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23. Prophecy About Tyre

1 A prophecy against Tyre:

   Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
   For Tyre is destroyed
   and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
   word has come to them.

    2 Be silent, you people of the island
   and you merchants of Sidon,
   whom the seafarers have enriched.

3 On the great waters
   came the grain of the Shihor;
the harvest of the Nile Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile, was the revenue of Tyre,
   and she became the marketplace of the nations.

    4 Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea,
   for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;
   I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

5 When word comes to Egypt,
   they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.

    6 Cross over to Tarshish;
   wail, you people of the island.

7 Is this your city of revelry,
   the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
   to settle in far-off lands?

8 Who planned this against Tyre,
   the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants are princes,
   whose traders are renowned in the earth?

9 The LORD Almighty planned it,
   to bring down her pride in all her splendor
   and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.

    10 Till Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through your land as they do along the Nile,
   Daughter Tarshish,
   for you no longer have a harbor.

11 The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea
   and made its kingdoms tremble.
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
   that her fortresses be destroyed.

12 He said, “No more of your reveling,
   Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed!

   “Up, cross over to Cyprus;
   even there you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of the Babylonians, Or Chaldeans
   this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians have made it
   a place for desert creatures;
they raised up their siege towers,
   they stripped its fortresses bare
   and turned it into a ruin.

    14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish;
   your fortress is destroyed!

    15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

    16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
   you forgotten prostitute;
play the harp well, sing many a song,
   so that you will be remembered.”

    17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothes.


12. And he said, Thou shalt not add any more to rejoice. 112112     “And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice.” Eng. Ver.
    FT370Sous des tentes de peaux;” — “Under tents of skins.”

    FT371 “They raised up the palaces thereof.” — Eng. Ver. “Erected her palaces.” — Stock. Professor Alexander renders it, “They have roused up her palaces;” but says, “According to the usual interpretation, the towers mentioned are those used in ancient sieges; the masculine suffix refers to עם, (gnām;) the feminine suffix to Tyre; and עורר (gnōrēr) may be taken either in the sense of raising, (from ערר, gnārăr,) or in that of rousing, (from עור, gnūr,) that is, filling with confusion and alarm.”

    FT372 “That is, of one kingdom. See Daniel 7:17 8:20. Nebuchadnezzar began his conquests in the first year of his reign: from thence to the taking of Babylon by Cyrus are seventy years; at which time the nations conquered by Nebuchadnezzar were to be restored to liberty.” — Lowth

    FT373Que le poete Horace s’est moqué d’une putain nommee Lydia pour la mesme occasion;” — “That the Poet Horace mocked at a prostitute named Lydia for the same reason.”

    FT374 “Tyre, after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, recovered, as is here foretold, its ancient trade, wealth, and grandeur; as it did likewise after a second destruction by Alexander. It became Christian early with the rest of the neighboring countries. St. Paul himself found many Christians there. (Acts 21:4.) It suffered much in the Diocletian persecution. It was an archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerusalem, with fourteen bishoprics under its jurisdiction. It continued Christian till it was taken by the Saracens in 639; was recovered by the Christians in 1124; but in 1280 was conquered by the Mamalukes, and afterwards taken from them by the Turks in 1516. Since that time it has sunk into utter decay, is now a bare rock, ‘a place to spread nets upon,’ as the Prophet Ezekiel foretold it should be. (Ezekiel 26:14.) See Sandy’s Travels; Vitringa on the place; Bishop Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert. xi.” — Lowth

    FT375 “The revenues of Tyre shall be employed in supporting the worshippers of the true God. The prophecy intimates that Tyre should be converted to the religion of Christ as it was in the earliest times of the gospel. Of the same event David also had prophesied in Psalm 45:12; 72:10; 87:4.” — Stock

    FT376Afin qu’ils mangent leur saoul;” — “That they may eat their fill.”

    FT377Tout ce que nous employons pour la necessité de nos freres;” — “All that we spend for relieving the want of our brethren.”
All this belongs to one and the same object; for, since a plain description would not have had sufficient weight, the Prophet confirms his prediction by many words. It was incredible that a city so celebrated and powerful, so well defended and fortified, and associated with many allies and confederates, should be destroyed and overturned. When he says, Thou shalt not add, he does not intend to shut out the hope of restoration which he will give soon afterwards; for this threatening ought to be limited to the time of the ruin of Tyre, “Thou shalt not live wantonly, as formerly thou wert wont to do.”

O virgin. Metaphorically he calls her a virgin, because, previous to that time, the riches of Tyre were untouched, and had suffered no injury. This is not praise of chastity, but a witty manner of saying that the treasures which had been laid up in faithful custody will be violated. “Formerly thou didst skip lightly, like heifers in the bloom of youth; but when thou hast suffered violence, there will be an end of thy mirth;” just as if one should say, that the city of Venice has not lost her virginity because it has not been taken by force since it was built.

Daughter of Sidon. He continues to speak of Tyre, but gives it this name, because it was built by the Sidonians, though the daughter excelled the mother, as frequently happens in human affairs. The convenience and situation of the place gave a superiority to the inhabitants of Tyre, and Sidon became but an appendage. From the book of Kings it is evident enough (1 Kings 5:1) that the monarchy of Tyre had a high reputation, but here the Prophet looked at its origin.

Pass over to Chittim. When he bids them pass over to Chittim, he banishes them not only into Cilicia, but into countries still more distant; for under this name he includes Greece, Italy, and other countries; as if he had said, “When thou shalt change thy residence on account of banishment, thou shalt have no settled habitation in neighboring countries; but thou must wander through the whole world, shalt be dragged into unknown countries, and even there thou shalt find no rest.” Lastly, he means that the ruin will be so lamentable, that they will not have among neighbors, and, after crossing the sea, they will not have among foreigners, a place of rest.


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