Isaiah 23:3

The easiest translation would be: and on great waters the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, ( was) her revenue, and it (i.e. her revenue) was the gain of the nations. Shihormight be a name for the Nile, as in Jeremiah 2:18; and the meaning would be that the revenue of Tyre (or Phœnicia) was derived from the sea-traffic in Egyptian grain. This was no doubt the case to some extent; but to suppose that the corn trade with Egypt was a principal source of wealth to Tyre is contrary to all the information we possess. The expression of the thought, moreover, is involved and enigmatic, and even if we call to our aid the subtle suggestion that Tyre, with no agriculture of her own, nevertheless reaped a rich harvest by her command of the sea, the idea is still unworthy of Isaiah, and of the rest of this poem.

The translation martin E.V., instead of "gain" or "merchandise" is hardly justifiable.