He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.
Parallel Translations
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He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.
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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.
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He hath stretched out His hand over the sea, He hath shaken the kingdoms; the LORD hath given commandment concerning Canaan, to destroy the strongholds thereof;
Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Isaiah 23:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Zechariah 9:3-4 Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.
- Exodus 14:21 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
- Genesis 9:25 He said, “Canaan is cursed. He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”
- Genesis 10:15-19 Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha.
- Exodus 15:8-10 With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’ You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
- Psalms 46:6 The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice and the earth melted.
- Psalms 71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
- Isaiah 2:19 Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
- Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me I will give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Isaiah 14:16-17 Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities, who didn’t release his prisoners to their home?”
- Isaiah 23:3 On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.
- Isaiah 25:2 For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built.
- Jeremiah 47:7 “How can you be quiet, since Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.”
- Ezekiel 26:10 By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city which is broken open.
- Ezekiel 26:15-19 “The Lord Yahweh says to Tyre: ‘Won’t the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made within you? Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground, and will tremble every moment, and be astonished at you. They will take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, “How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!” Now the islands will tremble in the day of your fall. Yes, the islands that are in the sea will be dismayed at your departure.’ “For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I bring up the deep on you, and the great waters cover you;
- Ezekiel 27:34-35 In the time that you were broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell within you. All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid. They are troubled in their face.
- Ezekiel 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit. All the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.
- Hosea 12:7-8 A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud. Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.”
- Nahum 1:14 Yahweh has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, I will cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.”
- Haggai 2:7 and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.
- Zechariah 14:21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.
- Mark 11:17 He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!”
- John 2:16 To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 23:11 He stretched out his hand over the…
Isa 23:11 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.
Ver. 11. He stretched out his hand.] That "mighty hand" of his, {1Pe 5:6} wherewith he spanneth the heavens, {Isa 48:13} brought the Red Sea upon the Egyptians, {Exo 14:26} and still shaketh the wicked out of the earth, as by a canvas. {Job 38:13}
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He shook the kingdoms.] Shook and shattered them - viz., by Nebuchadnezzar; the kingdom of Tyre especially, to the terror of others. {Eze 26:15}
The Lord.] "That man of war." {Exo 15:3} "Mighty in battle." {Psa 24:8}
Hath given a commandment.] Bidding his forces fall on.
Against the merchant city.] Heb., Against, or concerning, Canaan; so he calleth Tyre the posterity of the old Canaanites, and a place of great merchandise. See Hos 12:7.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He, the Lord, expressed Isa 23:9, stretched out his…
He, the Lord, expressed Isa 23:9, stretched out his hand to strike it, the antecedent being put for the consequent,
over the sea; or, against the sea, i.e. against Tyrus, the daughter of the sea, as she was now called; and consequently against all those ships and men which used to traffic with Tyrus, and were enriched by that trade, and therefore suffered in her fall.
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He shook the kingdoms, Heb. he made the kingdoms to tremble; either,
1. The two kingdoms of Tyre and Sidon; or rather,
2. The neighbouring and confederate kingdoms, as appears by comparing this with Eze 26:15-18, who might justly quake at her fall, partly, for the dreadfulness and unexpectedness of the thing; partly, because Tyre was a bulwark, and a refuge, and a great advantage to them; and partly, because her fall made way for their ruin, as being destroyed by their common enemy.
Hath given a commandment; hath contrived and purposed it, as was said, Isa 23:8,9; hath put this design into the heads and hearts of her enemies, and given them courage to attempt, and strength to execute, so difficult an enterprise.
