Comentários bíblicos

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.

This prophecy respects Tyre, and extends only to the end of this chapter. It is made up of a succession of "apostrophes" directed either to Tyre itself, or to the nations with which it was accustomed to trade. The first part of the prophecy Isaiah 23:1-13 is occupied with the account of the "judicial sentence" which God had passed upon Tyre. This is not done in a direct and formal manner, but by addresses to the various people with whom the Tyrians had commercial contact, and who would be particularly affected by its destruction. Thus Isaiah 23:1 the prophet calls on the ships of Tarshish to 'howl' because their advantageous commerce with Tyre must cease. This intelligence respecting the calamities that had come upon Tyre, he says would be brought to them 'from the land of Chittim' Isaiah 23:1, that is, from the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In Isaiah 23:2, the calamity is described as coming directly on the island on which Tyre was built. In the subsequent verses, the prophet describes the sources of the wealth of Tyre Isaiah 23:3, and declares that her great luxury and splendor would be destroyed Isaiah 23:5-12. In Isaiah 23:13, the prophet says that this would be done by the 'Chaldeans;' and this verse serves to fix the time of the fulfillment to the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. In this all commentators probably (except Grotius, who supposes that it refers to Aexander the Great) are agreed. Indeed, it seems to be past all doubt, that the events here referred to pertain to the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. In the remainder of the prophecy (Isaiah 23:14 to the end of the chapter), the prophet declares the "time" during which this calamity would continue. He declares that it would be only for seventy years Isaiah 23:14, and that after that, Tyre would be restored to her former splendor, magnificence, and successful commerce Isaiah 23:16-17; and that then her wealth would be consecrated to the service of Yahweh Isaiah 23:18.

The "design" of the prophecy is, therefore, to foretell the calamities that would come upon a rich, proud, and luxurious city; and tries to show that God was Governor and Ruler over the nations of the earth. Tyre became distinguished for pride, luxury, and consequent dissipation; and the destruction that was to come upon it was to be a demonstration that wicked nations and cities wound incur the displeasure of God, and would be destroyed.

Tyre, the subject of the prophecies, particularly of Isaiah and Ezekiel, who both predicted its overthrow Isaiah 23; Ezekiel 26-29, was a celebrated city of Phenicia, and is usually mentioned in connection with Sidon Matthew 11:21, Matthew 11:22; Matthew 15:21; Mark 3:8; Mark 7:24, Mark 7:31; Luke 10:13-14. It was on the coast of the Mediterranean, about lat. 33 degrees 20' N., and was about twenty miles south of Sidon. It was one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Asher Joshua 19:29, but it is probable that the ancient inhabitants were never driven out by the Israelites. It seems to have been occupied by the Canaanites, and is always mentioned as inhabited by a distinct people from the Jews 2 Samuel 24:7; 1 Kings 7:13-14; 1 Kings 9:12; Ezra 3:7; Nehemiah 13:16; Psalm 83:7; Psalm 87:4. It was probably built by a colony from Sidon: since Isaiah Isa 23:12 calls it the 'daughter of Zidon,' and it is said Isaiah 23:2 to have been replenished by Sidon. That Sidon was the most ancient city there can be no doubt. "Sidon" was the oldest son of Canaan Genesis 10:15, and the city of Sidon is mentioned by the patriarch Jacob Genesis 49:13, and in the time of Joshua it is called 'Great Sidon' Joshua 11:8. Strabo affirms that "after Sidon," Tyre was the most celebrated city of the Phenicians. Justin (xviii. 1, 5), expressly declares that the Sidonians, being besieged by the king of Ascalon, went in ships and built Tyre. But though Tyre was the 'daughter' of Sidon, yet it soon rivaled in importance, and in commercial enterprise.

