Isaiah 23:2-4

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

you merchants of Sidon ²  who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over 23:3 the deep waters! ³ 

Grain from the Shihor region, ⁴ 

crops grown near the Nile ⁵  she receives; ⁶ 

she is the trade center ⁷  of the nations.

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ⁸  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.” ⁹ 

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

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

[23:3]  ³ tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.

[23:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”

[23:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “[is] her revenue.”

[23:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.”

[23:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).