Limitless Word
Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
Isaiah 23:10 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no restraint any more.
  • BSB Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
  • NKJV Overflow through your land like the River, O daughter of Tarshish; There is no more strength.
  • NASB Overflow your land like the Nile, you daughter of Tarshish, There is no more restraint.
  • NLT Come, people of Tarshish, sweep over the land like the flooding Nile, for Tyre is defenseless.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Tyre's colony is told to spread freely over her land like the overflowing Nile, for the restraining mother-city is gone. The protective power has been removed.

Overview

With Tyre fallen, her dependent settlements such as Tarshish are no longer bound or restrained by her. The image of an unchecked river pictures the loosening of a former order. The verse marks the collapse of Tyre's controlling dominion over her trade network.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Job 12:21He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
  • Ps 18:32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
  • 1 Sam 28:20Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
  • Isa 23:14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.
  • Lam 1:6And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.
  • Hag 2:22And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
  • Rom 5:6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 23:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 23:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.