Isaiah 23:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 23:13
Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct
Chaldeans
כַּשְׂדִּ֗יםkas.Dim
H3778
a Kasdite · proper noun, a place name
people
הָעָם֙ha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Assyrian
אַשּׁ֖וּר'a.Shur
H804
Ashshur · proper noun, a place name
founded
יְסָדָ֣הּye.sa.Dah
H3245
to set (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
wilderness
לְצִיִּ֑יםle.tzi.Yim
H6728
a desert-dweller · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
up
הֵקִ֣ימוּhe.Ki.mu
H6965
to rise (in various applications · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
towers
בַחוּנָ֗יוve.chi.nav
H971
a watch-tower of besiegers · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up
עֹרְרוּ֙'o.re.Ru
H6209
to bare · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
palaces
אַרְמְנוֹתֶ֔יהָ'ar.me.no.Tei.ha
H759
a citadel (from its height) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
brought
שָׂמָ֖הּsa.Mah
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
ruin
לְמַפֵּלָֽהle.ma.pe.Lah
H4654
something fallen · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Habakkuk 1:6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingp…
Genesis 2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
Genesis 10:10-11 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Genesis 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD sc…
Genesis 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Genesis 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went for…
2 Kings 17:24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in th…
2 Kings 20:12 At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 23:1-14
Tyre being a sea-port town, this prophecy of its overthrow fitly begins and ends with, Howl, you ships of Tarshish; for all its business, wealth, and honour, depended upon its shipping; if that be ruined, they will be all undone. Observe,
I. Tyre flourishing. This is taken notice of that her fall may appear the more dismal. 1. The merchants of Zidon, who traded at sea, had at first replenished her, Isa 23:2. Zidon was the more ancient city, situated upon the same sea-cost, a few leagues more to the north, and Tyre was at first only a colony of that; but the daughter had outgrown the mother, and become much more considerable. It may be a mortification to great cities to think how they were at…
Behold--Calling attention to the fact, so humiliating to Tyre, that a people of yesterday, like the Chaldees, should destroy the most ancient of cities, Tyre.
was not--had no existence as a recognized nation; the Chaldees were previously but a rude, predatory people (Job 1:17).
Assyrian founded it--The Chaldees ("them that dwell in the wilderness") lived a nomadic life in the mountains of Armenia originally (Arphaxad, in Gen 10:22, refers to such a region of Assyria near Armenia), north and east of Assyria proper. Some may have settled in Mesopotamia and Babylonia very early and given origin to the astrologers called Chaldees in later times. But most of the people had been transferred on…
Behold the land of the Chaldeans,.... Not Tyre, as some think, so called, because founded by the Chaldeans, who finding it a proper place for "ships", so they render the word "tziim", afterward used, and which is so interpreted by Jarchi, built the city of Tyre; but the country called Chaldea is here meant, and the Babylonish empire and monarchy, particularly Babylon, the head of it:
this people was not; a people, or of any great note and figure:
till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness; Nimrod was the first builder of Babel, in the land of Shinar, and from that land went forth Ashur, and built Nineveh, the city Rehoboth, and Calah, which were built for people tha…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 13) And he said: You shall no longer boast, enduring slander, O virgin daughter of Sidon, rising up to Cythim, crossing over: there also you will find no rest. God, who has determined to bring down the pride of all glory, who has commanded against Canaan, to crush its warriors, he himself says, By no means shall you boast any longer, and trust in your own power. O virgin daughter of Sidon, that is, the colony of the Sidonians, you will indeed flee by ships to the islands of the West, or to Cyprus, and the other lands of Macedonia and Greece, but even there, when God opposes you, you will not find rest. Furthermore, he is always wandering and a stranger in the world, and in uncertain places, always in distress and constantly in sorrow.
(Verse 13, 14.) Behold the land of the Chaldeans, such a people has never existed: Assyria laid it waste, they led away its strong men, they dug up its houses, they reduced it to ruins. Wail, O ships of the sea, for your strength is destroyed. For as it was said before: His feet will travel a great distance in exile; and again, Cross over your land like a river, and the people of Tyre will be doubly afflicted, those who fled and crossed over to Cyprus, and those who remained in the city. About those who had fled, he says above: Rising up, cross over to Cethim, there also there will be no rest for you. About those who remained and were led into captivity, he says: Behold, the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans, whose power no other people had before, and which was founded by the Assyrians, they have led mighty men of Tyre. They not only dug up the walls, but also all the dwellings of the city, and turned it into ruins. Therefore, because some have fled and others have been captured, howl, O ships, whether of the sea or of Carthage; for your trade and colony have been destroyed. At the same time, consider how he praised the Chaldeans. He did not say that such a people will no longer exist: for indeed, the kingdom of the Romans is more powerful and harsher; but, there was not one before. He who denied the previous things, has conceded the following things.
