Isaiah 23:14 Komentář

This chapter is concerning Tyre, an ancient wealthy city, situated upon the sea, and for many ages one of the most celebrated cities for trade and merchandise in those parts of the world. The lot of the tribe of Asher bordered upon it. See Jos 19:29, where it is called "the strong city Tyre." We seldom find it a dangerous enemy to Israel, but sometimes their faithful ally, as in the reigns of David and Solomon; for trading cities maintain their grandeur, not by the conquest of their neighbours, but by commerce with them. In this chapter is foretold, I. The lamentable desolation of Tyre, which was performed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army, about the time that they destroyed Jerusalem; and a hard task they had of it, as appears Eze 29:18, where they are said to have "served a hard service against Tyre," and yet to have no wages (Isa 23:1-14). II. The restoration of Tyre after seventy years, and the return of the Tyrians out of their captivity to their trade again (Isa 23:15-18).

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 23 This chapter gives an account both of the desolation and restoration of Tyre, an ancient city of Phoenicia. Its desolation is described as so complete, that a house was not left in it, Isa 23:1 and by the fewness and stillness of the inhabitants of it, with which it had been replenished, it having been a mart of nations, Isa 23:2 and by the shame and pain Zidon, a neighbouring city, was put into, on account of it, Isa 23:4 and by the removal of its inhabitants to other places, Isa 23:6 all which is attributed to the counsel, purpose, and commandment of God, to destroy it; whose view was to stain their pride, and bring them into contempt, Isa 23:8 the means and instruments made use of to this purpose were the Assyrians or Chaldeans, Isa 23:13 and its desolation is further aggravated by the loss of its trade; hence the merchants of other countries are called to mourning, Isa 23:1 the date and duration of this desolation were seventy years, Isa 23:15 after which it should be restored, and its merchandise and commerce with all the nations of the earth be revived again, Isa 23:15.

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,.... As in Isa 23:1. See Gill on Isa 23:1, for your strength is laid waste; meaning Tyre, a strong seaport, where their ships were safe, and always found vent for their goods and merchandise; and so it was the strength and support of their country; but was now destroyed, and therefore was matter of lamentation and mourning.

“Howl,” he says—he repeats it—“O you ships of Carthage, for your strength is laid waste. And it shall come to pass in that day, Tyre shall be abandoned;” and below, “but after seventy years, Tyre shall be as the song of a harlot.” Behold what words the prophet employs, and how he does not avoid the baseness of words of this kind. We ourselves sometimes avoid them, not because our tongue is more chaste than theirs, but our authority inferior. For very great is the force of words in the vivid exposition of such things, so that they who do not blush at their sins blush at least at the names of their sins. “Tyre shall be,” he says, “as the song of a harlot.” Beware, lest, when someone sees those dances being performed, and unseemly words being sung, he says, “Behold, Tyre has become the song of a harlot.”

(Verse 13, 14.) Behold the land of the Chaldeans, such a people has never existed: Assyria laid it waste, they led away its strong men, they dug up its houses, they reduced it to ruins. Wail, O ships of the sea, for your strength is destroyed. For as it was said before: His feet will travel a great distance in exile; and again, Cross over your land like a river, and the people of Tyre will be doubly afflicted, those who fled and crossed over to Cyprus, and those who remained in the city. About those who had fled, he says above: Rising up, cross over to Cethim, there also there will be no rest for you. About those who remained and were led into captivity, he says: Behold, the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans, whose power no other people had before, and which was founded by the Assyrians, they have led mighty men of Tyre. They not only dug up the walls, but also all the dwellings of the city, and turned it into ruins. Therefore, because some have fled and others have been captured, howl, O ships, whether of the sea or of Carthage; for your trade and colony have been destroyed. At the same time, consider how he praised the Chaldeans. He did not say that such a people will no longer exist: for indeed, the kingdom of the Romans is more powerful and harsher; but, there was not one before. He who denied the previous things, has conceded the following things.

