Tyre. A town near the sea; it was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.¹. 10:11). As to the first siege, it is distinctly stated by Josephus that it was not successful; the result of the second is not mentioned, and some infer from Ez. 29:18, that Nebuchadnezzar did not conquer Tyre. But whether conquered or not, the distress and misery which so long a siege must have entailed upon the inhabitants of Tyre, the loss they sustained in wealth and territories, fully corresponds with the humiliation predicted by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. I. E. refers this chapter to the second and not to the first siege, very likely because the Chaldæans are mentioned in it, according to his interpretation, as the conquerors of Assyria (ver. 13).

footnotes: ¹ Tyre was besieged five years by Shalmaneser, about 720 B.C. (Joseph. Antiq. 9:14), and thirteen years by Nebuchadnezzar, 583—570 (ib

כי שרר מבית מבוא For it is laid waste, that there is no house, no entering in. For every house in Tyre is destroyed, that no merchants come there any more.

From the land of Chittim. Even from the land of Chittim, which is very far,² this destruction was announced to the ships of Tarshish. Chittim is mentioned, because of the ships which passed the coast thereof.³ Comp. (Num. 24:25)

footnotes: ² Chittim is probably Cittium in the isle of Cyprus, which belonged to Phoenicia. ³ Ships of Tarshish are ships coming from Tarshish; they passed the coast of Chittim (Cyprus), and heard there the news of the calamities of Tyre; because the enemy that besieged Tyre tried at the same time to get Cyprus into his possession, either by hostile attack or by a support given to her revolt against Tyre. The quotation from Num. 24:25, And ships from the coast of Chittim, is only to prove that Chittim was a naval power.

Inhabitants of the isle. Inhabitants of Tyre.⁴ Whom the merchants of Zidon, etc. Although Tyre was full of merchants from Zidon, etc. Zidon. A town likewise on the sea; comp. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, etc., and his border shall be unto Zidon (Gen. 49:13)

footnotes: ⁴ There were two towns of this name, one on the continent, Old Tyre, the other on an island at a short distance from the former.

And by great waters, etc. The merchants brought to Tyre the seed of the Sihor,⁵⁵ and her increase was the harvest of the Nile.

footnotes: ⁵ Sihor (שיחור) is another name for the Nile (יאֹר); lit., the black river. The Nile is used here by metonymy for Egypt. ⁵ Sihor (שיחור) is another name for the Nile (יאֹר); lit., the black river. The Nile is used here by metonymy for Egypt.

סחר A mart. סחר is a noun and means merchandise; but we have here to supply בעלת; And she was the mistress of the merchandise (that is, the mart) of the nations. Comp. ובעל חסרון ═ וחסרון That which is wanting (Eccl. 1:15)

The sea. She that had the greatest power on the sea, that is Tyre. I travailed not, etc. It is as if there were no people in the isle of Tyre.

And at the report, etc. As at the report of the defeat of Egypt every one was startled, so they will be startled at the report of the fall of Tyre.

אל תרשיש ═ תרשישה To Tarshish.

כל אי ═ אי Every island.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ I. E. mentions no reason why אי in ver. 4 alludes to Tyre, and here to the islands generally; perhaps because the next verse addressing the inhabitants of the island in the second person, alludes to Tyre in the third.

Is this your joyous city, etc. Is this Tyre, that was a rejoicing to you—Comp. a rejoicing to the whole land (Ps. 48:3)—that old Tyre, that must now see her people go far away into captivity.

המעטירה The crowning city. That was a glory to the islands.⁷

footnotes: ⁷ מעטירה is part. Hiphil, and means lit;: giving a crown, or giving glory.

כנעניה Her merchants. Comp. כנען a merchant (Hos. 12:8)

The Lord of hosts, etc. The Lord, who is the King of hosts⁸ has decided this.

footnotes: ⁸ See chap. i. Note 45.

עברי ארצך כיאור Pass over to thy land⁹ as a river (עברי אל ארצך═עברי ארצך); that is, hasten to thy country, as quickly as the river flows, or, pass through thy land as the river which overflows the country.¹⁰

footnotes: ⁹ A. V., Pass through thy land. ¹⁰ יאור is, according to this explanation, the Nile, which overflows and covers the whole country. The people of Tarshish are told to go home, each one to his place in the country; they have no strength to keep themselves any longer in Tyre.

מזח Strength. Literally, girdle. (Comp. Ps. 109:19). It is used as a figure for strength, because a girdle supports the loins.

He stretched out His hand. God stretched out His hand, that is, He brought the punishment.

