Isaiah 23:11

The prophet now proceeds to relate, as it were, to the Pheonicio-Spanish colony, the daughter, i.e., the population of Tartessus, what has happened to the mother country. "His hand hath He stretched over the sea, thrown kingdoms into trembling; Jehovah hath given commandment concerning Kena'an, to destroy her fortresses. And He said, Thou shalt not rejoice any further, thou disgraced one, virgin daughter of Sidon! Get up to Kittim, go over; there also shalt thou not find rest." There is no ground whatever for restricting the "kingdoms" (mamlâcoth) to the several small Phoenician states (compare Isa 19:2). Jehovah, reaching over the sea, has thrown the lands of Hither Asia and Egypto-Ethiopia into a state of the most anxious excitement, and has summoned them as instruments of destruction with regard to Kenaēan (אל, like על in Est 4:5). Phoenicia called itself Kena‛an (Canaan); but this is the only passage in the Old Testament in which the name occurs in this most restricted sense. לשׁמיד, for להשׁמיד, as in Num 5:22; Amo 8:4. The form מעזניה is more rare, but it is not a deformity, as Knobel and others maintain. There are other examples of the same resolution of the reduplication and transposition of the letters (it stands for מענזיה, possibly a Phoenician word; see Hitzig, Grabschrift, p. 16, and Levi, Phoenizische Studien, p. 17), viz., תּמנוּ in Lam 3:22 (vid., at Psa 64:7), and קבנו in Num 23:13, at least according to the Jewish grammar (see, however, Ewald, 250, b). (Note: Bttcher derives the form from מעזן, a supposed diminutive; see, however, Jesurun, pp. 212-216.) "Virgin of the daughter of Sidon" (equivalent to "virgin daughter of Sidon," two epexegetical genitives; Ewald, 289, c) is synonymous with Kena‛an. The name of the ancestral city (compare Isa 37:22) h…

This chapter is concerning Tyre, an ancient wealthy city, situated upon the sea, and for many ages one of the most celebrated cities for trade and merchandise in those parts of the world. The lot of the tribe of Asher bordered upon it. See Jos 19:29, where it is called "the strong city Tyre." We seldom find it a dangerous enemy to Israel, but sometimes their faithful ally, as in the reigns of David and Solomon; for trading cities maintain their grandeur, not by the conquest of their neighbours, but by commerce with them. In this chapter is foretold, I. The lamentable desolation of Tyre, which was performed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army, about the time that they destroyed Jerusalem; and a hard task they had of it, as appears Eze 29:18, where they are said to have "served a hard service against Tyre," and yet to have no wages (Isa 23:1-14). II. The restoration of Tyre after seventy years, and the return of the Tyrians out of their captivity to their trade again (Isa 23:15-18).

23:11 Phoenicia was the region north of Israel. Tyre and Sidon were its main cities.