18 And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!
Kings of Tarshish and of the isles send back a present. Kings of Sheba and Seba a reward bring near.
Bring in all the tithe unto the treasure-house, And there is food in My house; When ye have tried Me, now, with this, Said Jehovah of Hosts, Do not I open to you the windows of heaven? Yea, I have emptied on you a blessing till there is no space.
not that I seek after the gift, but I seek after the fruit that is overflowing to your account; and I have all things, and abound; I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things from you -- an odour of a sweet smell -- a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God:
And let him who is instructed in the word share with him who is instructing -- in all good things.
And, now, I go on to Jerusalem, ministering to the saints; for it pleased Macedonia and Achaia well to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints who `are' in Jerusalem; for it pleased well, and their debtors they are, for if in their spiritual things the nations did participate, they ought also, in the fleshly things, to minister to them.
and having discovered Cyprus, and having left it on the left, we were sailing to Syria, and did land at Tyre, for there was the ship discharging the lading. And having found out the disciples, we tarried there seven days, and they said to Paul, through the Spirit, not to go up to Jerusalem; but when it came that we completed the days, having gone forth, we went on, all bringing us on the way, with women and children, unto the outside of the city, and having bowed the knees upon the shore, we prayed,
And Peter having risen, went with them, whom having come, they brought into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing coats and garments, as many as Dorcas was making while she was with them.
and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during tabernacles. `He who is faithful in the least, `is' also faithful in much; and he who in the least `is' unrighteous, is also unrighteous in much; if, then, in the unrighteous mammon ye became not faithful -- the true who will entrust to you? and if in the other's ye became not faithful -- your own, who shall give to you? `No domestic is able to serve two lords, for either the one he will hate, and the other he will love; or one he will hold to, and of the other he will be heedless; ye are not able to serve God and mammon.'
and he said, This I will do, I will take down my storehouses, and greater ones I will build, and I will gather together there all my products and my good things, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years, be resting, eat, drink, be merry. `And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be?
and Joanna wife of Chuza, steward of Herod, and Susanna, and many others, who were ministering to him from their substance.
for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me; naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me. `Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, and we nourished? or thirsting, and we gave to drink? and when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? or naked, and we put around? and when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee? `And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did `it' to one of these my brethren -- the least -- to me ye did `it'.
`Treasure not up to yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust disfigure, and where thieves break through and steal, but treasure up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth disfigure, and where thieves do not break through nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will be also your heart.
In that day there is on bells of the horse, `Holy to Jehovah,' And the pots in the house of Jehovah Have been as bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, Have been holy to Jehovah of Hosts, And all those sacrificing have come in, And have taken of them, and boiled in them, And there is no merchant any more in the house of Jehovah of Hosts in that day!
Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion, For thy horn I make iron, And thy hoofs I make brass, And thou hast beaten small many peoples, And I have devoted to Jehovah their gain, And their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth!
Then thou seest, and hast become bright, And thine heart hath been afraid and enlarged, For turn unto thee doth the multitude of the sea, The forces of nations do come to thee. A company of camels covereth thee, Dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, All of them from Sheba do come, Gold and frankincense they bear, And of the praises of Jehovah they proclaim the tidings. All the flock of Kedar are gathered to thee, The rams of Nebaioth do serve thee, They ascend for acceptance Mine altar, And the house of My beauty I beautify. Who `are' these -- as a thick cloud they fly, And as doves unto their windows? Surely for Me isles do wait, And ships of Tarshish first, To bring thy sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of Jehovah thy God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He hath beautified thee.
For to a man who `is' good before Him, He hath given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; and to a sinner He hath given travail, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good before God. Even this `is' vanity and vexation of spirit.
Whoso is multiplying his wealth by biting and usury, For one favouring the poor doth gather it.
Honour Jehovah from thy substance, And from the beginning of all thine increase; And filled are thy barns `with' plenty, And `with' new wine thy presses break forth.
And the daughter of Tyre with a present, The rich of the people do appease thy face.
