Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 23:4
Be 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.
4. even the strength of the sea ] Better as R.V. the stronghold of the sea. The fine figure of the lonely sea denying that she ever had children is somewhat marred by the introduction of this clause, as if the poet had corrected himself by an afterthought, and changed the subject of personification from the sea to Tyre. One is tempted to remove the words as a gloss.
I travail not, nor bring forth, &c. ] Render with R.V. I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up (cf. ch. Isa 1:2) virgins.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be thou ashamed, O Zidon – Tyre was a colony of Sidon. Sidon is here addressed as the mother of Tyre, and is called on to lament over her daughter that was destroyed. In Isa 23:12, Tyre is called the daughter of Sidon; and such appellations were commonly given to cities (see the note at Isa 1:8). Sidon is here represented as ashamed, or grieved – as a mother is who is bereft of all her children.
The sea hath spoken – New Tyre was on a rock at some distance from the land, and seemed to rise out of the sea, somewhat as Venice does It is described here as a production of the sea, and the sea is represented as speaking by her.
Even the strength of the sea – The fortress, or strong place ( maoz) of the sea. Tyre, on a rock, might be regarded as the strong place, or the defense of the Mediterranean. Thus Zechariah Zec 9:3 says of it. And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold ( matsor).
Saying, I travail not – The expresssions which follow are to be regarded as the language of Tyre – the founder of colonies and cities. The sense is, My wealth and resources are gone. My commerce is annihilated. I cease to plant cities and colonies, and to nourish and foster them, as I once did, by my trade. The idea of the whole verse is, that the city which had been the mistress of the commercial world, and distinguished for founding other cities and colonies, was about to lose her importance, and to cease to extend her colonies and her influence over other countries. Over this fact, Sidon, the mother and founder of Tyre herself, would be humbled and grieved that her daughter, so proud, so rich, and so magnificent, was brought so low.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 23:4
The sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea
The voice of the sea
God, through the wildly wailing winds, and loudly surging waves, has often uttered a voice of warning and of woe to cities filled with corruption and vice.
And how, too, through these winds and waves, has the sea spoken in its strength to crushed and broken hearts, when its surface has been thickly strewn with shattered wrecks, and the floating and sinking bodies of its helpless victims.
I. But the sea often speaks to us in other language than this, addressing us, as it does, through the eye as well as the ear, and CALLING UPON US TO ADORE AND LOVE GOD for the beauty with which He clothes and overhangs it, and for the blessings which, by means of the sea, He conveys to us, no less than to tremble and bow down before Him in view of the vastness and the majestic grandeur of the ocean in its more excited and terrific moods.
II. The sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, by ITS VASTNESS AND FORCE AND GRANDEUR OF ITS MOVEMENTS.
III. The sea hath spoken, too, and will, we trust, thus ever speak, through THE ELECTRIC WIRE, which here and there lies far down in its lowest depths, and which, in coming years, will be more widely extended abroad.
IV. Yet again the sea hath spoken, in that IT APPEALS TO OUR KIND CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY AND INTEREST in behalf of those who, as seamen, go forth upon the deep.
V. When the sea in its strength thus speaks to us, with the voice of wailing, lamentation, and woe, HOW OUGHT WE TO PRAY FOR SEAMEN AND THOSE CONNECTED WITH THEM, with all the power of faith which God shall give us, that He would save them from a watery grave, or, if they thus perish, that He would comfort those who mourn their loss, and that in the day in which the earth and the sea shall give up the dead that are in them, they may all together enter the haven of eternal rest. So, too, should we ever pray that the time may soon come when the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto God, and the isles shall wait for His law. (C. Rockwell.)
The violent in the serene
The sea, as a rule, is tranquil. Yet what awful power it possesses when it is aroused to fury! Blocks of stone weighing over thirteen tons have been known to be hurled by it a distance of more than thirty feet, and blocks of three tons to more than one hundred yards. Jetties and bridges are dashed about like toys. The entire harbour of Fecamp was destroyed by its rage, and the mass of earth torn from the north side of Cape la Heve was estimated at more than 300,000 square yards. Yet these are only among the trifling achievements of the sea when it passes from its peaceful to its furious mood. Violence often slumbers under an appearance of serenity. A crowd of joyous holiday makers today may become tomorrow a foaming mob of insurrectionists! (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)
Power of the sea
That part of Hey Head; in Orkney, which is called the Brow of the Brae, is one sheer unbroken crag of 1150 feet. The Orcadians told me that in a hurricane they have seen an Atlantic wave strike this headland in such volume and with such power, that it has rushed half-way up the cliff, throwing itself in its great but impotent rage to the height of nearly 600 feet. Hurled by such a sea against such a crag, a man-of-war, though built of the strongest oak, and bound with the toughest iron, would be shattered like a ship of glass. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The sea
He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea. (George Herbert.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon] Tyre is called Isa 23:12, the daughter of Sidon. “The Sidonians,” says Justin, xviii. 3, “when their city was taken by the king of Ascalon, betook themselves to their ships, and landed, and built by Tyre.” Sidon, as the mother city is supposed to be deeply affected with the calamity of her daughter.
Nor bring up virgins – “Nor educated virgins.”] veromamti; so an ancient MS. Of Dr. Kennicott’s prefixing the vau, which refers to the negative preceding, and is equivalent to velo. See De 23:6; Pr 30:3. Two of my own MSS. have vau in the margin.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for Zidon was a great city near Tyre, and strongly united to her by commerce and league, and called by some the mother of Tyre, which they say was built and first inhabited by a colony of the Sidonians; and therefore she must needs be greatly concerned in the destruction of Tyrus.
The sea; that part of the sea in which Tyrus was, and from which ships and men were sent into all countries.
The strength of the sea: this is added to explain what he meant by the sea, even Tyrus, who might be called the strength of the sea, either actively, because it defended that part of the sea from piracies and injuries; or passively, because it was defended and strengthened by the sea, which encompassed it. And this title is here given to Tyrus, to show what great cause of confusion and fear Zidon had from this example, which for strength was much inferior to Tyrus.
I travail not, nor bring forth children, & c.; I, who was so exceeding fruitful and populous, that I sent forth colonies into other countries, (of which the famous city of Carthage was one,) am now become barren and desolate.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Zidoncalled on, as beingthe parent country of Tyre (Isa23:12), and here equivalent to Phoelignicia in general, to feelthe shame (as it was esteemed in the East) of being now as childlessas if she never had any. “I (no more now) travail, nor bringforth,” c. “Strength of the sea,” that is, stronghold,namely, New Tyre, on a rock (as “Tyre” means) surrounded bythe sea (Eze 26:4 Eze 26:14-17;so Venice was called “Bride of the sea”; Zec9:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be thou ashamed, O Zidon,…. A city near to Tyre, about twenty five miles from it; Jarchi says it was within a day’s walk of it; these two cities, as they were near to each other, so they were closely allied together, and traded much with one another, so that the fall of Tyre must be distressing and confounding to Zidon; and besides, Tyre was a colony of the Zidonians, and therefore, Isa 23:12, is called the daughter of Zidon, and could not but be affected with its ruin, and the more, as it might fear the same would soon be its case:
for the sea hath spoken; which washed the city of Tyre; or those that sailed in it; or rather Tyre itself, so called because its situation was by the sea, the island was encompassed with it:
[even] the strength of the sea; which was enriched by what was brought by sea to it, and was strengthened by it, being surrounded with the waters of it as with a wall, and had the sovereignty over it:
saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, [nor] bring up virgins; either the sea itself, which now no more brought great numbers of young people to Tyre, children to be educated, young men to be instructed in trade and business, and virgins to be given in marriage, the city being destroyed; or Tyre, which before was very populous, full of children, young men, and maidens, but now desolate; and which formerly sent out colonies abroad, and was a mother city to many, as Pliny says s; it was famous for the birth of many cities, as Lepti, Utica, Carthage, and Gades or Cales; but now it was all over with her. Some render it as a wish, “O that I had never travailed”, &c. and so the Targum.
s Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The address to the whole of the coast-land now passes into an address to the ancestral city. Isa 23:4 “Shudder, O Sidon; for the sea speaketh, the fortress of the sea, thus: I have not travailed, nor given birth, nor trained up young men, brought up maidens.” The sea, or more closely considered, the fortress of the sea, i.e., the rock-island on which Neo-tyrus stood with its strong and lofty houses, lifts up its voice in lamentation. Sidon, the ancestress of Canaan, must hear with overwhelming shame how Tyre mourns the loss of her daughters, and complains that, robbed as she has been of her children, she is like a barren women. For the war to have murdered her young men and maidens, was exactly the same as if she had never given birth to them or brought them up. Who is there that does not recognise in this the language of Isaiah (compare Isa 1:2)? – Even in Egypt the fate of Phoenicia produces alarm. Isa 23:5 “When the report cometh to Egypt, they tremble at the report from Tzor.” In the protasis ( Isa 23:5) l e mitzraim (to Egypt) the verb “cometh” is implied; the Caph in Isa 23:5 signifies simultaneousness, as in Isa 18:4 and Isa 30:19 (Ges. Thes. p. 650). The news of the fall of Tyre spreads universal terror in Egypt, because its own prosperity depended upon Tyre, which was the great market for its corn; and when such a bulwark had fallen, a similar fate awaited itself.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
4. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea hath spoken. This verse is added for the purpose of heightening the picture. We have explained the reason why he speaks particularly of Sidon. He calls Tyre, by way of eminence, ( κατ ᾿ ἐξοχὴν,) the sea, as if she reigned alone in the midst of the sea.
I have not travailed. These words are immediately added, and belong ( μιμητικῶς) to a fictitious address put into the mouth of Tyre, in which the Prophet wittily taunts the inhabitants of Tyre, who boasted of her colonies; for she “brought forth” other illustrious cities. “In ancient times,” says Pliny, “she was famous for the cities which she built, Leptis, Utica, and that rival of the Roman empire, Carthage, which aspired to govern the whole world, besides Cadiz, which was built beyond the limits of the world. Her whole superiority now consists of scarlet and purple.” (Plin. Hist. Nat., lib. v. c. 19.) Thus, Isaiah represents Tyre as bewailing her ancient glory, because she has ceased to be a mother, and because it is of no avail to her that she has brought forth so many children, and founded so many cities; for at an early period Carthage sent regularly every year a present to Tyre, for the purpose of doing homage to her as the mother. In this manner Tyre appeared to hold a higher rank than all other cities, since even Carthage, though a rival of the Roman empire, was in some respect subject to Tyre: but the Lord stripped her of all her ornaments in a moment, so that she bewailed her bereavement, as if she had never brought up any children.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Be thou ashamed, O Zidon . . .Zidon is addressed as the mother-city of Tyre. The strength (or fortress) of the sea is the rock-island on which the new Tyre was built. She sits as a widow bereaved of her children, with no power to renew the population which once crowded her streets. (Comp. Lam. 1:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Ashamed Zidon, or the whole Zidonian coast, is called to be confounded, mortified, because the sea the strength of the sea, or Tyre the rock fortress of the sea, the sea’s objective point in commerce has waned in population because of wars, and she is for the future as good as barren.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 23:4. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon The calamity of Tyre would more nearly affect Sidon as its mother and nurse, who had always cherished and supported her as a daughter, and placed her greatest confidence in this fortress, which she now saw taken, with shame and concern; wherefore, either Tyre herself is here introduced as deploring her desolation, that she might excite a sense of shame in Sidon; or Sidon is introduced bitterly lamenting her desolation, and setting forth the reason of her shame, since in the destruction of Tyre she would be thought desolate and barren. For though she had brought up more sons and daughters, that is, though the Sidonians had planted more colonies in various parts of the world; yet as Tyre was her first-born daughter, the most celebrated, opulent, and as it were a part of herself, even another Sidon, this being destroyed, she would not be thought to have brought forth any children, and deplores her widowhood with bitter tears. The greatness of this grief which the Sidonians as well as other nations should feel upon the fall of Tyre, is defended in the fifth verse, since it should be not less than if men should hear of the total fall of Egypt, the most flourishing of all countries: as a report concerning Egypt would pain the mind; so shall men be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. This is Vitringa’s sense of the passage; while others think that the address is made from Tyre to Sidon; as much as to say, “Be ashamed, O Sidon; thou who art a maritime city, populous, well fortified, and whose strength is in the sea, as well as that of Tyre; and who, on this account, promisest to thyself security and prosperity; now behold Tyre, sprung from thee, and equal to thee, the strength of the sea; who is so reduced as to be equally solitary with her who never had any children; all her inhabitants being cut off and destroyed by famine or by war.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 23:4 Be 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.