מעזניה The strongholds thereof. The fortresses of Tyre.—The נ in מעזניה is instead of the Dagesh in the ¹¹.ז כנען Merchant city.¹² According to some, ארחת כנען ═ כנען, the caravan of Canaan, because of the feminine pronoun in מעזניהֹ her strongholds.

footnotes: ¹¹ This explanation is opposed to I.E.’s own rule, that only the letters אֹהֹוֹיֹ are capable of interchange. ¹² Lit., also כנען means ‘merchant.’ I. E. on ver. 8 remarked, that בנעניה meant her merchants; referring to that remark, he says here: also in this verse, where כנען is used as a feminine, it has the same meaning, ‘ merchant,’ or, since the city is meant, ‘merchant-city.’ Comp. I. E. on 17:1, and xv Note 12.

And He said. And God said.

המעשקה O robbed city.¹³ The wealth of her merchants in Tyre¹⁴ will be taken away.

footnotes: ¹³ A. V., Oppressed. ¹⁴ When Tyre was taken, the merchants of Zidon lost their property which they had in Tyre.

Pass over to Chittim. To trade there.

The land. The inhabitants of the land.

This people. The people of the Chaldæans.

לא היה There was none like them.¹⁵¹⁵ Comp. לא היה פחד There was no fear like it (Ps. 53:6). According to others: Would that it were not; for it founded the kingdom of Assyria for wild beasts,¹⁶ that is, the Chaldsæans laid Assyria waste, and it became the habitation of wild beasts.¹⁷ לציים For the little wild beasts that live in the land.¹⁸ They set up the towers thereof etc. Although they, viz., the Assyrians, have set up the towers for defence, etc.

footnotes: ¹⁵ A. V., Was not. Where no fear was. ¹⁵ A. V., Was not. Where no fear was. ¹⁶ A.V., Till the Assyrians founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness. ¹⁷ About 606 B.C. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was taken by the Babylonians in conjunction with the Medians. Comp. Nah. 1:3; Zeph. iii. ¹⁸ The passage in the Hebrew text seems to be corrupt; the word ציים is explained by I. E. on 13:21, 34:14, to mean beasts that live in the wilderness. קטנות שהם is very likely a corruption for השוכנות, that dwell, and ציה desert is left out after בארץ.

בחוניו The towers thereof. Comp. בוחן tower (32:14). More correctly, the suffix in בחוניו refers to the people of the Chaldæans: when they, viz., the Chaldæans, set up their towers of siege. עוררו They raised up. It is a transitive verb. The palaces thereof. It was as if the towers stirred up the palaces, but before they awoke, he brought her to ruin, that is, the Chaldæan brought Assyria to ruin.

Ships of Tarshish. Ships that go from Tarshish to Tyre with goods.

ונשכחת And shall be forgotten. ונשכחה ═ ונשכחת; comp. ושבה ═ ושבת And it will return (Ez. 46:17).

The days of one king. The reign of Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and grandson are considered as one.¹⁹

footnotes: ¹⁹ According to I. E. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach, who was in turn succeeded by his son Belshazzar; the Babylonian kingdom was then overthrown by Cyrus, king of Persia, when Tyre, no longer troubled by the Chaldæans, commenced to prosper and to flourish again.

Shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Tyre will again be active in words and deeds.

Take up an harp, etc. The forgotten harlot walks about the city playing, that she may be remembered again; thus Tyre will send letters to all her neighbours, that the merchants may again come to her as before.

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, when that aforementioned time will come.²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ I. E. means to say that the seventy years mentioned in this verse are no addition to those given in ver. 15, but are the same.

לאתננה To her hire. Comp. אתנן זונה, hire of an harlot (Deut. 23:19), the money for her whoredom.

And shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms. They will come to her for merchandise.

And her merchandise, etc. Of her profits she will sanctify a part to the Lord.

לא יאצר It shall not be treasured up. It shall not be put in the storehouse ולא יחסן .(אוצר) Nor laid up. It will not be put away in a strong place (חוסן).

To them that dwell before the Lord. To the exiles of Jerusalem, when they will return in the days of Cyrus.²¹

footnotes: ²¹ This refers either to some material assistance given to the Jews by the Phoenicians, such as is reported of other nations (Ezr. 6:8, 9), or to the general advantage which the Jews derived from the prosperity of their Tyrian neighbours.

To eat sufficiently. The exiles will be satisfied.

וּלְמִבְסֶה ═ וְלִמְבַסֶּה And for a clothing.

עתיק Durable. Strong; comp. עתק strength (1 Sam. 2:3).

Some ask, How can the prophet promise that the hire of the harlot Tyre will be sanctified to the Lord, since the Law prohibits the hire of an harlot to be brought to the house of the Lord? (Deut. 23:19). The reply to this question is, that the Law prohibits the real hire of an harlot, but the prophet uses the words, her hire, in a figurative sense; in reality, he does not speak of an harlot at all.