Among the ancient writers, Tyre is mentioned as Palaeo-Tyrus (Παλαίτυρος Palaituros) or ancient Tyre, and as Insular Tyre. The former was built on the "coast," and was doubtless built first, though there is - evidence that the latter was early used as a place for anchorage, or a harbor. In Old Tyre, or Tyre on the coast, undoubtedly also the most magnificent edifices would be built, and the principal business would there be at first transacted. Probably Insular Tyre was built either because it furnished a better harbor, or because, being inaccessible to an invading army, it was more secure. Insular Tyre, as the name imports, was built on an island, or a "rock," about three quarters of a mile from the coast, or from Old Tyre. Probably the passage from one to the other was formerly by a ferry, or in boats only, until Alexander the Great, in his siege of the city, built a mole from the ruins of the old city to the new. This mole, or embankment, was not less than 200 feet in breadth, and constituted a permanent connection between Tyre and the mainland. Insular Tyre was remarkably safe from the danger of invasion. It commanded the sea, and of course had nothing to dread from that quarter; and the only mode in which it could become accessible to Alexander, was to build this gigantic causeway from the mainland.

Tyre was distinguished for its enterprise, its commercial importance, its luxury, and its magnificence. Few, perhaps none, of the cities of antiquity, were more favorably situated for commerce. It was the natural seaport of Palestine and Syria, and it was favorably situated for commerce with all the cities and states bordering on the Mediterranean, and, indeed, with all the known world. The luxuries of the East passed through Tyre (see Ezekiel 27, where there is an extended description of the various nations that trafficked with and enriched it), and the productions of distant climes from the West were introduced to the East through this sea-port. It rose, therefore, to great opulence, and to consequent luxury and sin.

It was also a place of great strength. Old Tyre was defended by a wall, which was regarded as impregnable, and which is said to have resisted the attacks of Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years. New, or Insular Tyre, was inaccessible, until Alexander constructed the immense mole by which he connected it with the mainland, and as they had the command of the sea, the city was regarded unapproachable. Alexander could not hare taken it had he not possessed resources, and patience, and power, which perhaps no other ancient conqueror possessed; and had he not engaged in an enterprise which perhaps all others would have regarded as impracticable and hopeless. Josephus, indeed, states, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, made war against the Tyrians, with a fleet of sixty ships, manned by 800 rowers. The Tyrians had but twelve ships, yet they obtained the victory, and dispersed the Assyrian fleet, taking 500 prisoners. Shalmaneser then besieged the city for five years, but was unable to take it. This was in the time of Hezekiah, A.M. 3287, or about 717 b.c.

Nebuchadnezzar took the city after a siege of thirteen years, during the time of the Jewish captivity, about 573 years before Christ. This was in accordance with the prophecy in this chapter (see the note at Isaiah 23:13), and according to the predictions also of Ezekiel. The desolation was entire. The city was destroyed, and the inhabitants driven into foreign lands (see Isaiah 23:7, note; Isaiah 23:12, note). The city lay desolate for seventy years (see Isaiah 23:15, note; Isaiah 23:17, note), and Old Tyre was in ruins in the time of the invasion of Alexander the Great. A new city had risen, however, on the island, called New Tyre, and this city was taken by Alexander, after a siege of eight months. Near the shore the water is said to have been shallow, but near the new city it was three fathoms, or nineteen feet in depth. The city of Tyre was taken by Alexander 332 b.c. and 241 years after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, and consequently about 170 years after it had been rebuilt.

It was not, however, entirely destroyed by Alexander, and became an object of contention to his successors. It was successively invested by Antigonas and Ptolemy, and fell into the hands of the latter. In the apostolic age it seems to have regained somewhat of its ancient splendor. There were some Christians here Acts 21:3-4. At present it belongs to Syria. It was often an object of contention during the crusades, and was distinguished as the first archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerusalem. It gradually sunk into decay, lost its importance, and became a place of utter ruin. Volney noticed there, in 1784, the choir of the ancient church, the remains of the walls of the city which can still be traced, and some columns of red granite, a species unknown in Syria. In the time when it was visited by Volhey and Maundrell, it was a miserable village, where the inhabitants subsisted chiefly by fishing.