Furthermore, the Hebrews claim that Tarshish generally represents the sea, as in the psalms: “With a violent wind, you will destroy the ships of Tarshish,” that is, the sea, and in Isaiah: “Wail, ships of Tarshish.” I recall speaking about this several years ago in a letter to Marcella. The prophet, therefore, was not seeking to flee to a specific place, but he was hastening to continue toward wherever it was the sea would take him. Indeed, a terrified fugitive is rightly more interested in seizing the first opportunity to sail than he is in selecting a place of refuge. This also we are able to say: he who thought that “God is known in Judea” only and that “his name is great in Israel” only, once he felt him in the waves of the sea, confessed and said, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” But if he made the sea and the dry land, how can you who abandoned the dry land think it possible to avoid the Creator of the sea in the midst of the sea? At the same time, the salvation and conversion of the sailors taught him that the great multitude at Nineveh could also be saved by confessing like he did.We are able to say of our Lord and Savior that he left his native homeland, assumed flesh and, in a manner of speaking, fled from heaven and came to Tarshish. That is, [he came] to the sea of this world, about which it is said elsewhere: “This is the sea, great and vast, where there are creatures without number and animals both small and large. Ships navigate there with the dragon whom you formed to play in it.”

(Verse 14.) Howl, O ships of Carthage: for your strength is gone. The ships of Carthage, that is to say Tharsis, are commanded to howl: for they have not perished, as mentioned above, or will not come; but their strength has perished. Tharsis, according to another interpretation, is translated into our language as completion of six, or joy. However, we read that this world was made in six days, which according to ecclesiastical traditions will be consummated afterwards. Therefore, all the good things of this world, and the toil of all mortals, are compared to the uncertain course of ships, because they will soon perish and all the strength of sailors will be dissolved. Hence, it is written in Solomon: The wise man ascends to strong cities and destroys their fortifications (Prov. XXI, 22). Whatever is composed of heretics, worldly wisdom, and the art of opposing doctrines, the ecclesiastical man destroys and teaches that they should be subject to his teachings.

Howl. Here he sets out the mourning (Ezek 27:14).

Sequel of the discourse which commenced in the preceding chapter. The prophet denounces vengeance against the pastors of Israel who have scattered and destroyed the flock of the Lord, Jer 23:1, Jer 23:2. He concludes with gracious promises of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, and of better times under the Messiah, when the converts to Christianity, who are the true Israel of God, shadowed forth by the old dispensation, shall be delivered, by the glorious light of the Gospel, from worse than Chaldean bondage, from the captivity of sin and death. But this prophecy will not have its fullest accomplishment till that period arrives which is fixed in the Divine counsel for the restoration of Israel and Judah from their various dispersions, of which their deliverance from the Chaldean domination was a type, when Jesus the Christ, the righteous Branch, the Root and Offspring of David, and the only legitimate Heir to the throne, shall take unto himself his great power, and reign gloriously over the whole house of Jacob, Jer 23:3-8. At the ninth verse a new discourse commences. Jeremiah expresses his horror at the great wickedness of the priests and prophets of Judah, and declares that the Divine vengeance is hanging over them. He exhorts the people not to listen to their false promises, Jer 23:9-22; and predicts the utter ruin that shall fall upon all pretenders to inspiration, Jer 23:23-32, as well as upon all scoffers at true prophecy, Jer 23:33-40.

Howl, ye shops - The Prophet Ezekiel hath enlarged upon this part of the same subject with great force and elegance: - "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Tyre: - At the sound of thy fall, at the cry of the wounded, At the great slaughter in the midst of thee, shall not the islands tremble? And shall not all the princes of the sea descend from their thrones, And lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments? They shall clothe themselves with trembling, they shall sit on the ground; They shall tremble every moment, they shall be astonished at thee. And they shall utter a lamentation over thee, and shall say unto thee: How art thou lost, thou that wast inhabited from the seas! The renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants! That struck with terror all her neighbors! Now shall the coasts tremble in the day of thy fall, And the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure." Eze 26:15-18.

PROPHECY RESPECTING TYRE. (Isa. 23:1-18) Tyre--Hebrew, Tsur, that is, "Rock." ships of Tarshish--ships of Tyre returning from their voyage to Tarshish, or Tartessus in Spain, with which the Phœnicians had much commerce (Eze 27:12-25). "Ships of Tarshish" is a phrase also used of large and distant-voyaging merchant vessels (Isa 2:16; Kg1 10:22; Psa 48:7). no house--namely, left; such was the case as to Old Tyre, after Nebuchadnezzar's siege. no entering--There is no house to enter (Isa 24:10) [G. V. SMITH]. Or, Tyre is so laid waste, that there is no possibility of entering the harbor [BARNES]; which is appropriate to the previous "ships." Chittim--Cyprus, of which the cities, including Citium in the south (whence came "Chittim"), were mostly Phœnician (Eze 27:6). The ships from Tarshish on their way to Tyre learn the tidings ("it is revealed to them") of the downfall of Tyre. At a later period Chittim denoted the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean (Dan 11:30).

strength--stronghold (compare Eze 26:15-18).