Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon that pass over the sea, have replenished.
Parallel Translations
-
Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon that pass over the sea, have replenished.
-
Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
-
Be still, ye inhabitants of the coast-land; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Isaiah 23:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 47:5 “Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you shall no longer be called the mistress of kingdoms.
- Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
- Isaiah 41:1 “Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let’s meet together for judgment.
- Ezekiel 27:3-4 and tell Tyre, ‘You who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, the Lord Yahweh says: “You, Tyre, have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ Your borders are in the heart of the seas. Your builders have perfected your beauty.
- Ezekiel 27:8-36 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers. Your wise men, Tyre, were in you. They were your pilots. The old men of Gebal and its wise men were your repairers of ship seams in you. All the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise. “ ‘ “Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you. They showed your beauty. The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and valiant men were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around. They have perfected your beauty. “ ‘ “Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches. They traded for your wares with silver, iron, tin, and lead. “ ‘ “Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders. They traded the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. “ ‘ “They of the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses, war horses, and mules. “ ‘ “The men of Dedan traded with you. Many islands were the market of your hand. They brought you horns of ivory and ebony in exchange. “ ‘ “Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks. They traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies. “ ‘ “Judah and the land of Israel were your traders. They traded wheat of Minnith, confections, honey, oil, and balm for your merchandise. “ ‘ “Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool. “ ‘ “Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus were among your merchandise. “ ‘ “Dedan was your trafficker in precious cloths for riding. “ ‘ “Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar were the merchants of your hand; in lambs, rams, and goats. In these, they were your merchants. “ ‘ “The traders of Sheba and Raamah were your traders. They traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. “ ‘ “Haran, Canneh, and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were your traders. These were your traders in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise. “ ‘ “The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise. You were replenished and made very glorious in the heart of the seas. Your rowers have brought you into great waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas. Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is among you, will fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin. At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the pasture lands will shake. All who handle the oars, the mariners and all the pilots of the sea, will come down from their ships. They will stand on the land, and will cause their voice to be heard over you, and will cry bitterly. They will cast up dust on their heads. They will wallow in the ashes. They will make themselves bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth. They will weep for you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. In their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, ‘Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the middle of the sea?’ When your wares went out of the seas, you filled many peoples. You enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise. 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. The merchants among the peoples hiss at you. You have become a terror, and you will be no more.” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 28:2 “Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas;’ yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God—
- Habakkuk 2:20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Have haunteth thee, and enriched thee.
Have haunteth thee, and enriched thee.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle;…
Isa 23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
Ver. 2. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle.] A nundinatorio strepitu quiescite, et plorate, Be quiet, and mourn.
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 Be still, Heb. Be silent, as one confounded, and…
Be still, Heb. Be silent, as one confounded, and not knowing what to say, or as mourners use to be, Job 2 8,13; Isa 47:5; boast no more of thy wealth and power, as thou usedst to do.
Of the isle, Heb. of Tyrus, which now was an island, Eze 27:3; 28:2, till Alexander joined it to the continent, as Pithy reports. Although the title of islands is oft given by the Hebrews to places bordering upon the sea.
Read full note →
Zidon; an eminent city of Palestine, nigh unto Tyre, much concerned with her and for her.
That pass over the sea; that are a seafaring people. Have replenished; with mariners, Eze 27:8, and commodities.
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 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle,.... Either the…
Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle,.... Either the isles of Chittim, or other islands that traded with Tyre, the singular being put for the plural, called upon to grieve and mourn, because the city of their merchandise was destroyed, as Kimchi; or of Tyre itself, which being situated at some distance from the shore, was an island itself, until it was joined to the continent by Alexander (q); and even old Tyre might be so called, it being usual in Scripture to call places by the seashore isles; and besides, old Tyre included in it new Tyre, the island, as Pliny (r) suggests; who are instructed to be silent as mourners, and to cease from the hurries of business, which they would be obliged to, and not boast of their power and wealth, as they had formerly done, or attempt to defend themselves, which would be in vain:
thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished; Zidon was a very ancient city of Phoenicia, more ancient than Tyre; for Tyre was a colony of the Zidonians, and built by them, and so might be said to be replenished by them with men from the first, as it also was with mariners, Eze 27:8 and likewise with merchants and wares, they being a trading and seafaring people; wherefore they are spoken of as merchants, and as passing over the sea: or this may be understood of the isles replenished with goods by the merchants of Tyre and Zidon, but now no more, and therefore called to mourning.
Read full note →
(q) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. (r) Ibid.