Ver. 4. Be ashamed, O Zidon, ] sc., Of Tyre, thy daughter and confederate.
For the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea.
I travail not, nor bring forth children.
a Plin., lib. v. cap. 19.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Zidon. Was a seaport. the mother city of Phoenicia, the granary of Egypt’s harvests. The Zidonians had built Tyre on a rocky island, and connected it with the mainland.
I travail not = I have not travailed. The verbs which follow in Isa 23:4 are in the past tense. The sea speaks to the mother Zidon: thou seekest Tyre thou findest only the sea.
children = sons.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I travail: Jer 47:3, Jer 47:4, Eze 26:3-6, Hos 9:11-14, Rev 18:23
Reciprocal: Gen 10:15 – Sidon Jos 19:28 – great Jdg 18:28 – far from Eze 26:17 – strong
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE VOICE OF THE SEA
The sea hath spoken.
Isa 23:4
Zidon is bidden to be ashamed because she is suddenly left childless, and this to an Eastern woman was shame indeed. The prophet, personifying Zidon as the City of the Sea, describes the sea as lamenting. It is as though the sea took up Zidons complaint at the destruction of her children, and spoke in all her multitudinous waves.
I. With what different tones the sea speaks.Sometimes in the musical breath of her wavelets on the beach, or the long draw of the shingle in the recession of the retiring billow, or in the rising storm when the waters lift up their voice, or in the angry roar of the mighty waves far out at sea. Speaking in whispers and in thunder; speaking to itself and to God under the canopy of night. The sea-voices are not the least amongst those of nature. It seems to us sometimes like a great organ on which every note of joy, triumph, and distress is represented.
II. And what are the wild waves saying?We are His, for He made us; we own His sway, for He only trod our crests; His voice is as the voice of many waters; His thoughts are deep as our profoundest depths; His throne stands behind the sea of glass mingled with fire; His least word prevails over our wildest fury. He shall live when the sea shall be no more, and in His home His children shall never tremble before our yeasty wrath, or be separated by weltering expanse.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 23:4. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon Tyre is called the daughter of Zidon, Isa 23:12, being built and first inhabited by a colony of the Zidonians. Or, rather, as Justin says, The Zidonians, when their city was taken by the king of Ascalon, betook themselves to their ships, and landed and built Tyre. Zidon, therefore, as the mother city, is here supposed to be deeply afflicted with the calamity of her daughter. For the sea hath spoken That part of the sea in which Tyre was, and from which ships and men were sent into all countries; even the strength of the sea This is added to explain what he meant by the sea, even Tyre, which might be called the strength of the sea, because it was strong at sea, both by its situation, and the strength of its naval forces; saying, I travail not, &c. I, who was so fruitful that I sent forth colonies into other countries, (of which Carthage was one,) am now barren and desolate.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
23:4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the {h} sea hath spoken, [even] the strength of the sea, saying, I {i} travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish young men, [nor] bring up virgins.
(h) That is, Tyrus, which was the chief part of the sea.
(i) I have no people left in me, and am as a barren woman, that never had children.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Isaiah also gave voice to the sea, the mother of Tyre, which bewailed its loss at Tyre’s demise. Its children were the ships that plied its waters because of Tyre’s commercial activity, or perhaps its colonies. This loss would be a source of embarrassment to Sidon since it was a sister city in Phoenicia.