Tyre's Fall and Future Restoration
Isaiah 23:1-18
Isa.23.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- משא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הילילו: VERB,piel,imp,2,m,pl
- אניות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תרשיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- שדד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מבוא: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כתים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- נגלה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- למו: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Ezek.26:17-18 (allusion): Ezekiel pronounces the fall of Tyre and depicts the ships of Tarshish mourning her destruction, closely paralleling Isaiah’s call for the ships of Tarshish to lament.
- Ezek.27:25 (verbal): Ezekiel’s lament over Tyre explicitly mentions the ships of Tarshish as her trading partners, echoing Isaiah’s maritime imagery and the specific reference to Tarshish vessels.
- Ezek.28:21-23 (thematic): Another oracle against Tyre in Ezekiel that forecasts devastation and loss of commerce—themes of ruin and maritime impact that mirror Isaiah 23’s announcement of Tyre’s desolation.
- Rev.18:17-19 (thematic): Revelation’s depiction of the fall of a great commercial city and the mourning of shipmasters and merchants recalls Isaiah’s motif of ships (Tarshish) lamenting the loss of a trading center.
Alternative generated candidates
- An oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is plundered— from the house of her merchandise; from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
- An oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For she has been plundered— the house of commerce laid bare; from the land of the Kittim her wealth is revealed.
Isa.23.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- דמו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss3ms
- ישבי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- אי: PRON,interrog
- סחר: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- צידון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ים: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- מלאוך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 27:3 (verbal): Both passages address Tyre/Sidon as merchants of the coast/isles who trade over the sea; Ezekiel explicitly calls the city a 'merchant of the peoples'—a close verbal and situational parallel.
- Ezekiel 27:32 (thematic): Ezekiel depicts the merchants' lament over Tyre when its trade ends—parallel theme of maritime merchants mourning the collapse of a trading city found in Isaiah 23:2.
- Ezekiel 26:3 (thematic): Ezekiel's oracle against Tyre uses sea and naval imagery and pronounces judgment on the island-port and its seafaring commerce, corresponding to Isaiah's condemnation of sea‑traders.
- Revelation 18:11-19 (allusion): The merchants' lament over fallen Babylon in Revelation (weeping because 'no man buys their merchandise') echoes the motif of international merchants mourning the destruction of a major trading hub as in Isaiah 23:2.
- 1 Kings 10:22 (thematic): Solomon's use of 'ships of Tarshish' and long‑distance maritime commerce illustrates the same Mediterranean trade network and merchant activity invoked by Isaiah's reference to Sidon and sea‑traders.
Alternative generated candidates
- Be still, island-dwellers; merchants of Sidon who ply the sea, pass over to Tarshish.
- Pass over, you inhabitants of the coastlands— merchants of Sidon, cross the sea, O men of trade.
Isa.23.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובמים: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רבים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- זרע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שחר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קציר: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- יאור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תבואתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,fs
- ותהי: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- סחר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גוים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Ezek.27:3-8 (thematic): Ezekiel 27 is a sustained lament for Tyre that emphasizes its maritime commerce — ships, many waters, and merchants supplying nations — paralleling Isaiah's image of revenue coming 'by many waters' and Tyre as a trading center.
- Isa.23:6-8 (structural): Immediate context in Isaiah 23 expands the same theme: silence of the island city, merchants of Sidon crossing the sea, and the dependence of the city on international trade, directly continuing the idea of commerce 'by many waters.'
- Ezek.26:15-18 (allusion): Ezekiel 26 prophesies Tyre's destruction and notes the lament of shipowners and merchants; it alludes to the same maritime prosperity (and its reversal) that Isaiah 23:3 attributes to Tyre's trade 'with many waters.'
- Rev.18:11-13 (thematic): Revelation 18 depicts merchants mourning the fall of a great trading city (Babylon), listing luxury goods and the economic fallout — a later, typological parallel to Isaiah's portrayal of a prosperous, sea‑borne trade network whose fate affects the nations.
Alternative generated candidates
- On many waters was your commerce— the harvest of the Nile, the harvest of the River— your produce; you were the market of nations.
- Through many waters is the seed of Sihor; the harvest of the Nile is her revenue, and she has been a trader among the nations.
Isa.23.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בושי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- צידון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ים: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- מעוז: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- לא: PART_NEG
- חלתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,common,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- ילדתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- גדלתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,na,sg
- בחורים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רוממתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,common,sg
- בתולות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Ezekiel 27:3-5 (thematic): An extended lament for Tyre that personifies the city and its maritime character; like Isa. 23:4, Ezekiel treats the sea/port-city as central to identity and mourns the loss of its seafaring fecundity and prosperity.
- Ezekiel 27:8 (verbal): Mentions Sidon and the close maritime ties of Phoenician cities; parallels Isaiah's direct address to Sidon and the focus on sea-borne alliances and livelihoods.
- Revelation 18:11-19 (thematic): A New Testament lament over the fall of a great commercial port (Babylon), with merchants and shipmasters mourning the loss of maritime trade—echoes Isaiah's motif of the sea and commerce personified and mourning a city's downfall.
- Psalm 107:23-30 (thematic): Psalmic depiction of sailors beset by the sea and delivered or cast down; shares the biblical tradition of personifying the sea and linking human fate to maritime forces, resonating with Isa. 23:4's sea-speech and maritime imagery.
Alternative generated candidates
- Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the strength of the sea, saying: 'I have neither labored nor brought forth; I have neither reared sons nor raised up virgins.'
- Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken: 'The stronghold of the sea has said, I was not in travail, I did not give birth, I did not rear sons; I exalted maidens.'
Isa.23.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כאשר: CONJ
- שמע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- למצרים: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,pl
- יחילו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כשמע: CONJ
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 19:3 (thematic): Both passages portray the Egyptians struck with panic and loss of spirit in the face of divine action—Isaiah 19:3 says the spirit of the Egyptians will fail, resonating with ‘Egypt will be dismayed’ on hearing the news.
- Jeremiah 46:24–26 (thematic): Jeremiah’s oracle against Egypt likewise describes widespread terror and collapse when the report of judgment arrives; hearts melt and there is public consternation similar to Isaiah 23:5.
- Ezekiel 30:10–13 (verbal): Ezekiel’s prophecies about Egypt use similar language of upheaval and distress when judgment comes—reports of invasion cause fear and the land’s collapse, paralleling the reaction in Isaiah 23:5.
- Isaiah 21:3–4 (structural): Isaiah elsewhere employs the motif of an emotional, bodily reaction to news—‘my heart panted, horror seized me’—a structural parallel to the sudden dread described in 23:5 when news reaches Egypt.
- Nahum 1:5 (thematic): Nahum depicts cosmic and national trembling at the advent of divine judgment (‘mountains quake, the earth reels’), a thematic parallel to the panic and collapse evoked when Egypt hears the report in Isaiah 23:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- As when Egypt heard the report she was terrified; when Tyre hears the same report she will be afraid.
- When Egypt hears, they tremble; when Tyre hears, she is seized with terror.
Isa.23.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עברו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- תרשישה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הילילו: VERB,piel,imp,2,m,pl
- ישבי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- אי: PRON,interrog
Parallels
- Ezek.27:32 (thematic): Like Isaiah 23:6, Ezekiel summons merchants and coastal peoples to lament Tyre’s fall; both portray mourning among sea-trading cities and their inhabitants.
- Ezek.26:17 (thematic): Ezekiel’s prophecy of Tyre emphasizes devastation and the mourning of island/coastal communities—parallel theme of maritime nations lamenting a port city's destruction.
- Jonah 1:3 (verbal): Mentions Tarshish as a maritime destination; provides a verbal/geographical link to the Tarshish named in Isaiah 23:6 (Tarshish as a distant seafaring haven).
- Isa.23:1 (structural): Immediate structural/contextual parallel within the same oracle against Tyre: the opening verses frame the same address to coastal/island communities and set up the lament called for in 23:6.
Alternative generated candidates
- Pass over to Tarshish—wail, inhabitants of the isle.
- Pass over to Tarshish— wail, O inhabitants of the islands.
Isa.23.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- עליזה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- מימי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- קדם: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- קדמתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3fs
- יבלוה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl,+3fsobj
- רגליה: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- מרחוק: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לגור: VERB,qal,inf
Parallels
- Isa.23:6 (structural): Immediate context: the preceding verse frames Tyre as a once‑joyous city 'from ancient days,' directly paralleling v.7’s recollection of her former gladness and distant habitation.
- Ezek.27:3-5 (thematic): Ezekiel’s lament depicts Tyre as a wealthy maritime city 'in the midst of the seas' whose prosperity and habitation are bound up with seafaring — echoing Isaiah’s image of Tyre’s ancient rejoicing and far‑traveling feet (merchants).