And Huram king of Tyre saith in writing, and sendeth unto Solomon: `In the love of Jehovah to His people He hath given thee king over them.' And Huram saith, `Blessed `is' Jehovah, God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, knowing wisdom and understanding, who doth build a house for Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom. `And now, I have sent a wise man having understanding, of Huram my father, (son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre), knowing to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stones, and in wood, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and to grave any graving, and to devise any device that is given to him, with thy wise men, and the wise men of my lord David thy father. `And, now, the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his servants, and we -- we cut trees out of Lebanon, according to all thy need, and bring them in to thee -- floats by sea, to Joppa, and thou dost take them up to Jerusalem.'
`And now, send to me a wise man to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and knowing to grave gravings with the wise men who `are' with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared; and send to me cedar-trees, firs, and algums from Lebanon, for I have known that thy servants know to cut down trees of Lebanon, and lo, my servants `are' with thy servants, even to prepare for me trees in abundance, for the house that I am building `is' great and wonderful.
`When thou dost complete to tithe all the tithe of thine increase in the third year, the year of the tithe, then thou hast given to the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have eaten within thy gates, and been satisfied, and thou hast said before Jehovah thy God, I have put away the separated thing out of the house, and also have given it to the Levite, and to the sojourner, and to the orphan, and to the widow, according to all Thy command which Thou hast commanded me; I have not passed over from Thy commands, nor have I forgotten. I have not eaten in mine affliction of it, nor have I put away of it for uncleanness, nor have I given of it for the dead; I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah my God; I have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me;
but before Jehovah thy God thou dost eat it, in the place which Jehovah thy God doth fix on, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and the Levite who `is' within thy gates, and thou hast rejoiced before Jehovah thy God in every putting forth of thy hand; take heed to thee lest thou forsake the Levite all thy days on thy ground.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 23
Commentary on Isaiah 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
Isa 23:1-18. Prophecy Respecting Tyre.
Menander, the historian, notices a siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser, about the time of the siege of Samaria. Sidon, Acco, and Old Tyre, on the mainland, were soon reduced; but New Tyre, on an island half a mile from the shore, held out for five years. Sargon probably finished the siege. Sennacherib does not, however, mention it among the cities which the Assyrian kings conquered (thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh chapters). The expression, "Chaldeans" (Isa 23:13), may imply reference to its siege under Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years. Alexander the Great destroyed New Tyre after a seven months' siege.
1. Tyre—Hebrew, Tsur, that is, "Rock."
ships of Tarshish—ships of Tyre returning from their voyage to Tarshish, or Tartessus in Spain, with which the Phœnicians had much commerce (Eze 27:12-25). "Ships of Tarshish" is a phrase also used of large and distant-voyaging merchant vessels (Isa 2:16; 1Ki 10:22; Ps 48:7).
no house—namely, left; such was the case as to Old Tyre, after Nebuchadnezzar's siege.
no entering—There is no house to enter (Isa 24:10) [G. V. Smith]. Or, Tyre is so laid waste, that there is no possibility of entering the harbor [Barnes]; which is appropriate to the previous "ships."
Chittim—Cyprus, of which the cities, including Citium in the south (whence came "Chittim"), were mostly Phœnician (Eze 27:6). The ships from Tarshish on their way to Tyre learn the tidings ("it is revealed to them") of the downfall of Tyre. At a later period Chittim denoted the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean (Da 11:30).
2. Be still—"struck dumb with awe." Addressed to those already in the country, eye-witnesses of its ruin (La 2:10); or, in contrast to the busy din of commerce once heard in Tyre; now all is hushed and still.
isle—strictly applicable to New Tyre: in the sense coast, to the mainland city, Old Tyre (compare Isa 23:6; Isa 20:6).
Zidon—of which Tyre was a colony, planted when Zidon was conquered by the Philistines of Ascalon. Zidon means a "fishing station"; this was its beginning.
replenished—with wealth and an industrious population (Eze 27:3, 8, 23). Here "Zidon," as the oldest city of Phœnicia, includes all the Phœnician towns on the strip of "coast." Thus, Eth-baal, king of Tyre [Josephus, Antiquities, 8.3,2], is called king of the Sidonians (1Ki 16:31); and on coins Tyre is called the metropolis of the Sidonians.
3. great waters—the wide waters of the sea.
seed—"grain," or crop, as in 1Sa 8:15; Job 39:12.
