Isaiah 23:18

• When Solomon was king, Tyre assisted with the construction of the *Temple in *Jerusalem. But this was merely a commercial arrangement (see 1 Kings 5:1-8).

• A poor widow who lived in Zarephath had provided for God’s servant Elijah (see 1 Kings 17:8-16). (Zarephath was on the coast between Tyre and Sidon.)

These personal examples of provision for other people will now become the general practice of the people in Tyre and Sidon.

• The permanent lesson of Tyre’s experience is that God’s people should not collect money just to become wealthy (see 1 Timothy 6:7-10). Money is for us to spend as the *Lord directs.

Chapter s 24 –27

These Chapter s form a new section of the Book of Isaiah. But they do not include any references to actual events about particular nations.

• Chapter 24 repeats the general message about God’s plan to destroy all the nations on the earth. This chapter describes events that are still in the future. It describes God’s judgement against people who have not obeyed his laws. And the result is great trouble across the whole world.

• Chapter s 25 to 27 describe events after God achieves his purpose.

Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, it means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
worship ~ to praise God and to pray to him.
idol ~ home-made image of a god.
prophet ~ a person who speaks on behalf of God.
Babylonian ~ a person from the land called Babylon; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Babylon.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah. But the ‘New Jerusalem’ is God’s future, perfect home for his people.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 tribes (large families) of Israel.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah. But the ‘New Jerusalem’ is God’s future, perfect home for his people.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

Countries near Judah

Isaiah Chapter s 13 to 23

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 23

A message about Tyre

v1 [This is] a serious message about [the city called] Tyre.

Cry aloud, [you people in] the ships [that go] to Tarshish. [An enemy] has destroyed it (Tyre). There is no house to come home to. They heard about that in the country called Cyprus.

v2 Weep, [you people] that live on the island. [Weep, you] merchants in [the city called] Sidon, whom the sailors have made rich.

v3 And grain came from Sihor on the great waters. The harvest from the Nile river brought money [to the country called Phoenicia]. So [Phoenicia] became a market for the nations.

v4 [People that live in] Sidon, be ashamed! The sea has spoken. The power of the sea has said, ‘I have not suffered the pains of birth. I have not given birth [to children]. I have not had sons, nor have I brought up daughters.’

v5 The news will come to [the people in] Egypt. Then they will have much pain because of the report from Tyre.

v6 Cross over to Tarshish! Cry aloud, you people that live on the island.

v7 [This is] the city where you had many parties. It is old, very old. [Now] its people’s feet have taken them to live in distant countries.

v8 Who made these plans against Tyre? [Tyre is the city that] gives crowns [to people]. Its merchants are princes. Its traders are famous in [all] the world.

v9 The *LORD of Everything made this plan. [He did it] so that people did not feel too important. And [he did it] to make all the famous people in the world become humble.

v10 Travel through your country, people in Tarshish. [Travel] as [easily as Egypt’s people travel along] the Nile river. Because now, nobody will stop you.

v11 The *LORD has lifted his hand over the sea. He made kingdoms (places that a king rules) tremble. He gave an order [to his armies] about Phoenicia. [They must] destroy all [Phoenicia’s] strong buildings.

v12 Then he (the *LORD) said, ‘Do not continue your parties. [The enemy] has destroyed you, you people that live in Sidon. Get up! Cross over to Cyprus. Even there you will not find rest for yourself.

v13 Look at the country called Babylon! Its people do not exist! Assyria’s [armies] have made it into a place for wild animals [to live]. They (the soldiers from Assyria) built piles [of earth. They climbed on them] to attack [Babylon]. They took everything from its castles [so that the castles had] nothing in them. And they ruined it (Babylon).

v14 Cry aloud, you ships in Tarshish. [Your enemy] has destroyed your strong harbour.’

Notes

In this chapter, Isaiah says what will happen to the city called Tyre. He is certain that it will happen. Therefore, he describes it as if its enemies had already destroyed it! However, some Bible students think that it may have happened already.

Verse 1 The ships that went to Tarshish were the biggest ships. They went on long journeys from Tyre. Perhaps they went as far as Tarshish in Spain. That journey is more than 2000 kilometres. Some Bible students think that Tarshish was another city, in North Africa. The poem starts with ‘cry aloud’. Isaiah does not say which city the enemy destroyed. He just says ‘it’. Isaiah expects the people to work it out for themselves! They could do that, because Tyre was a great commercial city. It had an excellent harbour. The ships stopped at Cyprus on the way home. But there they heard that there remained no home for them. (Perhaps it means that there was no harbour any more.) Cyprus is an island that is west from Tyre.

Verse 2 Tyre city was actually an island near the coast of Phoenicia. Some translations have ‘be silent’ instead of ‘weep’. The old *Greek Bible has ‘Phoenicia’ instead of ‘Sidon’. Sidon was another port in Phoenicia. It was 40 kilometres north from Tyre. All the merchants had become rich, because they had traded all round the Mediterranean Sea in their ships. But then they cried aloud, or they were silent. That was because they could not trade any more. King Esarhaddon of Assyria destroyed Sidon. And he started to rule over Tyre in 677 B.C. ‘B.C.’ means ‘years Before Christ came to the Earth’.

Verse 3 ‘Sihor’ is another name for the Nile river in Egypt. The *Hebrew word for ‘market’ means ‘a place where traders gain money’.

Verse 4 Isaiah imagines that the sea is speaking. The sea is a special description that means Tyre and Sidon. Those towns were by the sea and they were strong for that reason. But now their ‘children’ are dead. Now they feel as if they never had ‘children’. The ‘children’ are a word picture for the inhabitants of the two cities. Isaiah compares the cities to a woman that has never had a baby.

