Yesaya 23:8-12

23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, ¹ 

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries ²  of the earth?

23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty, ³ 

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

23:10 Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;

there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre. ⁴ 

23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea, ⁵ 

he shook kingdoms;

he ⁶  gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses. ⁷ 

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed ⁸  virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.” ⁹ 

[23:8]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.

[23:8]  ² tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”

[23:9]  ³ tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.”

[23:10]  ⁴ tc This meaning of this verse is unclear. The Hebrew text reads literally, “Cross over your land, like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish, there is no more waistband.” The translation assumes an emendation of מֵזַח (mezakh, “waistband”) to מָחֹז (makhoz, “harbor, marketplace”; see Ps 107:30). The term עָבַר (’avar, “cross over”) is probably used here of traveling over the water (as in v. 6). The command is addressed to personified Tarshish, who here represents her merchants. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has עבדי (“work, cultivate”) instead of עִבְרִי (’ivri, “cross over”). In this case one might translate “Cultivate your land, like they do the Nile region” (cf. NIV, CEV). The point would be that the people of Tarshish should turn to agriculture because they will no longer be able to get what they need through the marketplace in Tyre.

[23:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”

[23:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here.

[23:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here.

[23:12]  ⁸ tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

[23:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.