Its exports consist only of a few sacks of corn and cotton; and the only merchant of which it could boast in the time when Volney was there, was a solitary Greek, who could hardly gain a livelihood. At present, Tyre, or, as it is called, "Sur," is nothing more than a market town, a small seaport, hardly deserving the name of a city. Its chief export is the tobacco raised on the neighboring hills; with some cotton, and also charcoal and wood from the more distant mountains. The houses are for the most part mere hovels, very few being more than one story high, with flat roofs. The streets are narrow lanes, crooked, and filthy. Yet the many scattered palm trees throw over the place an oriental charm; and the numerous Pride of India trees interspersed among the houses and gardens, with their beautiful foliage, give it a pleasing aspect. It has a population of less than three thousand souls. In 1837, an earthquake was felt here to a very considerable extent. A large part of the eastern wall was thrown down, and the southern wall was greatly shattered, and several houses were destroyed (see Robinson's "Bib. Researches," vol. iii. p. 400; Robinson's Calmet; "Edin. Ency.;" Newton, "On the Prophecies," vol. xi.; Keith, "On the Prophecies;" and the "Travels" of Volney and Maundrell. On the ancient commercial importance of Tyre, also, and its present situation, and the "cause" of its decline, the reader may consult an article in the "Amos Bib. Rep." for October 1840).

Prophecy denouncing the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, delivered upwards of one hundred and twenty years before its accomplishment, at a period when the Tyrians were in great prosperity, and the Babylonians in abject subjection to the Assyrian empire; and, consequently, when an event of so great magnitude was improbable in the highest degree, Isaiah 23:1-14. Tyre shall recover its splendor at the termination of seventy years, the days of One king, or kingdom, by which must be meant the time allotted for the duration of the Babylonish empire, as otherwise the prophecy cannot be accommodated to the event, Isaiah 23:15-17. Supposed reference to the early conversion of Tyre to Christianity, Isaiah 23:18.

INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 23

This chapter gives an account both of the desolation and restoration of Tyre, an ancient city of Phoenicia. Its desolation is described as so complete, that a house was not left in it, Isaiah 23:1 and by the fewness and stillness of the inhabitants of it, with which it had been replenished, it having been a mart of nations, Isaiah 23:2 and by the shame and pain Zidon, a neighbouring city, was put into, on account of it, Isaiah 23:4 and by the removal of its inhabitants to other places, Isaiah 23:6 all which is attributed to the counsel, purpose, and commandment of God, to destroy it; whose view was to stain their pride, and bring them into contempt, Isaiah 23:8 the means and instruments made use of to this purpose were the Assyrians or Chaldeans, Isaiah 23:13 and its desolation is further aggravated by the loss of its trade; hence the merchants of other countries are called to mourning, Isaiah 23:1 the date and duration of this desolation were seventy years, Isaiah 23:15 after which it should be restored, and its merchandise and commerce with all the nations of the earth be revived again, Isaiah 23:15.

Ch. 23. An Oracle on Tyre

The unique position occupied by Tyre in the ancient world engaged the attention of more than one Hebrew prophet. Ezekiel, in one of the most original and elaborate of his foreign prophecies (ch. 26–28), where he announces her impending overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar, shews the liveliest appreciation of the genius of that great commercial city, her unbounded enterprise, her devotion to material interests, and her self-deifying pride. Very similar in spirit is the simpler and shorter passage now before us, which, however, is not directed exclusively against Tyre, but embraces the older though less famous Zidon, and the whole Phœnician sea-board.

The chapter is clearly divided into two sections:—

i. Isaiah 23:1-14. A poem in three strophes on the destruction of the Phœnician cities and harbours, which is conceived as having already taken place.

(1) Isaiah 23:1-5. Ships of Tarshish, homeward bound, are dismayed on their arrival at Cyprus by the intelligence that the harbours of Phœnicia are closed to them (1); the once populous and thriving coastland lies desolate (2, 3); the sea is now a childless mother and forgets that she ever had offspring (4); Egypt is stricken with terror at the report of the fall of Tyre (5).

(2) Isaiah 23:6-9. The inhabitants of Phœnicia are ironically urged to leave the joyous cities which had been theirs from time immemorial, and seek refuge in their colonies beyond the sea (6, 7). For this is the purpose of Jehovah, to make an end of the regal power of Tyre, and cast contempt on all earthly greatness (8, 9).

