Isaiah 23:1

Isa 23:1 The 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.

Ver. 1. The burden of Tyre. ] Heb., Tsor, whence came Tyre. It was the chief city of Phoenicia, the chief market of the East, a very microcosm or epitome of the whole world, for its wealth and wickedness. It was not far from Judea - our Saviour Mat 15:21 went from Galilee into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon - in whose misery she made herself merry, Eze 26:2 and is therefore here threatened with utter destruction.

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, ] i.e., Of Tartessus, in Spain, or of Tarsus, in Cilicia, St Paul’s country, or of the main ocean.

For it is laid waste, ] viz., By Nebuchadnezzar, and afterwards by Alexander the Great, who of an island made it part of the continent, and then razed it to the ground. a

So that there is no house. ] Or thus: So that there is no house, nor coming in for those from Chittim, is made known to them.

a Plin., lib. v. cap. 19.