- Ezek.27:12 (verbal): Lists distant trading partners (Tarshish, etc.) and the far‑reaching commerce of Tyre; parallels Isaiah’s language of feet going far to dwell — a metaphor for merchants and international trade.
- Ezek.28:5-6 (thematic): Speaks of Tyre’s former security and eventual desolation: recalls her former eminence ('inhabited in the heart of the sea') and thus complements Isaiah’s memory of Tyre’s ancient prosperity before judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- Is this your rejoicing city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her feet carried her far away to dwell.
- Was this one the glad one for you from ancient days? Her feet carried her far to dwell.
Isa.23.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- יעץ: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- על: PREP
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- המעטירה: ADJ,piel,ptc,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- סחריה: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- שרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כנעניה: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- נכבדי: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezek.27:3-8 (verbal): Ezekiel's extended lament for Tyre emphasizes the city's maritime height and extensive mercantile network—language about Tyre as a high/eyrie city and its merchants trading with many peoples closely echoes Isaiah's depiction of Tyre's exalted merchants.
- Ezek.26:1-14 (structural): Prophecy of Tyre's siege and destruction by foreign powers; like Isaiah 23 the passage frames Tyre's commercial prominence and predicts judgment against the proud trading city.
- Ezek.28:11-19 (thematic): Oracle against the king of Tyre links royal pride, wealth, and downfall—parallels Isaiah's focus on Tyre's elite merchants ('princes') and the city's impending humiliation.
- Rev.18:11-19 (thematic): The fall of a great trading city (Babylon) in Revelation centers on merchants ('the merchants of the earth') who mourn the loss of profitable trade—a New Testament echo of the motif in Isaiah 23 of a proud commercial city whose merchants are exalted then brought low.
Alternative generated candidates
- Who planned this against Tyre, the crowning city, whose traders were princes, whose merchants were the honored of the earth?
- Who devised this against Tyre, the crowning one, whose traders were princes, whose merchants were the honored of the earth?
Isa.23.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יעצה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לחלל: INF,qal
- גאון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- צבי: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- להקל: INF,qal
- כל: DET
- נכבדי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 13:11 (verbal): Speaks of Yahweh cutting down the arrogance/pride of the proud; parallels the theme and language of divine action to abase human glory.
- Isaiah 2:11-12 (thematic): Announces the humbling of the lofty and the proud before the LORD of hosts—same universal motif of God bringing low human exaltation.
- Obadiah 1:3-4 (thematic): Condemns the pride of a nation (Edom) and predicts its humiliation—parallels Isaiah's focus on national pride and divine punishment.
- Ezekiel 26:2-6 (structural): Prophecy against Tyre promising that the city's pride and glory will be brought low; closely parallels Isaiah 23's oracle against a prominent maritime city.
- Psalm 75:6-7 (thematic): Affirms that elevation and abasement come from God alone—echoes Isaiah's note that the LORD of hosts has purposed to abase the proud and honored of the earth.
Alternative generated candidates
- The LORD of hosts devised it, to profane the pride of all splendor and to abase all the esteemed of the earth.
- The LORD of hosts has purposed to dishonor the pride of every splendor and to abase all the honored of the earth.
Isa.23.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עברי: ADJ,m,sg
- ארצך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כיאר: CONJ
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- תרשיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אין: PART,neg
- מזח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עוד: ADV
Parallels
- Ezek.27:12 (verbal): Mentions Tarshish as a principal merchant with Tyre — echoes Isaiah’s focus on Tarshish/Tyre trade relations and the economic connection that Isaiah says will cease.
- Jonah 1:3 (allusion): Uses Tarshish as a distant western maritime destination; complements Isaiah’s address to the ‘daughter of Tarshish’ and the image of seafaring exile/flight.
- 1 Kings 10:22 (thematic): Describes the ‘ships of Tarshish’ bringing wealth to Israel’s king — highlights Tarshish’s former maritime prosperity, which Isaiah 23 condemns as ended (‘no harbor’).
- Ezek.26:3-14 (structural): Prophecy against Tyre forecasting siege and destruction by many seafaring nations; parallels Isaiah’s lament over Tyre/Tarshish and the announcement of an end to its harbors and commerce.
Alternative generated candidates
- Pass over your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no more haven.
- Cross over your land like a river, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
Isa.23.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ידו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- נטה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- הרגיז: VERB,hif,perf,3,m,sg
- ממלכות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- צוה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לשמד: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- מעזניה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezek.26:12-14 (thematic): Both passages prophesy the overthrow of a maritime city (Tyre) by hostile powers and describe God as directing or allowing nations over the sea to bring about the city's ruin and the fall of its fortresses.
- Nah.1:4-6 (thematic): Nahum depicts Yahweh rebuking and subduing the sea and making nations tremble—echoing the image of God’s hand over the sea and his control of kingdoms that bring judgment.
- Ps.74:13-14 (thematic): Psalmic imagery of God dividing the sea and crushing sea-monsters (symbols of chaotic powers) parallels the motif of Yahweh’s sovereign action over the sea and hostile powers to overthrow enemies.
- Josh.6:2 (allusion): God’s command to Joshua to give Jericho into Israel’s hand and to destroy its strongholds parallels the line that Yahweh ‘commanded Canaan to destroy her strongholds’—both describe divine commissioning to remove fortified opposition in the land.
Alternative generated candidates
- His hand reached out over the sea and troubled kingdoms; the LORD has commanded— to shatter the strongholds of the land of Canaan.
- His hand is stretched out over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms. The LORD has commanded concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds.
Isa.23.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תוסיפי: VERB,qal,impv,2,f,sg
- עוד: ADV
- לעלוז: VERB,qal,inf
- המעשקה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- בתולת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- בת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- צידון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כתים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- קומי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- עברי: ADJ,m,sg
- גם: ADV
- שם: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- ינוח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Ezek.26:1-14 (thematic): Prophecy against Tyre describing its coming destruction, loss of maritime commerce and rejoicing — parallels Isaiah 23’s announcement that the coastal city (daughter of Sidon/Tyre) will no longer rejoice or find rest.
- Ezek.27:1-36 (structural): A formal lamentation for Tyre that catalogs its traders, ships and wealth and mourns its fall — structurally parallel to Isaiah 23’s lament over a mercantile coastal city and the end of its prosperity.
- Ezek.28:21-23 (allusion): Oracle addressed to Sidon (and by extension Tyre) announcing judgment and alarm among the coastlands — connects with Isaiah’s address to the ‘daughter of Sidon’ and the theme of displacement and unrest.
- Amos 1:9-10 (thematic): Prophetic pronouncement of punishment on Tyre for its transgressions (loss of security and trade) — echoes Isaiah’s theme that the Phoenician city will be stripped of its rejoicing and rest.
- Jer.25:22 (allusion): Lists Tyre and Sidon among the nations subject to Babylon’s judgment and exile — relates to Isaiah’s command that the coastal peoples move (to Kittim/Cyprus) and yet find no rest.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said: 'You shall no more rejoice, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, go over to Chittim— even there you will find no rest.'
- And he said, 'You shall no longer rejoice, O harlot, O daughter of Sidon; rise up— cross over to Kittim; even there you shall have no rest.'
Isa.23.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הן: PART
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כשדים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אשור: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- יסדה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg+PRON,3,f,sg
- לציים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- הקימו: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,pl
- בחוניו: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- עררו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ארמנותיה: NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- שמה: ADV
- למפלה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ezek.26:14 (thematic): Both predict Tyre's grandeur—towers and palaces—will end in desolation; similar language of making a celebrated coastal city a ruin.
- Ezek.27:3-6 (thematic): Like Isaiah 23, Ezekiel 27 portrays Tyre as a maritime, palace‑filled entrepôt whose towers, ships and commercial wealth are prominent and thus targeted for judgment.
- Isa.13:19-22 (verbal): Uses the phrase 'land of the Chaldeans' and the motif of a great city becoming uninhabited/waste, echoing Isaiah 23's linking of Chaldeans/foreign powers and urban desolation.
- Hab.1:6-11 (allusion): Describes the rise of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) as a swift foreign force used in judgment—parallels Isaiah 23's reference to the Chaldean/Assyrian role in establishing and bringing low cities.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this people was not; Assyria founded a place for laborers; they set up their siege-works, raised their towers, and their palaces became a ruin.
- Behold, the land of the Chaldeans— this people had not been; Assyria set them up as trading posts, they raised their towers and stirred up their palaces there— to ruin.
Isa.23.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הילילו: VERB,piel,imp,2,m,pl
- אניות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תרשיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- שדד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מעזכן: NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss:2,f,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 23:1 (verbal): The same cry appears at the opening of the oracle against Tyre — a direct repetition/parallel: “Wail (or Howl), O ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold is laid waste.”