Sihor—literally, "dark-colored"; applied to the Nile, as the Egyptian Jeor, and the Greek Melas, to express the "dark, turbid" colors given to its waters by the fertilizing soil which it deposits at its yearly overflow (Jer 2:18).
harvest of the river—the growth of the Delta; the produce due to the overflow of the Nile: Egypt was the great granary of corn in the ancient world (Ge 41:1-57; 42:1-38; 43:1-34).
her revenue—Tyrian vessels carried Egyptian produce obtained in exchange for wine, oil, glass, &c., into various lands, and so made large profits.
mart—(Eze 27:3). No city was more favorably situated for commerce.
4. Zidon—called on, as being the parent country of Tyre (Isa 23:12), and here equivalent to Phœnicia in general, to feel the shame (as it was esteemed in the East) of being now as childless as if she never had any. "I (no more now) travail, nor bring forth," &c. "Strength of the sea," that is, stronghold, namely, New Tyre, on a rock (as "Tyre" means) surrounded by the sea (Eze 26:4, 14-17; so Venice was called "Bride of the sea"; Zec 9:3).
5. As, &c.—rather, "When the report (shall reach) the people of Egypt, they shall be sorely pained at the report concerning Tyre" (namely, its overthrow). So Jerome, "When the Egyptians shall hear that so powerful a neighboring nation has been destroyed, they must know their own end is near" [Lowth, &c.].
6. Pass … over—Escape from Tyre to your colonies as Tarshish (compare Isa 23:12). The Tyrians fled to Carthage and elsewhere, both at the siege under Nebuchadnezzar and that under Alexander.
7. Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city (Isa 23:12)?
antiquity—The Tyrian priests boasted in Herodotus' time that their city had already existed 2300 years: an exaggeration, but still implying that it was ancient even then.
her own feet—walking on foot as captives to an enemy's land.
8. Who—answered in Isa 23:9, "The Lord of hosts."
crowning—crown-giving; that is, the city from which dependent kingdoms had arisen, as Tartessus in Spain, Citium in Cyprus, and Carthage in Africa (Eze 27:33).
traffickers—literally, "Canaanites," who were famed for commerce (compare Ho 12:7, Margin).
9. Whoever be the instruments in overthrowing haughty sinners, God, who has all hosts at His command, is the First Cause (Isa 10:5-7).
stain—rather, "to profane"; as in Ex 31:14, the Sabbath, and other objects of religious reverence; so here, "the pride of all glory" may refer to the Tyrian temple of Hercules, the oldest in the world, according to Arrian (Isa 2:16); the prophet of the true God would naturally single out for notice the idol of Tyre [G. V. Smith]. It may, however, be a general proposition; the destruction of Tyre will exhibit to all how God mars the luster of whatever is haughty (Isa 2:11).
10. a river—Hebrew, "the river," namely, Nile.
daughter of Tarshish—Tyre and its inhabitants (Isa 1:8), about henceforth, owing to the ruin of Tyre, to become inhabitants of its colony, Tartessus: they would pour forth from Tyre, as waters flow on when the barriers are removed [Lowth]. Rather, Tarshish, or Tartessus and its inhabitants, as the phrase usually means: they had been kept in hard bondage, working in silver and lead mines near Tarshish, by the parent city (Eze 26:17): but now "the bond of restraint" (for so "strength," Margin, "girdle," that is, bond, Ps 2:3, ought to be translated) is removed, since Tyre is no more.
11. He—Jehovah.
kingdoms—the Phœnician cities and colonies.
the merchant city—rather, Canaan, meaning the north of it, namely, Phœnicia. On their coins, they call their country Canaan.
12. he—God.
rejoice—riotously (Isa 23:7).
oppressed—"deflowered"; laying aside the figure "taken by storm"; the Arabs compare a city never taken to an undefiled virgin (compare Na 3:5, &c.).
daughter of Zidon—Tyre: or else, sons of Zidon, that is, the whole land and people of Phœnicia (see on Isa 23:2) [Maurer].
