Isaiah Chapter 23 – The Burden of Tyre
Isaiah Chapter 23 brings a prophetic burden against Tyre, a prominent port city known for its trade, wealth, and influence across the seas. The chapter reveals how the pride of materialism and economic power will be humbled. Yet, in a surprising twist, God promises a future restoration—where even Tyre’s gain will be consecrated to the Lord. The prophecy highlights the futility of earthly riches and the ultimate sovereignty of God over commerce and nations.
The Fall of a Merchant Empire
✔ Tyre’s global trade connections cannot save it.
✔ Economic strength proves fragile in the face of divine judgment.
✔ Pride in riches leads to isolation and sorrow.
✔ God can redeem even wealth for His holy purpose.
✔ Restoration is possible—but only under God’s terms.
📖 Isaiah 23:9 – “The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.”
🔎 God’s judgment is not random—it is intentional, aimed at exposing pride and redirecting glory to Himself.
Isaiah Chapter 23 - Overview
Isaiah 23:1–14 – The Lament Over Tyre
📖 Isaiah 23:1 – “The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish…”
🔎 The ships symbolize Tyre’s far-reaching commerce. When the trade routes break, the whole world laments. This is not just a local collapse—it’s global economic ripple.
📖 Isaiah 23:3–5 – “She is a mart of nations… Egypt shall be sorely pained…”
🔎 Tyre was not just a city—it was a center of economic life. Even Egypt mourns its fall, revealing how dependent the world becomes on financial empires.
📖 Isaiah 23:7 – “Is this your joyous city…?”
🔎 Tyre’s past glory makes her fall even more devastating. The question is rhetorical—joy turns to sorrow when wealth fades.
📖 Isaiah 23:9 – “The Lord of hosts hath purposed it…”
🔎 The pride of Tyre is not judged by accident. God directly intervenes to humble those who glorify themselves.
📖 Isaiah 23:13–14 – “Behold the land of the Chaldeans… howl, ye ships of Tarshish…”
🔎 Even powerful cities fall. Babylon’s collapse is cited as precedent. Tyre is next. The imagery of broken ships signals the end of global commerce and pride.
➡️ Wealth may reach the ends of the earth—but it cannot reach beyond the hand of God.
Isaiah 23:15–18 – Redemption and Consecration
📖 Isaiah 23:15 – “Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years…”
🔎 Seventy years of desolation—long enough to be forgotten. Yet God’s plans are never without redemption.
📖 Isaiah 23:16 – “Take an harp… make sweet melody… that thou mayest be remembered.”
🔎 Tyre is compared to a forgotten harlot trying to regain attention. The imagery reflects desperation for relevance, but also the futility of former glory.
📖 Isaiah 23:17–18 – “Her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord…”
🔎 In the end, even Tyre’s wealth is redeemed. The profit of a once-proud empire is used to feed and clothe those who serve the Lord. God reclaims the riches of the nations for His purpose.
➡️ What is surrendered to God—no matter how corrupted—can be transformed and made holy.
Isaiah Chapter 23 - Deeper Study
Overview: From Commerce to Consecration
🔹 Timeframe: During Isaiah’s ministry; fulfilled in waves through sieges.
🔹 Setting: The coastal trade empire of Tyre.
🔹 Theme: Judgment on wealth and pride; the potential for redemption.
🔹 Connection to Christ: All riches ultimately belong to the King; His kingdom reclaims what was used for self.
The Rise and Fall of Material Pride
Tyre represents all worldly systems built on commerce, pride, and self-glory. But even in judgment, God leaves room for redemption. This chapter warns against exalting wealth—and calls us to surrender all to God.
🔹 Wealth cannot save.
🔹 Trade and global influence are fragile before God.
🔹 Earthly glory fades—but can be redeemed.
🔹 God’s purpose overrides human empires.
🔹 True prosperity comes when wealth is made holy.
➡️ Don’t idolize what God intends to sanctify.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Tyre’s pride in commerce led to judgment.
🔑 Even the strongest economies can fall.
🔑 God redeems what is surrendered to Him.
🔑 Wealth is only holy when it serves God’s purpose.
🔑 Redemption follows judgment for those who yield.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Tyre’s downfall fulfilled through Babylonian and later invasions.
🔮 Seventy-year pattern echoes Israel’s captivity—God works in cycles.
🔮 The transformation of Tyre’s wealth prefigures nations offering gifts to Christ (Isaiah 60:5–9).
🔮 Revelation 18 parallels this fall in Babylon—the end of world commerce.
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Tyre was a Phoenician city, rich from maritime trade and shipping.
📜 Its influence extended across the Mediterranean.
📜 Tyre’s pride became legendary—trusted in riches over righteousness.
📜 God’s judgment humbled it, yet His mercy reclaimed its future.
Present-Day Reflection: The Collapse of Economic Idolatry
Modern nations often mirror Tyre—trusting in wealth, market systems, and trade. Isaiah 23 reminds us that these are temporary tools in the hands of an eternal God. Even the global economy will bow to Christ.
🔹 Economic systems are not immune to collapse.
🔹 God judges nations that glorify self over Him.
🔹 Riches can either corrupt—or be consecrated.
🔹 God still calls for surrender, not self-exaltation.
🔹 What is given to the Lord can be made holy.
➡️ Trust not in the stockpile—but in the Sovereign.
💡 Final Reflection: From Marketplace to Ministry
Tyre’s journey from pride to purpose shows that no empire is too far gone. God can humble and then restore—even wealth, when yielded, becomes worship.
📌 Is your treasure surrendered—or self-serving?
📌 Are you building to impress—or to bless?
📌 Will your gain glorify you—or serve the Kingdom?
📖 Isaiah 23:18 – “Her merchandise… shall be for them that dwell before the Lord…”
🔥 When God reclaims wealth, it no longer corrupts—it nourishes holiness and honors Him.
An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon
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.
Isa 23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
Isa 23:3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
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.
Isa 23:5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.
Isa 23:6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.
Isa 23:7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
Isa 23:8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?
Isa 23:9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
Isa 23:10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
Isa 23:11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.
Isa 23:12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.
Isa 23:13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.
Isa 23:14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.
Isa 23:15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Isa 23:16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Isa 23:17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Isa 23:18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Date Written
740–700 BC
Written By
The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz
Language
Hebrew
Verses
18