And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed {o} virgin, {p} daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

(o) For Tyre was never touched nor afflicted before.

(p) Because Tyrus was built by them of Zidon.

Wesley's Notes

23:12 Virgin - So he calls her, because she had hitherto never borne the yoke of a conquering enemy. Zidon - Tyre may be called the daughter of Zidon, because she was first built and possessed by a colony of the Zidonians. No rest - Thither thine enemies shall pursue thee, and there shall they overtake the.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. he-God.

rejoice-riotously (Isa 23:7).

oppressed-"deflowered"; laying aside the figure "taken by storm"; the Arabs compare a city never taken to an undefiled virgin (compare Na 3:5, &c.).

daughter of Zidon-Tyre: or else, sons of Zidon, that is, the whole land and people of Phonicia (see on [731]Isa 23:2) [Maurer].

Chittim-Citium in Cyprus (Isa 23:1).

there also . no rest-Thy colonies, having been harshly treated by thee, will now repay thee in kind (see on [732]Isa 23:10). But Vitringa refers it to the calamities which befell the Tyrians in their settlements subsequently, namely, Sicily, Corcyra, Carthage, and Spain, all flowing from the original curse of Noah against the posterity of Canaan (Ge 9:25-27).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:1-14 Tyre was the mart of the nations. She was noted for mirth and diversions; and this made her loth to consider the warnings God gave by his servants. Her merchants were princes, and lived like princes. Tyre being destroyed and laid waste, the merchants should abandon her. Flee to shift for thine own safety; but those that are uneasy in one place, will be so in another; for when God's judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them. Whence shall all this trouble come? It is a destruction from the Almighty. God designed to convince men of the vanity and uncertainty of all earthly glory. Let the ruin of Tyre warn all places and persons to take heed of pride; for he who exalts himself shall be abased. God will do it, who has all power in his hand; but the Chaldeans shall be the instruments.