Isaiah 23:1-7

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
3.

TYRE

a. SPLENDOR

TEXT: Isaiah 23:1-7

1

The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.

2

Be still, ye inhabitants of the coast, thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

3

And on great waters the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the mart of nations.

4

Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea hath spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.

5

When the report cometh to Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

6

Pass ye over to Tarshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the coast.

7

Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her afar off to sojourn?

QUERIES

a.

Why is Jehovah about to bring about Tyre's downfall?

b.

What is the seed of Shihor?

c.

Why was Egypt pained at the report of Tyre?

PARAPHRASE

This is God's message to Tyre: Weep, O merchant-ships of Tyre, returning home from distant lands! Weep for your harbor, for it is gone! The news that you heard in the islands of the Aegean are all true! A shocked silence is everywhere! Stillness reigns where once your bustling port was full of ships from Phoenicia, bringing merchandise from far across the great sea, grain from the fertile Nile delta. You were the market place of the world. So, hang your head in shame, Phoenicia, for formerly Phoenician traders and merchants were children of the great sea and were strewn all over the Mediterranean, but now they are so few, the sea claims she never had any such children. There will be great distress in Egypt, also, when the news of Tyre's downfall reaches there. You may flee as refugees to one of your colonies such as Tarshish, but you will find the whole world of coastal trade wailing Tyre's demise. Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once proud, wealthy and historical city? Think of all the great colonies your merchantmen have founded!

COMMENT

Isaiah 23:1-3 WORLD'S MARKET PLACE: Tyre was a city on the coast of Phoenicia. The oldest part of the city lay on the mainland; but the main seaport part of the city was located on two rocky islands about a mile off the coast of Phoenicia. Herodotus claims that Tyre was founded about 2740 B.C. The Tell-el-Amarna tablets contain an appeal from the ruler of Tyre, dated 1430 B.C. (just after the Exodus), imploring help from Amenhotep IV against the invading Habiri (Hebrews). Joshua assigned Tyre to the tribe of Asher, but in all probability the city was not occupied by the Hebrews (Cf. Joshua 19:29). 2 Samuel 24:7 shows that the border of the Israelite kingdom extended to Tyre; and David's palace was constructed with the help of Hiram, king of Tyre (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Chronicles 14:1). Hiram also furnished Solomon with cedar and cypress wood in exchange for wheat and oil (1 Kings 5:1; 1 Chronicles 22:4; 2 Chronicles 2:3-18). Later, Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre, and priest of Astarte, married Ahab, king of Israel (1 Kings 16:31), and sought to introduce the Baal worship into Israel. Tyre grew in wealth and power through international trade. It exploited the cedar forests of the Lebanon mountain range. Tyrian purple, the product of the murex shellfish, was also a famous export. The cedar forests provided material for the famous Phoenician galleys, and, accepting the challenge of the sea became her way to wealth and fame. She exported her pagan religion along with trading her commerce. In 876 B.C. Tyre began to pay tribute to the king of Assyria and suffered some plundering in the battle of Qarqar, 853 B.C. But she still was able to assert independence. Tiglath-pileser III and Shalmaneser both laid siege to the city. For five years she was under siege, but in 722 B.C. she made a treaty with the Assyrians. Finally her king was deposed by Sennacherib and she began to lose more of her independence. We shall continue with the history of Tyre's demise at the end of this chapter.

Whether Isaiah's prophecy of Tyre's downfall is intended to be in the distant future or whether it will be some immediate downfall is not easy to determine. Historically speaking her complete downfall did not come until Alexander the Great was able to conquer it in about 332 B.C. Her glory began to fade, however, with the Assyrian invasion of Phoenicia and Syria and northern Palestine in 722 B.C. We assume then that Isaiah is predicting Tyre's demise not intending that it is to happen immediately but gradually.
The message of the prophet is that Tyre's merchantmen and seamen who travel as far away as Tarshish (probably on the eastern coast of Spain) should look forward to a time of mourning over her. The time is coming when her famous ports will not be available for them to enter and sell their cargoes. Tyre's final downfall is going to be international news! Men on her ships will be hearing it, when it happens, as far away as Kittim (islands in the Aegean sea). An old, established, international institution which no one thought would ever disappear, will fail. It will cause consternation throughout the world. There will be a shocked silence. People will be struck dumb momentarily by the news. Her fame was world-wide. She traded in an immense grain supply from the ancient granary of the world, Egypt. The grain of Shihor (Shihor literally means black) came from the fertile, black-dirt, fields of the Nile delta. Tyre was the middleman between the Egyptian grain resources and the nations much in need of grain. Tyre was actually the market place of the world.

Isaiah 23:4-7 WASTED MEMORY: Sidon is here used metaphorically to represent the whole region of Phoenician coast to be affected by the coming destruction. The Phoenicians were sons of the sea. They were great seafaring men. The sea is metaphorically their father. But after the future desolation of Phoenicia, the sea will have no more sons from that area. The great fleet of ships and navy of mariners which was once Tyre's pride and joy will only be a matter for dejected shame. Tyre's death will affect the whole world! Egypt, who depended on Tyre for trading, will suffer distress at the news. The citizens of Tyre are told that should they even flee to Tarshish they would find much mourning among the coastal cities of the Mediterranean at the downfall of Tyre. The whole Mediterranean and Aegean coast felt the blow. So the question comesIs this the great wealthy and proud Tyre? Tyre had exerted profound influence on the world. The great city of Carthage, on the coast of north Africa, was one of Tyre's colonies. The feet of her merchantmen traversed the whole known world. Now, what is she to be? Only a wasted memory!

Why was this judgment to come upon Tyre? Isaiah does not give us much light on the reason for judgment here. If we turn to Ezekiel Chapter s 26, 27, and 28, however, we find statements of the causes for her judgment. Tyre evidently took advantage of some calamity that befell Jerusalem and exploited Jerusalem's affliction for her own advance (Ezekiel 26:1-2). She was also proud and self-exalting (Ezekiel 27:1-3). Tyre's king uttered blasphemies against Jehovah (Ezekiel 28:1-10).

QUIZ

1.

About how old was the city of Tyre?

2.

What relationships had Tyre with Israel in the past?

3.

What was Tyre's great influence on the world of that day?

4.

Give three reasons for God's judgment upon Tyre.