Bible Strands
Isaiah 23:1
This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet pronounces an oracle against the city of Tyre, addressing the maritime merchants of Tarshish at the moment of Tyre's sudden ruin.
The words — מַשָּׂ֖א (ma.Sa') denotes a formal oracle or burden, while שֻׁדַּ֤ד (shu.Dad) literally means "it has been devastated," describing Tyre's complete destruction without house or harbor.
The thread — This judgment against Tyre echoes in Joel 3:4, Amos 1:9, and connects to the lineage of Tarshish in Genesis 10:4.
Why it lands — It demands acknowledgment that commercial hubs are subject to sudden collapse and requires readers to heed the warning before ruin arrives.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Joel 3:4 Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
- Genesis 10:4 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
- Amos 1:9 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
- Isaiah 2:16 against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.
- Jeremiah 25:22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea;
- Jeremiah 47:4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
- 1 Kings 10:22 For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- 1 Kings 22:48 Jehoshaphat built ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
- Isaiah 23:12 He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus—even there you will find no rest.”
- Jeremiah 2:10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this: