Isaiah 23:11 Kommentar

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.

He stretched out his hand over the sea,.... That is, the Lord of hosts, who had purposed to destroy Tyre, stretched out his hand of power over it, called the sea, as in Isa 23:4 because situated in it, supported by it, and had the sovereignty of it; in like manner as he stretched out his hand on the Red Sea, and destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians in it; to which the allusion may be: he shook the kingdoms; of Tyre and Zidon, which were both kingdoms, and distinct ones; and also made other neighbouring kingdoms shake and tremble when these fell, fearing it would be their case next. Some understand this of the moving of Nebuchadnezzar, and of the kings of the provinces under him, to come against Tyre: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city; the city of Tyre, so famous for merchandise, that it was the mart of nations, as in Isa 23:3 or "against Canaan", in which country Tyre and Zidon were, being originally built and inhabited by the posterity of Canaan, Gen 10:15, to destroy the strong holds thereof; either of the merchant city Tyre, whose fortifications were strong, both by nature and art; or "of Canaan", whose strong holds, or fortified cities, the principal of them were Tyre and Zidon; so Jarchi: and if the Lord of hosts gives a commandment to destroy it and its strong holds, as he did to Nebuchadnezzar and his army, and afterwards to Alexander and his, who could save them? that is, God said it, who gave commandment to destroy it.

(Vers. 10, 11.) Work your land: for the ships do not come from Carthage at all, and your hand does not prevail, which provokes the kings in the sea. There is much disagreement among other interpreters, and the Septuagint edition diverges from the Hebrew itself in this place, but let us continue with the proposed argument. Above, he had said: Go to Carthage, howl you who dwell on the island. Now he speaks the opposite, because the ships no longer come from Carthage, work your land. For it is beneficial for Tyre that foreign ships perish, so that its people are forced to work their own land. As it is said in Proverbs: 'Whoever works his own land will have plenty of bread' (Prov. 21:11), so that he may live off the produce of his work without the uncertainty of shipwrecks and the danger of drowning, but instead with the fruits of his labor. Concerning this, it is sung in the Psalms to the righteous: 'You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands' (Ps. 128:2). It is written in Hosea that the ways of a prostitute are hedged with thorns by the Lord, so that she cannot pursue her lovers, and thus, compelled by this necessity, she may return to her original husband. And as we frequently observe in the affairs of the world, many who could not perceive the Lord through prosperity and the abundance of all things, came to understand through poverty, and turned to the works of justice, after the happiness of this world failed to prevail over the work of their hands, which formerly provoked kings in the sea, or disturbed them, as Symmachus puts it; whose heart is in the hand of God. And would that we too, despising the commerce of this sea, cultivate our own land, and not wait for the ships of Carthage, or the ships of Tyre, which used to go to Carthage, lest we be subjected to the power of the dragon who rules over the sea! But let us set a firm footing on the earth, rather hastening towards the heavens, let us work our own land, here sowing, there harvesting. Let our hand, which was previously engaged in the affairs of the world, and even capable of altering the state of kings, that is, the saints, according to its power and success, become weak in matters of the sea, so that it may be strong in the work of its own land.

(Verse 11.) He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled the kingdoms. Who stretched out his hand? Without a doubt, based on the context of the words themselves, it is God, about whom he said above: the Lord of hosts has planned this, to take away the pride of all glory. He therefore stretched out his hand over all the seas, signifying the world and its inhabitants, and troubled all the nations, among which, even you, Tyre, were troubled, whether it be over the sea, on which you are specifically situated.

The Lord has given a charge. Here he threatens destruction. And first, the scourge of persecution; second, he foretells the mourning of compassion: howl (Isa 23:14); third, he designates the time of destruction: and it shall come to pass in that day (Isa 23:15). Concerning the first, he does three things. First, setting out divine indignation, the precept: the Lord has given a charge, to Nabuchodonosor, against Chanaan, in which Tyre is located: the Lord said to me: go up to this land, and destroy it (2 Kgs 18:25).

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.

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).

He--Jehovah. kingdoms--the Phœnician cities and colonies. the merchant city--rather, Canaan, meaning the north of it, namely, Phœnicia. On their coins, they call their country Canaan.

The prophet now proceeds to relate, as it were, to the Pheonicio-Spanish colony, the daughter, i.e., the population of Tartessus, what has happened to the mother country. "His hand hath He stretched over the sea, thrown kingdoms into trembling; Jehovah hath given commandment concerning Kena'an, to destroy her fortresses. And He said, Thou shalt not rejoice any further, thou disgraced one, virgin daughter of Sidon! Get up to Kittim, go over; there also shalt thou not find rest." There is no ground whatever for restricting the "kingdoms" (mamlâcoth) to the several small Phoenician states (compare Isa 19:2). Jehovah, reaching over the sea, has thrown the lands of Hither Asia and Egypto-Ethiopia into a state of the most anxious excitement, and has summoned them as instruments of destruction with regard to Kenaēan (אל, like על in Est 4:5). Phoenicia called itself Kena‛an (Canaan); but this is the only passage in the Old Testament in which the name occurs in this most restricted sense. לשׁמיד, for להשׁמיד, as in Num 5:22; Amo 8:4. The form מעזניה is more rare, but it is not a deformity, as Knobel and others maintain. There are other examples of the same resolution of the reduplication and transposition of the letters (it stands for מענזיה, possibly a Phoenician word; see Hitzig, Grabschrift, p. 16, and Levi, Phoenizische Studien, p. 17), viz., תּמנוּ in Lam 3:22 (vid., at Psa 64:7), and קבנו in Num 23:13, at least according to the Jewish grammar (see, however, Ewald, 250, b). (Note: Bttcher derives the form from מעזן, a supposed diminutive; see, however, Jesurun, pp. 212-216.) "Virgin of the daughter of Sidon" (equivalent to "virgin daughter of Sidon," two epexegetical genitives; Ewald, 289, c) is synonymous with Kena‛an. The name of the ancestral city (compare Isa 37:22) has here become the name of the whole nation that has sprung from it. Hitherto this nation has been untouched, like a virgin, but now it resembles one ravished and defiled. If now they flee across to Cyprus (cittiyim or cittim), there will be no rest for them even there, because the colony, emancipated from the Phoenician yoke, will only be too glad to rid herself to the unwelcome guests from the despotic mother country.