Chittim—Citium in Cyprus (Isa 23:1).
there also … no rest—Thy colonies, having been harshly treated by thee, will now repay thee in kind (see on Isa 23:10). But Vitringa refers it to the calamities which befell the Tyrians in their settlements subsequently, namely, Sicily, Corcyra, Carthage, and Spain, all flowing from the original curse of Noah against the posterity of Canaan (Ge 9:25-27).
13. Behold—Calling attention to the fact, so humiliating to Tyre, that a people of yesterday, like the Chaldees, should destroy the most ancient of cities, Tyre.
was not—had no existence as a recognized nation; the Chaldees were previously but a rude, predatory people (Job 1:17).
Assyrian founded it—The Chaldees ("them that dwell in the wilderness") lived a nomadic life in the mountains of Armenia originally (Arphaxad, in Ge 10:22, refers to such a region of Assyria near Armenia), north and east of Assyria proper. Some may have settled in Mesopotamia and Babylonia very early and given origin to the astrologers called Chaldees in later times. But most of the people had been transferred only a little before the time of this prophecy from their original seats in the north to Mesopotamia, and soon afterwards to South Babylonia. "Founded it," means "assigned it (the land) to them who had (heretofore) dwelt in the wilderness" as a permanent settlement (so in Ps 104:8) [Maurer]. It was the Assyrian policy to infuse into their own population of the plain the fresh blood of hardy mountaineers, for the sake of recruiting their armies. Ultimately the Chaldees, by their powerful priest-caste, gained the supremacy and established the later or Chaldean empire. Horsley refers it to Tyre, founded by an Assyrian race.
towers thereof—namely, of Babylon, whose towers, Herodotus says, were "set up" by the Assyrians [Barnes]. Rather, "The Chaldees set up their siege-towers" against Tyre, made for the attack of high walls, from which the besiegers hurled missiles, as depicted in the Assyrian sculptures [G. V. Smith].
raised up—rather, "They lay bare," namely, the foundations of "her (Tyre's) palaces," that is, utterly overthrew them (Ps 137:7).
14. strength—stronghold (compare Eze 26:15-18).
15. forgotten—Having lost its former renown, Tyre shall be in obscurity.
seventy years—(so Jer 25:11, 12; 29:10).
days of one king—that is, a dynasty. The Babylonian monarchy lasted properly but seventy years. From the first year of Nebuchadnezzar to the taking of Babylon, by Cyrus, was seventy years; then the subjected nations would be restored to liberty. Tyre was taken in the middle of that period, but it is classed in common with the rest, some conquered sooner and others later, all, however, alike to be delivered at the end of the period. So "king" is used for dynasty (Da 7:17; 8:20): Nebuchadnezzar, his son Evil-merodach, and his grandson, Belshazzar, formed the whole dynasty (Jer 25:11, 12; 27:7; 29:10).
shall Tyre sing as … harlot—It shall be to Tyre as the song of the harlot, namely, a harlot that has been forgotten, but who attracts notice again by her song. Large marts of commerce are often compared to harlots seeking many lovers, that is, they court merchants of all nations, and admit any one for the sake of gain (Na 3:4; Re 18:3). Covetousness is closely akin to idolatry and licentiousness, as the connection (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5) proves (compare Isa 2:6-8, 16).
16. Same figure [Isa 23:15] to express that Tyre would again prosper and attract commercial intercourse of nations to her, and be the same joyous, self-indulging city as before.
17. visit—not in wrath, but mercy.
hire—image from a harlot: her gains by commerce. After the Babylonian dynasty was ended, Tyre was rebuilt; also, again, after the destruction under Alexander.
18. merchandise … holiness—Her traffic and gains shall at last (long after the restoration mentioned in Isa 23:17) be consecrated to Jehovah. Jesus Christ visited the neighborhood of Tyre (Mt 15:21); Paul found disciples there (Ac 21:3-6); it early became a Christian bishopric, but the full evangelization of that whole race, as of the Ethiopians (Isa 18:1-7), of the Egyptians and Assyrians (Isa 19:1-25), is yet to come (Isa 60:5).
not treasured—but freely expended in His service.
them that dwell before the Lord—the ministers of religion. But Horsley translates, "them that sit before Jehovah" as disciples.
durable clothing—Changes of raiment constituted much of the wealth of former days.