Verse 5 The sea is still speaking in this verse. Some Bible students think that we should translate the end of the verse to mean this. ‘The people in Egypt will have as much pain as the people in Tyre have.’

Verse 6 In the past, people went to Tarshish to sell things. Now they are going as refugees! A ‘refugee’ means someone that is going away from the danger in his or her own country. Tyre was an island, but some people translate the word ‘island’ as ‘coast’. It would then mean all the coast from Tyre up to Sidon. The people were weeping because an enemy destroyed their cities (verses 1-3). It was also because an enemy killed many people there (verses 4-5).

Verse 7 The people from Tyre and Sidon are going to a distant country. They are *refugees. They must leave the city where they had many happy parties. Or, the verse may mean that in the past, traders from Tyre used to travel to distant countries.

Verse 8 Now someone asks a question. We do not know whether the speaker is Isaiah. Or it may be the sea, as in verse 4. Or it may mean people that see the terrible events in Tyre. We do not know. But someone asks who is doing this to Tyre. They ask it because Tyre is important. The leaders of Tyre give crowns to people. So then those people become kings. Tyre’s own merchants seem like princes. Its traders are famous in all the world. So nobody would want to be the enemy of people in such an important place.

Verse 9 The answer to the question above is ‘the *LORD of Everything’! He did not want the people in Tyre to think that they were more important than God!

Verse 10 Bible students do not agree about how to translate this verse. They do not know the true meaning of some *Hebrew words here. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language. Our translation means that the people in Tarshish are now free to travel. They can travel through their own country now. Because the people from Tyre will not stop them. Another possible translation is this. ‘Dig on your land, because the ships from Tarshish do not have a harbour now.’ It means that people must become farmers now. They cannot be traders any more. Those people may be from Tyre. Or they may be from Tarshish.

Verse 11 The *Hebrew text here has the word ‘Canaan’ instead of ‘Phoenicia’. But most Bible students say that it refers to ‘Phoenicia’. Phoenicia was by the sea and it was a part of Canaan. The kingdoms (places that a king rules) were probably Tyre and Sidon. Each city probably had its own king. We do not know who the armies were. Perhaps they were the angels (God’s servants from heaven). Or maybe they were human soldiers from an enemy of Phoenicia.

Verse 12 The *Hebrew text has ‘Virgin Daughter of Sidon’. That is Isaiah’s special way to describe all the people that live in Sidon. ‘Virgin’ means a woman that has never had sex. But it does not mean that all those people are women or virgins!

Verse 13 The people in Tyre think that bad things cannot happen to them. But Isaiah tells them to remember what happened to Babylon. The army from Assyria ruined it. King Sennacherib of Assyria did not take Tyre itself into his possession. But he ruined all Phoenicia, the country round Tyre, in 701 *B.C. Tyre’s people did not regain their own rule until 630 *B.C., as we read in verses 15-18.

Verse 14 In this verse, the writer repeats some things from verse 1.

v15 At that time [people will] forget Tyre for 70 years. That is how long a time one king lives. After 70 years, something will happen to Tyre. It is like the song about the *prostitute.

v16 ‘*Prostitute whom [people] have forgotten, [do this].

Walk about the city with your harp (musical instrument with strings).

Play it well. Sing many songs.

Then [people] will remember you again.’

v17 After 70 years, the *LORD will be kind to Tyre. It will ‘hire itself out as a *prostitute’ again! Its [merchants] will trade with all the world’s kingdoms (countries that a king rules) that are on the Earth.

v18 [And then this will happen.] All the money that [Tyre’s merchants] earn will go to the *LORD. And all the profit [will go to him]. [Tyre’s people] will not hide it, nor will they store it. Rather, the profit [will go] to the people that live near the *LORD. [They will have] plenty of food and good clothes.

Notes

These verses end the section about foreign countries and cities (Chapter s 13 to 23). We do not know whether people in the foreign countries heard Isaiah’s words. But his own people, the *Jews, probably did. It is to the *Jews that Isaiah gives comfort in verse 18.

Verses 15-16 A ‘prostitute’ means a woman that has sex with men for money. Isaiah repeats words from a song. The song was popular at the time when he was alive. There are two important things to notice here:

• At that time, it was a bad thing if people forgot someone.

• Isaiah does not say that Tyre is a *prostitute. He says that Tyre, like a *prostitute, makes money.

Verse 17 ‘Hire itself out as a *prostitute again’ is a special description. It means that Tyre will start to trade again. That happened about 630 *B.C. A kingdom is a country that has a king (or a queen) to rule it.

Verse 18 This is good news for the *Jews! The ‘people that live near the *LORD’ probably live in Jerusalem. Perhaps they are the priests that serve God in his *temple there. The last 4 verses show this to us. When God does something, then his people will benefit.

Something to do

1. If you can, find a suitable map. Then look there for all the places in Isaiah Chapter s 13 to 23. If possible, try to find their modern names.

2. ‘Pray that there will be peace in Jerusalem’ (Psalms 122:6). But pray also that there will be peace in all the countries near Jerusalem.

heavens ~ either the home of God or the skies.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
lord ~ master. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YAHWEH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YAHWEH.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
Greek ~ the language that people spoke in Greece.
refugee ~ someone who has had to run away from his or her own country.
prostitute ~ a woman whom men pay in order to have sex. But in Isaiah chapter 23, it is a special description of a city that made money by trade.
prostitute ~ a woman whom men pay in order to have sex. But in Isaiah chapter 23, it is a special description of a city that made money by trade.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
temple ~ the house of God in Jerusalem; or the house of a false god.