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.”

[23:8] ¹¹tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.

[23:8] ¹²tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”