(Verse 13) If you go to the Citians, there will be no rest for you there; and if you go to the land of the Chaldeans, it has also been devastated by the Assyrians. Siim founded it, they established its fortifications, they raised its tower: its wall has fallen. And what follows in Theodotion's edition is added under asterisks: Siim founded it, they established its fortifications, they raised its tower, and without asterisks it is joined: its wall has fallen. The Cilicians are interpreted as a completed or perfect wound: the Chaldeans in this place, as if breasts: the Assyrians, accusing. We could not find the etymology ourselves, and the other interpreters translated it by the very name used in Hebrew. Therefore, it is said to Tyre that, although it seeks to go to the Cilicians and avoid the distress of its own wound, it cannot find perfect rest even there. And if it desires to go to the Chaldeans and enjoy their abundance and the abundance of all things, it will also find them deserted, with the Assyrians accusing their sterility, just as the Apostle handed over the sinners of Satan (1 Tim. 1), so that they may learn not to blaspheme: those who are handed over to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved. However, the Chaldeans laid the foundations of which I understand to be the most wicked demons, who raised up strongholds and the most proud towers of the city of Chaldea against the knowledge of the Lord. But all their building collapsed into ruins; for, its wall fell. For unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do those who build it labor. (Ps. CXXVI, 1). Often we see in the world certain individuals pass from one purpose to another. For example, those who have had a bad experience in the military can transition to business. And again, lawyers of warriors take up weapons. They change their profession in order to change their misfortune; and nevertheless, by the will of God, everything happens contrary to those who strive for everything to go well: so that through poverty and miseries they are forced to have confidence not in themselves, but in their Creator.
Dictionary and topics
Chaldees — Or Chaldeans, the inhabitants of the country of which Babylon was the capital. They were so called till the time of the Captivity (2 Kings 25; Isa. 13:19; 23:13), when, particularly in the Book of…
Babylon · .Divisions of — .Divisions of
Chaldea · Foun — Foun
Tarshish · .Commerce and wealth of — .Commerce and wealth of
Tyre · Prophecies respecting: To be destroyed by the king of Babylon — Prophecies respecting: To be destroyed by the king of Babylon
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. He now confirms by an example what he predicted about the taking of Tyre; for those things could scarcely obtain credit, especially among the inhabitants of Tyre, who thought that they were very far from such ruin. I am aware that this passage is explained in various ways, but I shall not spend time in refuting the opinions of others. It will be enough if I shall state, as far as I am able to form a judgment of it, the Prophet's real meaning.
The people of the Chaldeans was not; that is, they had no name; for, if we inquire into their origin, they were descended from the Assyrians, as is evident from Genesis 10:11. He therefore says truly, that they were n…
The prophet now proceeds to describe the fate of Phoenicia. "Behold the Chaldean land: this people that has not been (Asshur - it hath prepared the same for desert beasts) - they set up their siege-towers, destroy the palaces of Kena'an, make it a heap of ruins. Mourn, he ships of Tarshish: for your fortress is laid waste." The general meaning of Isa 23:13, as the text now runs, is that the Chaldeans have destroyed Kenaēan, and in fact Tyre. הקימוּ (they set up) points to the plural idea of "this people," and בּחוּניו (chethib בּחיניו) to the singular idea of the same; on the other hand, the feminine suffixes relate to Tyre. "They (the Chaldeans) have laid bare the palaces ('armenoth, from…
Babylonia was stripped and looted by the Assyrians under Sennacherib (689 BC); eventually it rose to be a mighty empire once again.
Rashi on Isaiah 23:13
Behold the land of the Chaldees, this people has never been It was not to be a people, for they are called, (Habakkuk 1:6) “bitter, impetuous nation.” They are a foolish nation, of the creatures that the Holy One, blessed be He, (so to speak,) regrets (creating) them. [Tractate Sukkah (52b)].
Assyria established it to station his fleets therein, his ships, huge battle ships, as (infra 33:21): “A mighty fleet (צִי).”
they erected its towers They shall erect their fortifications (var., their siege towers) upon Tyre. (Heb.) בַּחוּנָיו, an expression similar to (infra 32:14): “tower and bastion (בֹּחַן),” bajjpred in O.F., which they erect for a siege against walled cities.
destroyed its pala…