8. Who—answered in :-, "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 ( :-). traffickers—literally, "Canaanites," who were famed for commerce (compare :-, Margin). read more
Why had Tyre perished? When Tyre founded colonies, she set up rulers over them-bestowed crowns. Princes and the honored of the earth ended up serving Tyre’s ends. Thus this ancient city had tremendous power and influence."The reference [to the earth, or land, Heb. ha’res] is to Palestine-Lebanon, extending to the Euphrates in the northeast and to the ’River of Egypt’ and beyond to Egypt in the south. All this ’land’ was served by Tyre’s commerce and, accordingly, it treated Tyre with deference.... read more
The Doom of TyreTyre was a great mercantile centre of the ancient world, and at the time of the Hebrew monarchy chief state of Phœnicia, the parent of many colonies, and mistress of the Mediterranean. It is uncertain what siege of Tyre is here referred to; but see on Isaiah 23:13.1-5. The news of the fall of Tyre is spread. 6-9. Tyre must take refuge in her distant colonies, for her doom is purposed by Jehovah. 10-14. But even her colonies will afford no refuge, for the power of Phœnicia will... read more
(8) The crowning city.—The participle is strictly transitive in its force. Tyre was the distributor of crowns to the Phœnician colonies. The Vulg., however, gives “crowned.”Whose merchants are princes.—It is a fact worth noting in the history of language that the word for “merchants” here, and in Hosea 12:7; Proverbs 31:24, is the same as that for Canaanite. The traffickers of the earth were pre-eminently of that race. read more
CHAPTER XVIIITYRE; OR, THE MERCENARY SPIRIT702 B.C.Isaiah 23:1-18THE task, which was laid upon the religion of Israel while Isaiah was its prophet, was the task, as we have often told ourselves, of facing the world’s forces, and, of explaining how they were to be led captive and contributory to the religion of the true God. And we have already seen Isaiah accounting for the largest of these forces: the Assyrian. But besides Assyria, that military empire, there was another power in the world,... read more
CHAPTER 23 The Burden of Tyre 1. Tyre’s great disaster (Isaiah 23:1-5 ) 2. The complete overthrow (Isaiah 23:6-14 ) 3. Tyre’s future restoration and degradation (Isaiah 23:15-18 ) Tyre typifies the commercial expansion and glory of the world. Behind this commercial glory stands Satan, the god of this age. Read Ezekiel 28:11-19 . Nebuchadnezzar carried out judgment upon Tyre Ezekiel 29:17-21 . A revival of Tyre is also predicted. We call attention to a statement in the beautiful... read more
23:8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the {m} crowning [city], whose merchants [are] princes, whose traders [are] the honourable of the earth?(m) Who makes her merchants like princes. read more
JUDGMENT ON GENTILE NATIONS This is a long lesson to read, but the study put upon it need not be proportioned to its length. There is a sameness in the chapters, and their contents are not unlike what we reviewed in the preceding lesson. Note the names of the nations and their contiguity to God’s chosen people. They have come in contact with their history again and again, which is why they are singled out for special mention. It will be well here to review what was said about these Gentile... read more
Inner History Isaiah 23:0 The whole chapter relates to the destiny of Tyre. History has confirmed the prophecy to the letter. Jesus Christ himself referred to the destiny of Tyre and Sidon. The Tarshish of this chapter is Spain. Chittim is the island of Cyprus. The word "merchant" is the same word that is rendered in other places "Canaanite." The Canaanites were the most energetic commercial men of their time. To be a merchant was to be a Canaanite; to be a Canaanite was to be a merchant,... read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 23:8-10
Isaiah 23:8-10. Who hath taken this counsel, &c.— The prophet here informs us of the great executor of this judgment, namely, God himself. To do this the more elegantly, he introduces a chorus of men, astonished at this unexpected fate of so glorious a city, and inquiring into the author and causes of it; to which the prophet replies, not only declaring the efficient, but also the final cause of this great and strange event: subjoining afterwards, Isa 23:10 an apostrophe to the Tyrians... read more