(3) Isaiah 23:10-14. But Jehovah’s power reaches over the sea, and not even in their own colonies can the exiled Phœnicians find rest for the sole of their foot. The distant Tarshish disowns their authority, the nearer Cyprus is also, for an unexplained reason, untenable. At the obscure Isaiah 23:13 we lose the thread of the writer’s thought, but in Isaiah 23:14 the poem ends as it had begun with an apostrophe to the ships of Tarshish, whose haven is demolished.

ii. Isaiah 23:15-18 form an appendix written in a prose style (with the exception of the “harlot’s song,” a snatch of popular poetry, in Isaiah 23:16). It announces the restoration of Tyre after the lapse of seventy years, but a restoration under entirely changed conditions, in which the gains of Tyre shall be consecrated to Jehovah and the use of His people.

There appear to be no valid reasons for refusing to ascribe the authorship of Isaiah 23:1-14 to Isaiah. The only serious difficulty is caused by the reference to “the land of the Chaldæans” in Isaiah 23:13; but there the text is in all probability corrupt (see the notes). There are two occasions in the time of Isaiah to which the prophecy has been referred. The earlier is the campaign of Shalmaneser IV. (727–722) against Phœnicia, described at length in a fragment of Menander of Ephesus (Josephus, Ant. ix. 14, 2). Shalmaneser is said to have blockaded the insular part of Tyre for five years; but as his entire reign was only about five years, it is probable that the siege (like that of Samaria) was finished by Sargon. That the city was captured is nowhere stated, and the reticence of Sargon rather suggests that the siege issued in a capitulation. Phœnicia was again ravaged by Sennacherib in the expedition of 701, just before the invasion of Philistia and Judah, when the king of Zidon actually fled to Cyprus. Tyre is not mentioned in the Assyrian record of this campaign. Either of these invasions would furnish an adequate occasion for Isaiah’s prophecy, though the second is perhaps less probable than the first. It may at least be said that the lyrical character of the passage is more intelligible when the prophet was a disinterested spectator of events in Phœnicia, than under the strain of excitement with which he faced the crisis of 701. It is true that Tyre did not then suffer the complete overthrow which is here contemplated; but it was nevertheless the first time that her existence had been seriously threatened, and the absence of a literal fulfilment affords no presumption against the genuineness of a prophecy.

The appendix (Isaiah 23:15-18) has been thought to bear the stamp of a later origin. The seventy years’ duration of the humiliation of Tyre may be based on Jeremiah’s (Isaiah 25:11 f.) determination of the period of Chaldæan supremacy, and the use to which the riches of Tyre are to be put (Isaiah 23:18) is perhaps suggested by such late prophecies as Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 60:11; Isaiah 61:6. The case, therefore, appears to be closely parallel to that of the oracle on Egypt in ch. 19. In both we have a prophecy which is presumably Isaianic, followed by a supplement which there is reason to regard as post-exilic.

Isa 23:1-18.

PROPHECY RESPECTING TYRE.

MENANDER, the historian, notices a siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser, about the time of the siege of Samaria. Sidon, Acco, and Old Tyre, on the mainland, were soon reduced; but New Tyre, on an island half a mile from the shore, held out for five years. Sargon probably finished the siege. Sennacherib does not, however, mention it among the cities which the Assyrian kings conquered (thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh chapters). The expression, "Chaldeans"

(Isa 23:13),

may imply reference to its siege under Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years. Alexander the Great destroyed New Tyre after a seven months' siege.

1. Tyre--Hebrew, Tsur, that is, "Rock."

ships of Tarshish--ships of Tyre returning from their voyage to Tarshish, or Tartessus in Spain, with which the Phœnicians had much commerce

(Eze 27:12-25).

"Ships of Tarshish" is a phrase also used of large and distant-voyaging merchant vessels

(Isa 2:16; 1Ki 10:22; Ps 48:7).

no house--namely, left; such was the case as to Old Tyre, after Nebuchadnezzar's siege.

no entering--There is no house to enter

(Isa 24:10)

[G. V. SMITH]. Or, Tyre is so laid waste, that there is no possibility of entering the harbor [BARNES]; which is appropriate to the previous "ships."

