Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Isaiah 23:15-18
After Seventy Years Tyre Will Be Restored (Isaiah 23:15).
Analysis.
a And it will come about in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king (Isaiah 23:15 a).
b After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute (Isaiah 23:15 b).
c Take a harp, go about the city, you harlot, you have been forgotten.
c Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.
b And it will come about after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she will return to her hire, and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth (Isaiah 23:17).
a And her merchandise and her hire will be holiness to Yahweh. It will not be treasured or laid up, for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Yahweh to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing (Isaiah 23:18).
In ‘a' Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, for the period of one king, but in the parallel she will in the end finally be remembered by Yahweh, for she will turn to Yahweh. In ‘b' she will after the seventy years go forth as in the song of the prostitute, and in the parallel she will return to plying her trade as a prostitute to the nations of the world. In ‘c' and parallel we have the song of the prostitute.
‘And it will come about in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute,
Take a harp,
Go about the city,
You harlot, you have been forgotten.
Make sweet melody,
Sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.'
The destruction of Tyre would have effect for ‘seventy years'. Then she would again begin her harlot ways. She will rise again and bring herself to people's memories. This is pictured in the form of what was probably a well known song about a prostitute who had been off the streets and had been forgotten. So she took her harp and went about the city singing sweet melodies, so that soon she was again remembered. Central to the thought is that she was a harlot, as was Tyre with its licentious ways. Indeed harlotry is a description regularly used of cities in the Bible because of the behaviour that occurred in them and because they were idolatrous (compare Isaiah 1:21; Nahum 3:4; Ezekiel 23:5; Ezekiel 23:7; Ezekiel 23:11; Ezekiel 23:16).
‘Seventy years, according to the days of one king.' It is often suggested that this indicates a precise measurement like Isaiah 16:14; Isaiah 21:16, but the use of the number seventy militates against this, nor does this refer to a business contract. The phrase here rather suggests that it is a symbolic number. Kings rarely lived for anywhere near seventy years, never mind reigning for that period (the ‘book of days' which was kept in respect of a king, and is often mentioned in this connection, covered only his reign). Thus this probably means ‘seventy years, that is, the lifetime of a king', with seventy years being thus clearly indicated to be symbolic and signifying the divine perfection of the determined period as often occurs with the use of seventy.
On the other hand it may refer to the length of reign of a particularly long-lived king.
Tyre was constantly subject to attack by the Assyrians and equally constantly rebelled when the opportunity arose. She was never loath to take part in insurrections. Which incident this refers to is unclear, for it is very general and could be applied to any major taking of the mainland city. But the period of ‘seventy years' may reflect the period when Tyre came under the domination of Sidon some years after Tyre's capture and partial destruction by Sargon II in 722 BC. Thus she was ‘forgotten'. The period would badly affect her world position and her trade. She regained her autonomy in around 630 BC.
‘And it will come about after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she will return to her hire, and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.'
After her restoration Tyre will again become prominent in world trade and in taking her licentious behaviour ‘worldwide'. She will not have learned from her judgment.
‘And her merchandise and her hire will be holiness to Yahweh. It will not be treasured or laid up, for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Yahweh to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing.'
The contrast with Isaiah 23:17 is stark. This clearly looks beyond Isaiah 23:17 into the future. Such sudden switches are seen elsewhere in Isaiah who sees all the future as one. (We have already seen in the burdens how in the end other nations will turn to Yahweh - Isaiah 18:7; Isaiah 19:19). God will turn her around. Then Tyre's merchandise and trading will have been purified (thus it is not trade itself that is seen as sinful). It will be ‘holiness to Yahweh', separated to Him and His service. This was partly so in that Tyre would provide material for the new temple (Ezra 3:7). But the description goes beyond that. The point is that her selfish building up of wealth will cease and she will rather make it available to supply the needs of God's people. She will partake in the blessings of the future (Revelation 21:24). There would be those in Tyre too who would be conquered by Christ and have their part in the new heaven and the new earth.
We should note as we come to the end of this section that Babylon and Edom were the only two of the ten for whom Isaiah had a burden, whose final and complete destruction was, or will be, emphasised. In the cases of both Egypt and Tyre (and even Assyria) their future restoration is emphasised. Compare also Ethiopia/Sudan (Isaiah 18:7). Thus behind all the judgments is the prospect of final restoration for all apart from those set against God from the beginning by their very nature. What ‘Babylon' stood for, pride, arrogance, rebellion, blasphemy, anti-Yahwism, the occult, must be destroyed, whichever nation it was in. And what ‘Edom' stood for was betrayal. As the brother tribe of Israel who turned against them (Esau/Edom was Jacob/Israel's brother) they were the Judas before Judas.
(Ezekiel will take another approach to Isaiah with regard to Tyre. He stresses the final end of Tyre (Isaiah 26:14). But his emphasis all through is on judgment. Thus we see that the prophets are more to be seen as drawing lessons from the future of the nations than as trying to prophesy the whole future. Both were right. Tyre did cease as a powerful city, but its people did continue, and many did come to Christ).