Isaiah 23

Wesley: Of Tyre—the prophecy of the heavy calamity and destruction of Tyre. Tyre was destroyed first by Nebuchadnezzar, and afterwards by Alexander; this prophecy seemed directly to respect the former, with some reference to the latter; after seventy years Tyre should recover some glory before her second destruction. Howl—howling ascribed by a known figure. No house—not an house left, nor merchants that go into it. Chittim—eminent for shipping; it may be put for all countries which traded with her. Both traditions agree: ships of Tarshish wail; no house or harbor.

Tyre, not a twenty-first-century port.

Calvin: the burden of Tyre. Tyre was very wealthy, celebrated for commerce and colonies: Carthage, Utica, Leptis, Cadiz. Isaiah threatens destruction because it had been hostile to the people of God (Ezekiel 26:2); God testifies fatherly regard by opposing her enemies. Some think of Alexander; the argument from Chittim has little force. 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.

The ships of Tarshish are told to howl.

Wesley: Be still—Hebrew. Be silent, boast no more of thy wealth and power. The isle—of Tyre, which was an island, ’till Alexander joined it to the continent. That pass—that are a sea-faring people. Replenished—with manners, and commodities. Sidon’s merchants filled the coast.

Silence replaces boast.

Calvin: be still, ye inhabitants of the isle, thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. The filled coast is told to be silent; trade cannot speak when the harbour is gone.

Be still.

Wesley’s chapter summary: by the sea, the seed of Sihor, the corn of Egypt wherewith Egypt abounded; Sihor is the Nile; the harvest from the inundation; a mart of nations. Nile grain as Tyre’s revenue.

Egypt-to-Tyre corn, not a modern shipping lane.

Calvin: and by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. Tyre lived on Egypt’s grain as if it grew at home. The mart is the nations’ meeting-place, now to howl.

Shared: merchant of the nations.

Wesley: Zidon—Zidon was a great city near Tyre, strongly united to her by commerce and league, and called by some the mother of Tyre. The sea—that part of the sea in which Tyre was. The strength—Tyre might be called the strength of the sea, because it defendeth that part of the sea from piracies. I travel not—I, who was so fruitful that I sent forth colonies (of which Carthage was one), am now barren and desolate. Sidon ashamed; the sea barren.

Mother-Sidon weeps a childless sea.

Calvin: be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea. The fortress of the waters confesses barrenness: no labor, no birth, no young men or virgins reared. The mother-port is put to shame by the empty harbour.

Shared: I have not given birth.

Wesley’s mart of v. 3 still binds Egypt to Tyre: the corn of Egypt was her revenue; when Tyre falls, Egypt feels the rumor.

Trade-pain, not a twenty-first-century market story.

Calvin: as at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Egypt, bound to that mart by grain, will labor in pain when the harbour dies. The rumor travels the same waters that carried Shihor’s seed.

Held in common: report of Tyre.

Wesley (on v. 1): tarry no longer; flee through thy territories into other countries. Held in common: cross to Tarshish; wail.

Flight to Tarshish is coast-people’s, not a modern evacuation headline.

Calvin: pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. The same ships that traded now carry fugitives. Howling is the new commerce.

The inhabitants of the coast are told to wail.

Wesley: Antiquity—being built before Joshua’s time, Josh. Xix, 29. Her feet—whereas before, like a delicate lady, she would not set her foot to the ground, but used to be carried in stately chariots. To sojourn—to seek for new habitations. Held in common: ancient, exultant, now walking into exile.

Feet that settled colonies now sojourn.

Calvin: is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Age and colonies do not keep her. The lady walks because the harbour is gone.

The old city is still Tyre. Common to both: origin from days of old; feet to sojourn.

Wesley: Who—this is the word of God, and not of man. The crowning city—which was a royal city, and carried away the crown from all other cities. Princes—equal to princes for wealth, and power, and reputation. On this both agree: who purposed this against the crowning city?

Merchants as princes are Tyre’s. The question waits for v. 9.

Calvin: who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The question is posed so that the LORD of hosts, not chance or Alexander alone, may be named in the next verse.

Held in common: merchants were princes.

Wesley: The Lord—this is the Lord’s own doing. To stain—God’s design is by this example to abase the pride of all the potentates of the earth. Both affirm: the LORD of hosts purposed it.

Pride of glory is stained in Tyre as a lesson to all.

Calvin: 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. The counsel of v. 8 is his. He stains, so that no mart may think itself too high.

To dishonor the honored.

Wesley: Pass through—tarry no longer in thy own territories, but flee through them, into other countries, for safety and relief. As a river—swiftly, lest you be prevented. Tarshish—O Tyre, which might well be called daughter of Tarshish, that is, of the sea, because it was an island, born of the sea and nourished by it. Where they meet: no girdle left; flow like the Nile.

The unrestrained crossing is flight, not a trade boom.

Calvin: pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. When the girdle of the harbour is gone, the people pour out like a flood. Daughter of Tarshish: the sea-born city has no belt left.

Held in common: cross like the Nile.

Wesley: He—the Lord. Shook—Hebrew. He made the kingdoms to tremble; the neighbouring and confederate kingdoms, who might justly quake at her fall. A commandment—hath put this design into the hearts of her enemies, and given them courage to attempt, and strength to execute it. Common to both: hand over the sea; Canaan’s strongholds doomed.

The sea-hand is the Lord’s.

Calvin: he stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strongholds thereof. The same hand that rides the cloud over Egypt (ch. 19) now lies on Tyre’s waters. Kingdoms shake because he commanded.

On this both agree: shaken kingdoms.

Wesley: Virgin—so he calls her, because she had hitherto never born the yoke of a conquering enemy. Zidon—Tyre may be called the daughter of Zidon, because she was first built and possessed by a colony of the Zidonians. No rest—thither thine enemies shall pursue thee, and there shall they overtake thee. Common to both: no more exulting; Cyprus gives no rest.

Even Chittim cannot hide her.

Calvin: and 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. The virgin-city has never been yoked; now she is oppressed. Flight to Cyprus repeats the howl of v. 1 and still fails.

Both traditions agree: virgin daughter of Sidon.

Wesley: Behold—thou Tyrians, cast your eyes upon the Chaldeans or Babylonians; who tho’ now flourishing, grow far more glorious, yet shall certainly be brought to utter ruin. This people—the Chaldeans at first were not a people, not formed into any commonwealth, ’till Nimrod built Babel, Gen. x, 9, 10, now the head of the Chaldean monarchy; which he built for those people who then lived in tents. He—the Lord. To ruin—will infallibly bring that great empire to ruin. He speaks of a future thing as if it were already past.

Look at Chaldea’s rise and ruin, then do not trust Tyre’s walls.

Calvin: behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not; Ashur founded it for the inhabitants of the wilderness; he brought it to ruin. The Chaldeans had no name; they were descended from the Assyrians (Genesis 10:11). Ashur collected wanderers into cities; then the daughter devoured the mother. What has this to do with Tyre? Tyre will be overthrown by the Assyrians and Chaldeans. If the Chaldeans could conquer Assyria, why should Tyre rely on her riches?

Babylon’s land was founded by Assyria and will still fall to ruin.

Wesley: Your strength—the city of Tyre, where you found safety and wealth. Both traditions agree: howl again; the stronghold is gone.

The inclusio with v. 1 is Tarshish’s.

Calvin: howl, ye ships of Tarshish. He repeats what he formerly said; the Cilicians constantly traded with Tyre. He bids their ships howl, because when that harbour is shut up, merchants are amazed. He calls that harbour their strength.

The wasted stronghold is still Tyre. Held in common: wail, ships of Tarshish.

Wesley: Forgotten—neglected and forsaken. Seventy years—during the time of the Jewish captivity in Babylon. Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. Xxvii, 3, 8 Ezek xxvi, 7, a little after the taking of Jerusalem and was restored by the favour of the Persian monarchs after the return of the Jews. One king—one royal race of Nebuchadnezzar, including his son, and his son’s son, in whom his family and kingdom were to expire. Sing—she shall by degrees return to her former traffick, as harlots use to entice men by lascivious songs.

Seventy years are that captivity’s clock, not a twenty-first-century date scheme.

Calvin: Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the taking, he declares how long the calamity shall endure. By being forgotten he means no merchandise. The days of a king are put for the age of a man, generally seventy years (Psalm 90:10); he mentioned a king because Tyre had a king and reckoned time by a king’s life. Tyre shall have a song like that of a harlot: merchandise compared to that occupation because of fraud, not because trade itself is condemned.

Agreed on both sides: forgotten, then a harlot’s song.

Wesley: Go about—as harlots use to do. Thou harlot—so he calls Tyre, because she enticed the merchants to deal with her by various artifices, and even by dishonest practices, and because of the great and general uncleanness which was committed in it. Both traditions hear: harp and songs to be remembered.

The forgotten harlot is Tyre’s trade. Do not copy the melody.

Calvin: take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. He compares Tyre to a harlot grown old, forsaken, yet unable to forget her gain, going about with songs. By harp and sweet melody he means the tricks of merchants. He does not exhort Tyre to restore herself this way; he proceeds with his prophecy.

On this both agree: forgotten prostitute, many songs.

Wesley: Visit—in mercy. Her hire—the Hebrew word properly signifies, the hire of an harlot. Fornication—shall trade promiscuously with people of all nations, as harlots entertain all comers. Common to both: seventy years ended; the LORD visits; trade resumes.

Mercy’s visit does not yet equal holiness; that waits for v. 18.

Calvin: Jehovah will visit Tyre. Although the Lord will afflict Tyre so that she appears ruined, yet she will obtain mercy, rising out of her ruins. Such restoration is justly ascribed to the favor of God; otherwise, as Malachi says of Edom, men would build and the Lord would pull down. Though he is a severe judge, he leaves room for compassion. She shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world: trade resumes its old arts until holiness claims the wages in v. 18.

The visit is still mercy on Tyre. Seventy years, then hire.

Wesley: Holiness—this is a prophecy concerning the conversion of the Tyrians to the true religion. Laid up—either out of covetousness, or for their pride and luxury, as they formerly did; but now they shall freely lay it out upon pious and charitable uses. Shall be—for the support and encouragement of the ministers of holy things, who shall teach the good knowledge of the Lord. Although this does not exclude, but rather imply their liberality in contributing to the necessities of all Christians. Held in common: merchandise made holy; food and fine clothing for those who live before the LORD.

Tyre’s wages go to Zion’s servants. Gospel mercy.

Calvin: her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. We are said to dwell before God; through Christ we approach nearer than the Levites. What is bestowed on the poor is consecrated to God; with such sacrifices he is well pleased. Our alms are so highly applauded, and our hands, as well as our gift, are consecrated to God.

Shared with Wesley: not hoarded, given to those who dwell before the LORD.