- Ezekiel 27:25 (thematic): Ezekiel's long lament for Tyre treats the same subject (the ruin of Tyre and its maritime partners, including Tarshish); both texts link Tyre’s destruction with the mourning of foreign ships and traders.
- Jonah 1:3 (allusion): Mentions a ship 'going to Tarshish' — evokes the well‑known trade routes and the identity of 'ships of Tarshish' invoked in Isaiah; contrasts flight to Tarshish with the later lament of those ships.
- Revelation 18:17–19 (thematic): The fall of a great trading city (Babylon) provokes the mourning of shipmasters and merchants — a New Testament echo of the motif of maritime lament over a destroyed commercial power like Tyre.
- 1 Kings 10:22 (verbal): Describes Solomon’s 'ships of Tarshish' (a royal maritime fleet) — underscores the biblical association of Tarshish with large merchant ships and international trade, the very vessels called to 'wail' in Isaiah.
Alternative generated candidates
- Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your fortress has been plundered.
- Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For your stronghold is plundered.
Isa.23.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- ונשכחת: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs+sim
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- אחד: NUM,card,m,sg
- מקץ: PREP
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לצר: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כשירת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,cs
- הזונה: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Jeremiah 25:11-12 (verbal): Explicitly states a seventy‑year period of desolation/exile for Babylon and the nations—same 70‑year motif and language echoed in Isaiah's prediction for Tyre.
- Jeremiah 29:10 (quotation): Reiterates that after seventy years the Lord will visit His people and fulfill restoration—parallels Isaiah's timing formula 'at the end of seventy years'.
- Daniel 9:2 (allusion): Daniel links the seventy‑year term to Jeremiah's prophecy; shows the 70‑year period as a recognized prophetic framework, which Isaiah 23:15 applies to Tyre.
- Ezekiel 26:3-14 (allusion): Ezekiel pronounces the destruction and long desolation of Tyre by many nations—themewise parallel to Isaiah's forecast of Tyre's being 'forgotten' and laid low.
- Ezekiel 28:18-19 (thematic): Describes the city/king of Tyre's ruin and loss of merchandise; thematically parallels Isaiah's juxtaposition of Tyre's humiliation, later return to commerce, and moral decline.
Alternative generated candidates
- And it shall be in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of a king; at the end of seventy years she shall sing again as a harlot.
- And it shall come to pass on that day that Tyre shall be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of a king; at the end of seventy years Tyre will again sing as a harlot.
Isa.23.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- קחי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- כנור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- סבי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- עיר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- זונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- נשכחה: VERB,nif,perf,3,f,sg
- היטיבי: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- נגן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הרבי: VERB,hif,imp,2,f,sg
- שיר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למען: PREP
- תזכרי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
Parallels
- Ezekiel 26:17-18 (thematic): Ezekiel's oracle against Tyre depicts the city's destruction and its becoming a desolate, forgotten place—paralleling Isaiah's address to the 'harlot' city and the theme of loss of former renown that prompts the call to sing/remember.
- Ezekiel 27:32-36 (structural): The lament for Tyre in Ezekiel 27 functions as an extended funeral-song for a great maritime city; like Isaiah 23:16 it frames Tyre in musical/lament language (calls for mourning songs) and centers on memory and loss.
- Nahum 3:4-5 (thematic): Nahum depicts Nineveh as a harlot-city exposed and condemned for her fornications; the use of prostitute imagery for a sinful, doomed city parallels Isaiah's 'harlot' address and the motif of public shaming and downfall.
- Psalm 137:3-6 (verbal): Psalm 137 links singing and remembrance—'Sing us one of the songs of Zion' and 'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem...'—echoing Isaiah's concern that song both expresses loss and preserves memory of a city.
- Revelation 18:9-19 (allusion): Revelation's lament over fallen Babylon (merchants and kings wailing, songs of mourning) recycles the biblical motif of a wealthy, prostituted city judged and publicly mourned—an apocalyptic echo of Isaiah's call to sing and be remembered.
Alternative generated candidates
- Take up a harp, go about the forgotten city; skilfully play, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.
- Take up the harp, go about the city, O forgotten harlot; strike the strings well, play many songs, that you may be remembered.
Isa.23.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- מקץ: PREP
- שבעים: NUM,card,m,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יפקד: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- צר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- לאתננה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וזנתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- ממלכות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- האדמה: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Jer.29:10 (verbal): Uses the same 'after seventy years I will visit' formula—both speak of a divine visitation/return after a seventy‑year period.