Chittim--Cyprus, of which the cities, including Citium in the south (whence came "Chittim"), were mostly Phœnician

(Eze 27:6).

The ships from Tarshish on their way to Tyre learn the tidings ("it is revealed to them") of the downfall of Tyre. At a later period Chittim denoted the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean

(Da 11:30).

The burden of Tyre - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1)

Howl - This is a highly poetic description of the destruction that was coming on Tyre. The ships of Tarshish traded there; and the prophet now addresses the ships, and calls upon them to lament because the commerce by which they had been enriched was to be destroyed, and they were to be thrown out of employ.

Ye ships of Tarshish - (see the note at Isaiah 2:16). The 'Tarshish' here referred to, was doubtless a city or country in Spain (Ταρτησσὸς Tartēssos), and was the most celebrated emporium to which the Phenicians traded. It is mentioned by Diod. Sic., v. 35-38; Strabo, iii. 148; Pliny, "Nat. Hist." iii. 3. According to Jeremiah 10:9, it exported silver; according to Ezekiel 27:12, Ezekiel 27:25, it exported silver, iron, tin, and lead, to the Tyrian market. In this chapter Isaiah 23:1, Isaiah 23:6, Isaiah 23:10, it is represented as an important Phenician or Tyrian colony. All the circumstances agree with the supposition that "Tartessus" in Spain is the place "here" referred to. The name 'Tartessus' (Ταρτησσὸς Tartēssos) is derived from the Hebrew תרשׁישׁ tarshiysh by a change simply in the pronunciation (see Bochart, "Geo. Sacra," iii. 7, and John D. Michaelis, "Spicileg. Geo. Heb." i.-82-103).

For it is laid waste - Tyre is laid waste; that is, in vision it was made to pass before the mind of the prophet as laid waste, or as it "would" be (see the notes at Isaiah 1:1).

So that there is no house - It would be completely destroyed. This was the case with old Tyre after the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, and it remained so. See the analysis of the chapter.

No entering in - No harbor; no port; where the ships could remain, and with which they could continue to trade. Tyre was once better situated for commerce, and had greater natural advantages, than any port in the Mediterranean. Those advantages have, however, to a great extent passed away, and natural causes combine to confirm the truth of the divine predictions that it should cease to be a place of commerce. The merchandise of India, which was once conveyed overland through Babylon and Palmyra, and which found its natural outlet at Tyre, is now carried around the Cape of Good Hope, and will never again be restored to its old channel. Besides, Tyre itself, which once had so fine a harbor, has ceased to be a safe haven for large vessels. Robinson (George) says of its harbor, in 1830, 'It is a small circular basin, now quite filled up with sand and broken columns, leaving scarcely space enough for small boats to enter.

The few fishing boats that belong to the place are sheltered by some rocks to the westward of the island.' ("Travels in Syria and Palestine," vol. i. p. 269). Shaw, who visited Tyre in 1738, says of the harbor, 'I visited several creeks and inlets, in order to discover what provision there might have been formerly made for the security of their vessels. Yet, notwithstanding that Tyre was the chief maritime power of this country, I could not discover the least token of either "cothon" or harbor that could have been of extraordinary capacity. The coasting ships, indeed, still and a tolerably good shelter from the northern winds, under the southern shore, but are obliged immediately to return when the winds change to the west or south; so that there must have been some better station than this for their security and reception. In the N. N. E. part, likewise, of the city, we see the traces of a safe and commodious basin, lying within the walls; but which, at the same time, is very small, scarce forty yards in diameter.

