Isaiah 23:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

NIV: At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

NASB: It will come about at the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her prostitute’s wages and commit prostitution with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

CSB: And at the end of the seventy years, the Lord will restore Tyre and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth.

NLT: Yes, after seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

The prophet Isaiah has predicted the utter leveling of the port city of Tyre. This will be the Lord's judgment for her pride and self-glorification (Isaiah 23:1–12). Here, he describes her return to status as one of the world's premier shipping and trading cities after seventy years of being forgotten and ignored (Isaiah 23:15–16). However, Isaiah is not using the marketing language one might expect for Tyre's grand re-opening. He has described the city's return to her "wages" as a form of prostitution. He is presenting the city as one hiring themselves out to all the kingdoms of the world for their trading and shipping needs in the region of Phoenicia.

This message isn't meant, at all, to imply that all successful business endeavors are like prostitution. Carrying out one's business with integrity, wisdom, and generosity is praised in the Bible. Something about Tyre's specific business practices, and her attitude of being willing to do anything for money, is what caused the people of this city to be compared to a prostitute.

Isaiah's prophecy about the city's return takes a surprisingly positive turn in the following verse (Isaiah 23:18).

Isaiah 23:13–18 completes predictions about the future of Tyre and Sidon. Previous verses indicated the city would be destroyed. Here, Isaiah offers other examples of God's judgment. He then indicates that Tyre's ruin will last seventy years. After comes a form of restoration. However, this will not be the proud status of the past. Instead, the city will be like a prostitute returning to that role. In some way, the profit of Tyre's return will help God's people.

Isaiah's final oracle against the nations describes the aftermath of God's judgment on the port city of Tyre. This city was a great center of trade and shipping in the world. The sailors returning will mourn when they get the news the city and its port is wiped out. The mourning will extend to the Phoenician people, the sea itself, the Egyptian grain industry, and the people of Tarshish. The prophet is clear that the Lord has done this in judgment against Tyre's pride. After 70 years of being forgotten, Tyre will thrive again as a prostitute to the nations. The Lord's people will receive her wages.

Prior chapters included prophecies about the nations surrounding Israel. Most of these have been arranged to warn Israel not to assume those neighbors would make effective allies against God's judgment. Chapter 23 is the final of these "oracles." Tyre was a great center of shipping and trade on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel. When it is destroyed, it will be mourned all around the great sea. After this, the predictions expand to a worldwide focus, with implications for the end times.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).