- Ezek.23:37-39 (thematic): Portrays cities (Oholah and Oholibah) as prostitutes who 'play the harlot' with foreign kings—parallel imagery of a city committing whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Ezek.27:31-36 (structural): Lament over Tyre's merchants, trade and downfall; connects to Isaiah's focus on Tyre's commerce and its relations with the nations (hire/merchandise).
- Rev.18:3 (allusion): Describes a great commercial city 'committing fornication' with the kings of the earth and the mourning of merchants—an apocalyptic echo of the motif of a merchant city prostituting itself to nations.
Alternative generated candidates
- And at the end of seventy years the LORD will visit Tyre; she will return to her wages and play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the land.
- And at the end of seventy years the LORD will visit Tyre; she will return to her hire and prostitute herself to all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the whole land.
Isa.23.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- סחרה: NOUN,m,sg,suff3f
- ואתננה: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,?,sg
- קדש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- יאצר: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- יחסן: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- לישבים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- סחרה: NOUN,m,sg,suff3f
- לאכל: INF,qal
- לשבעה: PREP+NUM,m,sg
- ולמכסה: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עתיק: ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Zechariah 14:20-21 (verbal): Declares objects inscribed 'HOLY TO THE LORD' and says temple utensils will be sacred—parallels Isaiah's statement that Tyre's merchandise/wages shall be holy to the LORD and used in the Lord's presence.
- Leviticus 27:30 (verbal): Tithe and consecrated portions 'are holy to the LORD'—echoes the language and idea of dedicating produce/commerce to God rather than for private hoarding.
- Numbers 18:8-12 (thematic): Prescribes that the best of offerings and parts of produce are given to priests for their sustenance—parallels Isaiah's point that Tyre's trade will be for those who 'sit before the LORD' to eat and be satisfied.
- Ezekiel 44:30-31 (thematic): Assigns portions of sacrifices and offerings for the priests' food and service, emphasizing sacred goods reserved for God's ministers—closely parallels Isaiah's allocation of merchandise to those serving before the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 31:11-12 (structural): Describes Hezekiah's collection and distribution of offerings/portions to priests and Levites so they might eat and be supplied—an historical analogue to Isaiah's prediction that Tyre's commerce will feed and clothe those before the LORD.
Alternative generated candidates
- Her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to the LORD; they shall not be stored up nor hoarded, for her merchandise shall be for those who dwell before the LORD—to eat to satiety and for a lasting provision.
- And her merchandise and her hire shall be consecrated to the LORD; they shall not be stored up or kept in reserve, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD— to eat to satiety and to be clothed in fine garments.
An oracle concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For Tyre has been plundered; from the harbor, from the land of the Chittim, her overthrow has been made known.
Be ashamed, O island-dwellers—merchant of Sidon; cross the sea to Kittim.
By many waters was her gain; the harvest of the Nile was her revenue, and she became the marketplace of the nations.
Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea—the fortress of the sea—has declared: I have not labored; I have not borne; I have not reared sons; I have exalted maidens.
When Egypt hears, they tremble; when Tyre hears, she is terrified.
Pass over to Tarshish; wail, inhabitants of the coast.
Is this your rejoicing—she who dwelt at ease from days of old, whose foundations were ancient, whose feet had gone far to make her home?
Who planned this against Tyre, the famed one—whose traders were princes, whose merchants were the honored of the earth?
The LORD of hosts has purposed it to profane the pride of all glory and to abase all the honored of the earth.
Pass over your land, O inhabitants of the isle; daughter of Tarshish, there is no more harbor.
His hand stretched out over the sea; he shook kingdoms. The LORD has commanded against Canaan to destroy its strongholds. And he said: You shall no more rejoice, O maid of the harlot, daughter of Sidon; arise, pass over to Kittim—there too you shall find no rest.
Behold, this is the land of the Chaldeans—this people that was not; Assyria founded it for the sea, set up its embankments and left its palaces a ruin.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish; for your stronghold has been plundered. And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king; at the end of seventy years she will be as the song of a harlot.
Take up a harp, go about the city, O forgotten harlot; make sweet music, sing many songs so that you may be remembered. And at the end of seventy years the LORD will visit Tyre; she will return to her hire and prostitute herself to all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the land. And her gain and her hire shall be holy to the LORD; it shall not be stored up nor hoarded, for her profits shall belong to those who dwell before the LORD—to eat to their fill and to wear fine clothing.