Yet even this port, small as it is at present, is, notwithstanding, so choked up with sand and rubbish, that the boats of those poor fishermen who now and then visit this renowned emporium, can, with great difficulty, only be admitted' ("Travels," pp. 330, 331. Ed. fol. Oxon. 1738). Dr. Robin son says of the port of Tyre, 'The inner port Dr basin on the north was formerly enclosed by a wall, running from the north end of the island in a curve toward the main land. Various pieces and fragments of this wall yet remain, sufficient to mark its course; but the port itself is continually filling up more and more with sand, and now-a-days boats only can enter it. Indeed, our host informed us, that even within his own recollection, the water covered the open place before his own house, which at present is ten or twelve rods from the sea, and is surrounded with buildings; while older people remember, that vessels formerly anchored where the shore now is' ("Bib. Researches," vol. iii. p. 397).

From the land of Chittim - This means, probably, from the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In regard to the meaning of the word "Chittim," the following is the note of Gesenius on this verse: 'Among the three different opinions of ancient and modern interpreters, according to which they sought for the land of Chittim in Italy, Macedonia, and Cyprus, I decidely prefer the latter, which is also the opinion of Josephus ("Ant." i. 6, 1). According to this, Chittim is the island Cyprus, so called from the Phoenician colony, Kition, (Citium), in the southern part of the island, but still in such a sense, that this name Chittim was, at a later period, employed also in a wider sense, to designate other islands and countries adjacent to the coasts of the Mediterranean, as, e. g., Macedonia (Daniel 11:30; 1 Macc. 1:1; 8:5). This is also mentioned by Josephus. That Κίτιον Kition (Citium) was sometimes used for the whole island of Cyprus, and also in a wider sense for other islands, is expressly asserted by Epiphanius, who himself lived in Cyprus, as a well-known fact ("Adv. Haeres." xxx. 25); where he says, "it is manifest to all that the island of Cyprus is called Κίτιον Kition (Citium), for the Cyprians and "Rhodians" (Ῥόδιοι Rodioi) are called "Kitians" Κίτιοι Kitioi."

It could also be used of the Macedonians, because they were descended from the Cyprians and Rhodians. That most of the cities of Cyprus were Phenician colonies, is expressly affirmed by Diodorus (ii. 114; compare Herod. vii. 90), and the proximity of the island to Phenicia, together with its abundant supply of productions, especially such as were essential in shipbuilding, would lead us to expect nothing else. One of the few passages of the Bible which give a more definite hint in regard to Chittim is Ezekiel 27:6, which agrees very well with Cyprus: "Of the oaks of Bashan do they make them oars; thy ships' benches do they make of ivory, encased with cedar from the isles of Chittim." The sense of this passage is, that the fleets coming from Tarshish (Tartessus) to Tyre, would, on their way, learn from the inhabitants of Cyprus the news of the downfall of Tyre.'

It is revealed to them - If we understand "Chittim" to denote the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean, it means that the navigators in the ships of Tarshish would learn the intelligence of the destruction of Tyre from those coasts or islands where they might stop on their way. Tyre was of so much commercial importance that the news of its fall would spread into all the islands of the Mediterranean.

The burden of Tyre - Tyre, a city on the coast of Syria, about lat. 32 N. was built two thousand seven hundred and sixty years before Christ. There were two cities of this name; one on the continent, and the other on an island, about half a mile from the shore; the city on the island was about four miles in circumference. Old Tyre resisted Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years; then the inhabitants carried, so to speak, the city to the forementioned island, Isaiah 23:4. This new city held out against Alexander the Great for seven months; who, in order to take it, was obliged to fill up the channel which separated it from the main land. In a.d. 1289 it was totally destroyed by the sultan of Egypt; and now contains only a few huts, in which about fifty or sixty wretched families exist. This desolation was foretold by this prophet and by Ezekiel, one thousand nine hundred years before it took place!

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish - This prophecy denounces the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It opens with an address to the Tyrian negotiators and sailors at Tarshish, (Tartessus, in Spain), a place which, in the course of their trade, they greatly frequented. The news of the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar is said to be brought to them from Chittim, the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean; "for the Tyrians," says Jerome on Isaiah 23:6, "when they saw they had no other means of escaping, fled in their ships, and took refuge in Carthage and in the islands of the Ionian and Aegean sea." From whence the news would spread and reach Tarshish; so also Jarchi on the same place. This seems to be the most probable interpretation of this verse.