Isaiah 23:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He has stretched out his hand over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms; the LORD has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds.

NIV: The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed.

NASB: He has stretched His hand out over the sea, He has made the kingdoms tremble; The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.

CSB: He stretched out his hand over the sea; he made kingdoms tremble. The Lord has commanded that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

NLT: The Lord held out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia, ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; The Lord has given a commandment against Canaan To destroy its strongholds.

Up through this verse, Isaiah has provided a shocking answer to a potent question: who is—or would be, when the prophecy is fulfilled—responsible for the destruction of the wealthy and ancient port city of Tyre (Isaiah 23:8)? He does not give credit to the army that found a way to defeat the well-defended city. The two armies that eventually defeated Tyre were the Assyrians, who conquered them in part, and Alexander the Great who defeated them entirely. Rather, Isaiah puts the responsibility squarely at the feet of the Lord (Isaiah 23:9).

Why has the Lord used an army that is not His own people of Israel to do such a thing? The prophet Isaiah has pointed to the pride of the people of Tyre and the misplaced honor heaped on them by the people of the world. Tyre's success in the world was made possible entirely by the Lord. Yet they took all the credit for themselves. The Lord will show the world, once more, that humans are not self-existing or self-sustaining. No matter how successful, wealthy, or powerful they may appear in the moment, all their perceived greatness rests in the hands of the Lord almighty.

He now adds that God has stretched out His hand over the sea. The people of Tyre and their region of Phoenicia thought of the sea as their own domain. They viewed these vast waters as theirs for building wealth and seeking adventure. The Lord will show them He alone is the God of the sea. Their Canaanite gods or the captains of their impressive trading ships hold no power by comparison.

The Lord has disrupted the kingdoms and given the command to destroy the Canaanite strongholds. Throughout this book, Isaiah has described how the Lord will destroy one nation after another by use of Assyria and perhaps others. No nation is unbeatable if the Lord decides they will be torn down. There is no place on earth to escape the hand of the Lord when He decides to demonstrate His power over the pride and arrogance of humanity.

Chapter 23:1–12 describes the aftermath of the Lord's judgment against Tyre. The passage makes it clear that God is bringing this doom because the city's pride. The command which the Lord gives is absolute and cannot be avoided. Upcoming passages will compare this ruin to a then-extinct civilization, the Chaldeans. Tyre will become a trading hub once again, but with much less glory and her wealth will be used to provide for the Lord'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).