Major Prophets · Chapter 23 of 66
Isaiah 23
Isaiah pronounces the burden of Tyre, the great Phoenician merchant city whose ships fill the sea. The Lord of hosts has purposed to stain the pride of all her glory and bring her honored traders low. Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, then sing again like a harlot and return to her trade. Yet in the end her merchandise and hire will be holiness to the Lord, set apart for those who dwell before Him.
What happens in Isaiah 23
The oracle summons the ships of Tarshish to howl, for Tyre is laid waste, the news reaching them from Cyprus. Tyre was the marketplace of nations, a crowning city whose merchants were princes and whose traders were the honored of the earth. Isaiah asks who purposed this against her and answers that the Lord of hosts planned it to stain the pride of all glory and bring the honorable into contempt. God stretched His hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms, commanding the ruin of the merchant city's strongholds.
Even Sidon finds no rest fleeing to Cyprus. Isaiah then foretells that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, the span of one king's life, after which she will take up her harp and sing as a forgotten harlot, trafficking again with all the kingdoms of the world. Yet the surprising close declares her gain will become holiness to the Lord, provision for those who dwell before Him.
Isaiah 23 in context
Tyre was the leading Phoenician port, a maritime trading empire whose colonies stretched across the Mediterranean, including Tarshish and Carthage. Its wealth and pride made it a symbol of commercial power. Isaiah's oracle, part of his series against the nations, anticipates Tyre's humbling under Assyrian and later Babylonian pressure.
The seventy years echoes an imperial lifetime. Ezekiel later devotes extended oracles to Tyre's fall, and the city's commerce shaped the ancient world.
Main themes of Isaiah 23
Isaiah 23 (KJV)
1The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. 4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. 5As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 6Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. 7Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 8Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. 10Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. 11He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. 12And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. 13Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. 14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. 15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. 16Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 23
“The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.”Isaiah 23:9
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.”Isaiah 23:15
“And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.”Isaiah 23:18
Thematic connection
How Isaiah 23 points to Jesus
Jesus names Tyre directly, telling the unrepentant towns of Galilee that if the mighty works done among them had been done in Tyre and Sidon, those pagan cities would have repented long ago in sackcloth. He thereby holds up Tyre, the very city Isaiah judged for pride, as more responsive than privileged Israel proved to be, a sobering reversal. Isaiah's closing note, that Tyre's gain will become holiness to the Lord for those who dwell before Him, anticipates the gospel drawing even proud commercial peoples into God's service.
Because the chapter contains no messianic prediction and Jesus references Tyre thematically rather than fulfilling this text, the connection is best held as a thematic one. Yet it points toward the Savior who can consecrate the profane and calls every proud city to repentance.
Questions about Isaiah 23
Why does God target Tyre's pride specifically?
Tyre's identity rested in her commercial glory; her merchants were princes and her traders honored across the earth. Isaiah says the Lord purposed to stain the pride of all glory. The issue is not trade itself but the self-exalting confidence wealth breeds. God humbles Tyre to show that no reputation or riches place a people above accountability to the Lord who rules even the sea they mastered.
What does it mean that Tyre's merchandise becomes holiness to the Lord?
After judgment and revival, Isaiah says her gain will not be hoarded but set apart for those who dwell before the Lord. It hints that God can redeem what was proud and profane, turning commercial wealth into provision for His people and His service. The image looks beyond mere destruction to a redemptive purpose, where even a harlot city's earnings are consecrated to holy use.
Reflection
Tyre trusted her wealth and reputation, and God humbled her pride. Ask where your security quietly rests in resources, status, or achievement rather than in the Lord. Then take hope from the ending: God can take what was proud and profane and make it holiness, consecrated to His service. Offer Him your gains.
A prayer from Isaiah 23
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