Against the merchant city, Heb. against Canaan; the word Canaan being taken either,
1. For a merchant, as it is used, Job 41:6; Hos 12:7; or rather,
2. For the proper name of a place or people, as it is generally used; for the Tyrians and Sidonians were descended from Canaan, Gen 10:15, and were the only considerable remainders of that cursed race whom God had devoted to destruction. And so this phrase may be here used both as all evidence and as an argument of their intended and approaching ruin.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He stretched out his hand over the sea,.... That…
He stretched out his hand over the sea,.... That is, the Lord of hosts, who had purposed to destroy Tyre, stretched out his hand of power over it, called the sea, as in Isa 23:4 because situated in it, supported by it, and had the sovereignty of it; in like manner as he stretched out his hand on the Red Sea, and destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians in it; to which the allusion may be:
he shook the kingdoms; of Tyre and Zidon, which were both kingdoms, and distinct ones; and also made other neighbouring kingdoms shake and tremble when these fell, fearing it would be their case next. Some understand this of the moving of Nebuchadnezzar, and of the kings of the provinces under him, to come against Tyre:
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the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city; the city of Tyre, so famous for merchandise, that it was the mart of nations, as in Isa 23:3 or "against Canaan", in which country Tyre and Zidon were, being originally built and inhabited by the posterity of Canaan, Gen 10:15,
to destroy the strong holds thereof; either of the merchant city Tyre, whose fortifications were strong, both by nature and art; or "of Canaan", whose strong holds, or fortified cities, the principal of them were Tyre and Zidon; so Jarchi: and if the Lord of hosts gives a commandment to destroy it and its strong holds, as he did to Nebuchadnezzar and his army, and afterwards to Alexander and his, who could save them? that is, God said it, who gave commandment to destroy it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain He - The Lord. Shook - Hebrew. he made…
He - The Lord. Shook - Hebrew. he made the kingdoms to tremble; the neighbouring and confederate kingdoms, who might justly quake at her fall, for the dreadfulness and unexpectedness of the thing; and because Tyre was a bulwark, and a refuge to them. A commandment - Hath put this design into the hearts of her enemies, and given them courage to attempt, and strength to execute it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 23:11-12. He — Namely, the Lord, mentioned in…
Isa 23:11-12. He — Namely, the Lord, mentioned in the latter part of the verse; stretched out his hand over the sea — That is, Tyre, called the sea, (Isa 23:4,) to overthrow it. He shook — Hebrew, הרגיז, he made to tremble, the kingdoms — Either the two kingdoms of Tyre and Zidon, or the neighbouring and confederate kingdoms, which might justly quake at her fall, for the dreadfulness and unexpectedness of the event, and because Tyre was a bulwark and a refuge to them. The Lord hath given a commandment, to destroy, &c. — Hath put this design into the hearts of her enemies, and given them courage to attempt, and strength to execute it. Thou shalt no more rejoice, oppressed virgin — He calls her a virgin, because she had hitherto never borne the yoke of a conquering enemy; though withal he signifies that she should be oppressed, and, as it were, ravished, by her enemies. Daughter of Zidon — Tyre is called the daughter of Zidon, because she was first built and inhabited by a colony of the Zidonians; as Pliny calls Carthage the daughter of Tyre, because she was built by a colony of Tyrians. “It is certain,” says Lowth, “that of the two cities, Zidon was much the most ancient, being mentioned by Moses in his account of the peopling of the world after the flood, Gen 10:19; and again, chap. 49:13. Afterward it is called by Joshua, great Zidon, Jos 11:8 : Homer likewise takes notice of Zidon, but not of Tyre; and the authority of Strabo is express to the same purpose.” Arise, pass over to Chittim, &c. — See on Isa 23:1; Isa 23:6. “Of all the Phenicians,” says Bishop Newton, “the Tyrians were the most celebrated for their shipping and colonies. Tyre exceeded Zidon in this respect, as Strabo testifies, and sent forth colonies into Africa and Spain, unto and beyond the pillars of Hercules: and Quintus Curtius says that her colonies were diffused almost over the whole world. The Tyrians, therefore, having planted colonies at Tarshish, and upon the coasts of Chittim, it was natural for them, when they were pressed with dangers and difficulties at home, to flee to their friends and countrymen abroad for protection. That they really did so, St. Jerome asserts, upon the authority of Assyrian histories, which are now lost. But,” it is here foretold, that, “though they should pass over to Chittim, yet even there they should find no quiet settlement; There also shalt thou have no rest — Megasthenes (an historian who lived about 300 years before Christ) is quoted by several ancient authors, for saying that Nebuchadnezzar subdued a great part of Africa and Spain, and proceeded as far as the pillars of Hercules. After he had subdued Tyre and Egypt, we may suppose he carried his arms further westward; and if he proceeded as far as Megasthenes reports, the Tyrians might well be said to have no rest, their conqueror pursuing them from one country to another. But besides this, and after this, the Carthaginians, and other colonies of the Tyrians, lived in a very unsettled state. Their history is made up of little but wars and tumults, even before their three fatal wars with the Romans, in every one of which their affairs grew worse and worse. Sicily and Spain, Europe and Africa, the land, and their own element, the sea, were theatres of their calamities and miseries; till, at last, not only the new, but old Carthage too, was utterly destroyed. As the Carthaginians sprung from the Tyrians, and the Tyrians from the Zidonians, and Zidon was the firstborn of Canaan, (Gen 10:15,) so the curse upon Canaan seems to have pursued them to the most distant parts of the earth.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He stretched out his hand - That is, Yahweh…
He stretched out his hand - That is, Yahweh (see Isa 23:9). To stretch out the hand is indicative of punishment (see the notes at Isa 5:25; Isa 9:12), and means that God has resolved to inflict exemplary punishment on Tyre and its dependent colonies.