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 Be still - Hebrew. be silent, boast no more…
Be still - Hebrew. be silent, boast no more of thy wealth and power. The isle - Of Tyre, which was an island, 'till Alexander joined it to the continent. The title of islands is often given by the Hebrew to places bordering upon the sea. That pass - That are a sea-faring people. Replenished - With manners, and commodities.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Be still - "Be silent"] Silence is…
Verse 2. Be still - "Be silent"] Silence is a mark of grief and consternation. See Isa 47:5. Jeremiah has finely expressed this image: -
"The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the
Read full note →
ground, they are silent:
They have cast up dust on their heads, they
have girded themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their
heads to the ground."
La 2:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 23:2-3. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isles…
Isa 23:2-3. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isles — Hebrew, דמו, be silent; as persons confounded, and not knowing what to say, or as mourners use to be. Silence is a mark of grief and consternation: see Isa 47:5; Lamentations 11:10. The prophet here addresses the people of Tyre now fled to the island. The title of island, however, is often given by the Hebrews to places not surrounded by the sea, but only bordering upon it; whom the merchants of Zidon have replenished — With mariners and commodities. Tyre and Sidon, being cities near each other, and both famous for merchandise and navigation, helped to enrich each other. And by great waters the seed of Sihor, &c. — Sihor here means the river Nile, so called, as it is also Jer 2:18, and 1Ch 13:5, from the blackness of its waters charged with the mud, which it brings down from Ethiopia, when it overflows; as it was called by the Greeks Melas, and by the Latins Melo, for the same reason. “The English translation,” says Lowth, “published under Queen Elizabeth, gives us a clearer sense of this verse thus: The seed of Nilus, growing by the abundance of waters, and the harvest of the river was her revenues.” Egypt, by its extraordinary fertility, caused by the overflowing of the Nile, supplied the neighbouring nations with corn, by which branch of trade the Tyrians gained great wealth.
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 Be still - This is the description of a…
Be still - This is the description of a city which is destroyed, where the din of commerce, and the sound of revelry is no longer heard. It is an address of the prophet to Tyre, indicating that it would be soon still, and destroyed.
Ye inhabitants of the isle - (of Tyre). The word ‘isle’ (אי 'iy) is sometimes used to denote a “coast or maritime region” (see the note at Isa 20:6), but there seems no reason to doubt that here it means the island on which New Tyre was erected. This may have been occupied even before Old Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, though the main city was on the crest.
Read full note →
Thou whom the merchants of Zidon - Tyre was a colony from Sidon; and the merchants of Sidon would trade to Tyre as well as to Sidon.
Have replenished - Hebrew, ‘have filled,’ that is, with merchandise, and with wealth. Thus, in Eze 27:8, Tyre is represented as having derived its seamen from Sidon: ‘Theinhabitants of Sidon and of Arvad were thy mariners.’ And in Eze 27:9-23, Tyre is represented as having been filled with shipbuilders, merchants, mariners, soldiers, etc., from Gebal, Persia, Lud, Phut, Tarshish, Jayvan, Tubal, Mesheck, Dedan, Syria, Damascus, Arabia, etc.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Island. Tyre was originally surrounded with water. A communication…
Island. Tyre was originally surrounded with water. A communication with the land was made afterwards, Josue xix. 29. (Calmet) (Ezechiel xxvii.) (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Be still--"struck dumb with awe." Addressed to those already…
Be still--"struck dumb with awe." Addressed to those already in the country, eye-witnesses of its ruin (Lam 2:10); or, in contrast to the busy din of commerce once heard in Tyre; now all is hushed and still.
isle--strictly applicable to New Tyre: in the sense coast, to the mainland city, Old Tyre (compare Isa 23:6; Isa 20:6).
Read full note →
Zidon--of which Tyre was a colony, planted when Zidon was conquered by the Philistines of Ascalon. Zidon means a "fishing station"; this was its beginning.
replenished--with wealth and an industrious population (Eze 27:3, Eze 27:8, Eze 27:23). Here "Zidon," as the oldest city of Phœnicia, includes all the Phœnician towns on the strip of "coast." Thus, Eth-baal, king of Tyre [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8.3,2], is called king of the Sidonians (Kg1 16:31); and on coins Tyre is called the metropolis of the Sidonians.
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 2. Be still — Or, dumb with astonishment.
2. Be still — Or, dumb with astonishment.
Isle — In Hebrew, this word applies to the coast, whether of island or mainland. Therefore, the inhabitants of the towns on the Mediterranean are here addressed, who were enriched by commerce with Phoenicia. Zidon was a city of honour, not because greater, but because more ancient, than Tyre.
