Isaiah 23:2

Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

Be still - struck dumb with awe. Addressed to those already in the country, eye-witnesses of its ruin (); or, in contrast to the busy din of commerce once heard in Tyre, now all is hushed and still.

Ye inhabitants of the isle - strictly applicable to New Tyre: in the sense coast, to the mainland city, Old Tyre (cf. ; ).

Zidon - of which Tyre was a colony, planted when Zidon was conquered by the Philistines of Ascalon (Justin, 18: 3). Zidon means a fishing station: this was its beginning.

Replenished - with wealth and an industrious population (; ; ). Here "Zidon" as the oldest city of Phoenicia, includes all the Phoenician towns on the strip of 'coast.' Thus, Ethbaal, King of Tyre (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' 8: 3, 2), is called king of the Sidonians (); and on coins Tyre is called the metropolis of the Sidonians. Zidon was "the first-born of Canaan" (), and is called 'Great Zidon' -

i.e., the metropolis Zidon-in ; . In ; , "Zidonians" is the generic name for the Phoenicians or Canaanites. Moreover, the reason assigned for there being no deliverer to Laish is, 'they were far from the Zidonians;' whence it follows that Tyre was not then the main city. So Homer does not mention Tyre, but does Zidon ('Odyssey,' 15: 425; 13: 285; 'Iliad,' 23: 743): he praises the Zidonians as skilled workmen; the Phoenicians as skilled mariners.