Yesaya 23:2

23:2 Lament, ¹  you residents of the coast,

you merchants of Sidon ²  who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over

Yesaya 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ³  says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.” ⁴ 

Yesaya 23:12

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed ⁵  virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.” ⁶ 

[23:2]  ¹ tn Or “keep quiet”; NAB “Silence!”

[23:2]  ² map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[23:4]  ³ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

[23:4]  ⁴ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:4]  sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were.

[23:12]  ⁵ tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

[23:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.