Isaiah 23:11

He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. HE - Yahweh. HE SHOOK THE KINGDOMS - the Phoenician cities and colonies, Tyre, Sidon, Arad, Arce, etc. THE MERCHANT CITY - Hebrew, Canaan, meaning the north of it; namely, time Phoenice of the Greeks, at the foot of Lebanon. On their coins they call their country Canaan....

11._He stretched out his hand over the sea. _It is thought that the prediction which the Prophet uttered, about the destruction of Tyre, is here confirmed by examples; namely, that the Lord has given so many examples of his power in overturning the greatest kingdoms, that we ought not to think it strange if he now overturn Tyre, however flourishing and wealthy it may be. And indeed this manner of speaking is frequently employed in Scripture, if it be not made plain by manifest examples and by actual demonstration. It is therefore believed that the Prophet here calls to remembrance the deliverance from Egypt, when the Lord divided the sea, (Exodus 14:21,) and again, when he drove out seven kings, and brought his people into the land of Canaan. (Joshua 6:1.) But when I take a closer view of the words of the Prophet, I am more

1-14 Tyre was the mart of the nations. She was noted for mirth and diversions; and this made her loth to consider the warnings God gave by his servants. Her merchants were princes, and lived like princes. Tyre being destroyed and laid waste, the merchants should abandon her. Flee to shift for thine own safety; but those that are uneasy in one place, will be so in another; for when God's judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them. Whence shall all this trouble come? It is a destruction from the Almighty. God designed to convince men of the vanity and uncertainty of all earthly glory. Let the ruin of Tyre warn all places and persons to take heed of pride; for he who exalts himself shall be abased. God will do it, who has all power in his hand; but the Chaldeans shall be the instruments....

HE STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND - That is, Yahweh (see Isaiah 23:9). To stretch out the hand is indicative of punishment (see the notes at Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 9:12), and means that God has resolved to inflict exemplary punishment on Tyre and its dependent colonies. OVER THE SEA - That is, over the sea coast of Phenicia; or over the cities that were built on the coast. This alludes to the fact that Nebuchadnezzar would lay siege to these cities, and would ravage the maritime coast of Phenicia. It is not improbable also that, having taken Tyre, he would extend his conquests to Citium, on the island of Cyprus, and destroy as many of the dependent cities of Tyre as pos

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 23:1 THE BURDEN OF TYRE. We hero reach the last of the "burdens"—the concluding chapter of the series of denunciatory prophecies which commenced with Isaiah 13:1. It is an elegy "in three stanzas, or strophes" (Cheyne)—the first extending from Isaiah 13:1 to Isaiah 13:5; the second, thence to Isaiah 13:9; and the third from Isaiah 13:10 to...

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 Isaiah 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...

CHAPTER 23 The Burden of Tyre 1. _Tyre's great disaster (Isaiah 23:1)_ 2. _The complete overthrow (Isaiah 23:6)_ 3. _Tyre's future restoration and degradation (Isaiah 23:15)_ Tyre typifies the commercial expansion and glory of the world. Behind this commercial glory stands Satan, the god of this age. Read Ezekiel 28:11. Nebuchadnezzar carried out judgment upon Tyre Ezekiel 29:17. A revival of Tyre is also predicted. We call attention to a statement in the beautiful Forty-fifth Psalm, a millennial Psalm. When the Kin

ISAIAH 23. ORACLE ON TYRE. The date and authorship are alike very uncertain. If by Isaiah, the occasion may be the siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser about 727- 722 (p. 59), the historicity of which, however, is questioned by some, or Sennacherib's invasion in 701. The text of 13 is very suspicious, and its interpretation very uncertain, or it might have helped to fix the date. Isaiah 23:15 is probably a post-exilic appendix. Isaiah 23:1 is perhaps best referred to Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre, 585- 577 (p. 61). The ships of Tarshish (Isaiah 2:16 *) are on their way back to Tyre, and after they have left Kittim, _i.e._ Cyprus (Numbers

THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. THE MERCHANT CITY. Tyre, or Phoenician coast. Hosea 12:7. THEREOF: or, which are upon it....

The third strophe, as usually explained, deals mainly with the emancipation of the Phœnician colonies from the somewhat stringent control of Tyre. But the passage presents many difficulties; and from the utter uncertainty as to the meaning of Isaiah 23:13 the general sense is doubtful....