Yesaya 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ¹  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.” ² 

Yesaya 64:9

64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!

Do not hold our sins against us continually! ³ 

Take a good look at your people, at all of us! ⁴ 

[23:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[64:9]  ³ tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”

[64:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”