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 2. The prophet next apostrophises the inhabitants of the…
2. The prophet next apostrophises the inhabitants of the coast (render so, as in ch. Isa_20:6), i.e. Phœnicia, calling them to be still, or rather dumb, with bewilderment.
the merchants (in Heb. collective sing.) of Zidon] Zidon is generally interpreted throughout this prophecy as standing for Phœnicia as a whole. This is perhaps unnecessary, although it can easily be justified by usage (see Deu_3:9; Jdg_3:3; 1Ki_11:1, &c.). Zidon is said to have been the most ancient of the Phœnician settlements, and its merchants might naturally be spoken of as having founded the commercial prosperity of the country.
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 (2) Inhabitants of the isle . . .—Better, coast.…
(2) Inhabitants of the isle . . .—Better, coast. The word was specially appropriate to the narrow seaboard strip of land occupied by the Phœnicians—Zidon, the older city, the “great Zidon” of Jos_11:8; Jos_19:28, appearing as the representative of Phœnicia generally. It was her commerce that had filled Tyre and the other daughter cities. The “dumbness” to which the prophet calls the people is that of stupefied terror.
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 Be still; rather, be silent, as in the margin.…
Be still; rather, be silent, as in the margin. It would be idle to complain or lament. Ye inhabitants of the isle. Tyro was situated on a small isle, which Alexander joined to the mainland by means of a mole (Arrian, "Exp. Alex.," 2:23). It is uncertain, however, whether this isle is meant here, or the strip of Phoenician coast, since the Hebrew i has both meanings. Thou whom the merchants of Zidon... have replenished. During the flourishing period of Tyro (B.C. 1025-585), Zidon, though it had generally kings of its own, played a secondary part to Tyre, and for the most part acquiesced in Tyrian supremacy. Its best sailors served in the Tyrian fleet, (Eze_27:8) and its merchants were content to enrich the recognized "chief city.
The dependence of one nation upon another.
Read full note →
Tyre was, according to some authorities, a colony of Zidon. And the figure in the text sets forth a corporate body, each part dependent on the other. Insular Tyre directly dependent on the mainland, and both closely related to Zidon. And yet further, the Egyptians had in their country no timber for the building of seaworthy ships, so their foreign trade was carried on for them by the Phoenicians. Some of the European nations now are pressing to secure seaports, in order to relieve their sense of dependence on others. Insular England does the carrying trade for the world, so all nations depend on her, and she in turn depends on the trading of the nations. In the pottery districts we were told that the white clay, of which biscuit china is made, is brought all the way from Cornwall, because it can be more easily carried than the heavier clay, and the coal, which are needed for the firing process. So even Staffordshire depends on Cornwall, and Cornwall on Staffordshire. Some countries send us corn, some sugar, some spice, some cotton, some fruit. Countries vary in their genius. Rome finds law for the world, Greece finds art, and Palestine finds religion. For its highest wellbeing no one nation can separate itself from the others. It lives and thrives by its very dependence. We only note
I THAT THIS MUTUAL DEPENDENCE TENDS TO CHECK THE WAR-SPIRIT. The people of the nations never want war. They may be roused to a fever-heat of passion, and so be driven into war; but the long experience of the ages proves that, whoever gets good out of war, the people always suffer. Classes of society want war; but only for the maintenance of selfish interests. The evil of war is seen in its shutting the markets of the world. Such is England"s dependence on foreign corn, and so nearly does it consume its stores in the face of the new harvest, that six months" war would threaten famine. All classes, except those who trade in war and war material, pray and strive for universal peace. Man"s true interests support the Christian principles.
II THAT THIS MUTUAL DEPENDENCE ENRICHES ALL SECTIONS. God has ordered his world so that nobody shall be "sufficient to himself." And the more a man seems to have, the more dependent he becomes, because of the increase of his wants. The most independent man is the ignorant laborer, who can lie anywhere and eat anything; the least independent, the wealthy man who has encouraged ten thousand needless wants and luxuries. God puts the abundance of one thing in one land, and of another thing in another. And the exchange of commodities enriches all. The world is one body, "and if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." The interest of one nation is the interest of all. God is the God and Father of all. R.T.
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 23:2 Sidon was a Phoenician port to the north…
23:2 Sidon was a Phoenician port to the north of Tyre. • Tyre’s commercial network of traders was extensive.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.