Over the sea - That is, over the sea coast of Phenicia; or over the cities that were built on the coast. This alludes to the fact that Nebuchadnezzar would lay siege to these cities, and would ravage the maritime coast of Phenicia. It is not improbable also that, having taken Tyre, he would extend his conquests to Citium, on the island of Cyprus, and destroy as many of the dependent cities of Tyre as possible.
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The Lord hath given a commandment - The control here asserted over Nebuchadnezzar is similar to that which he asserted over the Assyrian Sennacherib (see the note at Isa 10:5).
Against the merchant city - Hebrew, ‘Against Canaan’ (על־כנען 'el-kena‛an). The word ‘Canaan’ may here be used as in Isa 23:8, to denote a place given to merchandise or traffic, since this was the principal employment of the inhabitants of this region; but it is rather to be taken in its obvious and usual sense in the Scriptures, as denoting the land of Canaan, and as denoting that Nebuchadnezzar would be sent against that, and especially the maritime parts of it, to lay it waste.
To destroy the strongholds thereof - That is, the strongholds of Canaan; as Tyre, Sidon, Accho, etc. Tyre, especially, was strongly fortified, and was able long to resist the arms of the Chaldeans.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain kingdoms--the PhÅ“nician cities and colonies.
He--Jehovah.
kingdoms--the Phœnician cities and colonies.
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the merchant city--rather, Canaan, meaning the north of it, namely, Phœnicia. On their coins, they call their country Canaan.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. He stretched out his hand — The subject…
11. He stretched out his hand — The subject of the verb is Jehovah. The gesture here, quite a common representation with Isaiah, intends punishment and correction.
Over the sea — Over the domain of Tyrian commerce, more especially Phoenician cities on the sea.
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Shook the kingdoms — The whole of Phoenicia, by means of noted warriors whose selfish aims at conquest were divinely overruled for correction.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. He stretched out his hand, &c.] R.V. he…
11. He stretched out his hand, &c.] R.V. he hath stretched out … hath shaken. Cf. ch. Isa_5:25, Isa_14:26-27. The kingdoms are specially Phœnicia and its dependencies.
the merchant city] Read Canaan and see on Isa_23:8. “Canaan” is the name used by the Phœnicians of themselves and their colonists, but this is the only example in the Old Test. of its restriction to Phœnicia.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) He shook the kingdoms.—The picture of the great…
(11) He shook the kingdoms.—The picture of the great convulsion of the time includes more than Tyre and its subject states. Egypt, Ethiopia, Babylon, Syria, Israel, Judah, were all affected, shaken as to their very foundations, by the rapid progress of the restored Assyrian empire under Tiglath-pileser and his successors.
Against the merchant city.—Literally, Canaan (the word “city” being an interpolation), taken here as equivalent to Phœnicia. So in Jos_5:1, the LXX. translates “Canaanites” by “Phœnicia.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He stretched out his hand over the sea, By…
He stretched out his hand over the sea, By "he" we must understand "Jehovah" (see ver. 9). God has smitten Tyro the great maritime power destroyed its dominion, and set its subject cities free. He shook the kingdoms; i.e. not only Tyre, but the other cities of the Phoenician coast, each of which had its own king (Herod., 7:98; Strab., 16. p. 754). Against the merchant city; rather, against Canaan. Phoenicia is called "Canaan," as England is often called "Britain." So the "SyroPhoenician woman" of Mar_7:26 is "a woman of Canaan" in Mat_15:22.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 23:11 Phoenicia was the region north of Israel. Tyre…
23:11 Phoenicia was the region north of Israel. Tyre and Sidon were its main cities.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.