Ibn Ezra on Isaiah

Tyre. A town near the sea; it was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.. 10:11). As to the first siege, it is distinctly stated by Josephus that it was not successful; the result of the second is not mentioned, and some infer from Ez. 29:18, that Nebuchadnezzar did not conquer Tyre. But whether conquered or not, the distress and misery which so long a siege must have entailed upon the inhabitants of Tyre, the loss they sustained in wealth and territories, fully corresponds with the humiliation predicted by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. I. E. refers this chapter to the second and not to the first siege, very likely because the Chaldæans are mentioned in it, according to his interpretation, as the conquerors of Assyria (ver. 13). כי שרר מבית מבוא For it is laid waste, that there is no house, no entering in. For every house in Tyre is destroyed, that no merchants come there any more. From the land of Chittim. Even from the land of Chittim, which is very far, this destruction was announced to the ships of Tarshish. Chittim is mentioned, because of the ships which passed the coast thereof. Comp. (Num. 24:25)

Inhabitants of the isle. Inhabitants of Tyre. Whom the merchants of Zidon, etc. Although Tyre was full of merchants from Zidon, etc. Zidon. A town likewise on the sea; comp. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, etc., and his border shall be unto Zidon (Gen. 49:13)

And by great waters, etc. The merchants brought to Tyre the seed of the Sihor, and her increase was the harvest of the Nile. סחר A mart. סחר is a noun and means merchandise; but we have here to supply בעלת; And she was the mistress of the merchandise (that is, the mart) of the nations. Comp. ובעל חסרון = וחסרון That which is wanting (Eccl. 1:15)

The sea. She that had the greatest power on the sea, that is Tyre. I travailed not, etc. It is as if there were no people in the isle of Tyre.

And at the report, etc. As at the report of the defeat of Egypt every one was startled, so they will be startled at the report of the fall of Tyre.

אל תרשיש = תרשישה To Tarshish. כל אי = אי Every island.

Is this your joyous city, etc. Is this Tyre, that was a rejoicing to you—Comp. a rejoicing to the whole land (Ps. 48:3)—that old Tyre, that must now see her people go far away into captivity.

המעטירה The crowning city. That was a glory to the islands. כנעניה Her merchants. Comp. כנען a merchant (Hos. 12:8)

The Lord of hosts, etc. The Lord, who is the King of hosts has decided this.

עברי ארצך כיאור Pass over to thy land as a river (עברי אל ארצך=עברי ארצך); that is, hasten to thy country, as quickly as the river flows, or, pass through thy land as the river which overflows the country. מזח Strength. Literally, girdle. (Comp. Ps. 109:19). It is used as a figure for strength, because a girdle supports the loins.

He stretched out His hand. God stretched out His hand, that is, He brought the punishment. מעזניה The strongholds thereof. The fortresses of Tyre.—The נ in מעזניה is instead of the Dagesh in the .ז כנען Merchant city. According to some, ארחת כנען = כנען, the caravan of Canaan, because of the feminine pronoun in מעזניהֹ her strongholds.

And He said. And God said. המעשקה O robbed city. The wealth of her merchants in Tyre will be taken away. Pass over to Chittim. To trade there.

The land. The inhabitants of the land. This people. The people of the Chaldæans. לא היה There was none like them. Comp. לא היה פחד There was no fear like it (Ps. 53:6). According to others: Would that it were not; for it founded the kingdom of Assyria for wild beasts, that is, the Chaldsæans laid Assyria waste, and it became the habitation of wild beasts. לציים For the little wild beasts that live in the land. They set up the towers thereof etc. Although they, viz., the Assyrians, have set up the towers for defence, etc. בחוניו The towers thereof. Comp. בוחן tower (32:14). More correctly, the suffix in בחוניו refers to the people of the Chaldæans: when they, viz., the Chaldæans, set up their towers of siege. עוררו They raised up. It is a transitive verb. The palaces thereof. It was as if the towers stirred up the palaces, but before they awoke, he brought her to ruin, that is, the Chaldæan brought Assyria to ruin.

Ships of Tarshish. Ships that go from Tarshish to Tyre with goods.

ונשכחת And shall be forgotten. ונשכחה = ונשכחת; comp. ושבה = ושבת And it will return (Ez. 46:17). The days of one king. The reign of Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and grandson are considered as one. Shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Tyre will again be active in words and deeds.

Take up an harp, etc. The forgotten harlot walks about the city playing, that she may be remembered again; thus Tyre will send letters to all her neighbours, that the merchants may again come to her as before.

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, when that aforementioned time will come. לאתננה To her hire. Comp. אתנן זונה, hire of an harlot (Deut. 23:19), the money for her whoredom. And shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms. They will come to her for merchandise.

And her merchandise, etc. Of her profits she will sanctify a part to the Lord. לא יאצר It shall not be treasured up. It shall not be put in the storehouse ולא יחסן .(אוצר) Nor laid up. It will not be put away in a strong place (חוסן). To them that dwell before the Lord. To the exiles of Jerusalem, when they will return in the days of Cyrus. To eat sufficiently. The exiles will be satisfied. וּלְמִבְסֶה = וְלִמְבַסֶּה And for a clothing. עתיק Durable. Strong; comp. עתק strength (1 Sam. 2:3). Some ask, How can the prophet promise that the hire of the harlot Tyre will be sanctified to the Lord, since the Law prohibits the hire of an harlot to be brought to the house of the Lord? (Deut. 23:19). The reply to this question is, that the Law prohibits the real hire of an harlot, but the prophet uses the words, her hire, in a figurative sense; in reality, he does not speak of an harlot at all.