---
title: "Isaiah 23 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"
description: "Read Isaiah 23 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 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 Chittim it is revealed"
image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/isaiah/23"
---

[ Read](/kjv/isaiah/23)[ Commentary](/study/isaiah/23)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/isaiah/23) Audio

 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 Chittim it is revealed to them.

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

 3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, *is* her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

 4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, *even* the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, *nor* bring up virgins.

 5 As at the report concerning Egypt, *so* shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

 6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

 7 *Is* this your joyous *city*, whose antiquity *is* of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.*

 8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning *city*, whose merchants *are* princes, whose traffickers *are* the honourable of the earth?

 9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, *and* to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.*

 10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: *there is* no more strength.*

 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.***

 12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, *till* the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; *and* he brought it to ruin.

 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.*

 16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

 17 ¶ And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.*
 
[Isaiah 22](/study/isaiah/22) [Isaiah 24](/study/isaiah/24)

## Commentary

 To verse 1
 
The prophecy commences by introducing the trading vessels of Phoenicia on their return home, as they hear with alarm the tidings of the fate that has befallen their home. *“Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entrance any more! Out of the land of the Chittaeans it is made known to them.”* Even upon the open sea they hear of it as a rumour from the ships that they meet. For their voyage is a very long one: they come from the Phoenician colony on the Spanish Baetis, or the Guadalquivir, as it was called from the time of the occupation by the Moors. “*Ships of Tarshish* ” are ships that sail to Tartessus (lxx inaccurately, πλοῖα Καρχηδόνος ). It is not improbable that the whole of the Mediterranean may have been called “the sea to Tarshish;” and hence the rendering adopted by the Targum, Jerome, Luther, and others, *naves maris* (see Humboldt, *Kosmos*, ii. 167, 415). These ships are to howl (*hēlı̄lū* instead of the feminine, as in [Isaiah 32:11](/kjv/isaiah/32/11)) because of the devastation that has taken place (it is easy to surmise that Tyre has been the victim); for the home and harbour, which the sailors were rejoicing at the prospect of being able to enter once more, have both been swept away. Cyprus was the last station on this homeward passage. The *Chittim* (written in the legends of coins and other inscriptions with *Caph* and *Cheth*) are the inhabitants of the Cyprian harbour of *Citium* and its territory. But Epiphanius, the bishop of Salamis in the island of Cyprus, says that Citium was also used as a name for the whole island, or even in a still broader sense. Cyprus, the principal mart of the Phoenicians, was the last landing-place. As soon as they touch the island, the fact which they have only heard of as a rumour upon the open sea, is fully disclosed (*niglâh*), i.e., it now becomes a clear undoubted certainty, for they are told of it by eye-witnesses who have made their escape to the island. The prophet now turns to the Phoenicians at home, who have this devastation in prospect.

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