The Lord held out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia, ordering that her fortresses be destroyed.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.
- KJV He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.
- BSB The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.
- NKJV He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; The Lord has given a commandment against Canaan To destroy its strongholds.
- NASB He has stretched His hand out over the sea, He has made the kingdoms tremble; The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.
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
The Lord has stretched out His hand over the sea and shaken kingdoms, ordering the destruction of Phoenicia's strongholds. The God of all the earth governs even the great maritime powers.
Overview
Yahweh's hand reaches across the sea that Tyre and Sidon ruled, shaking the kingdoms that trusted in commerce. He commands the ruin of Canaan's fortresses. The verse asserts God's universal sovereignty over the nations and their defenses.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Zech 9:3–4Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.
- Exod 14:21Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
- Ezek 31:16I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.
- Ps 71:3Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me will I give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Gen 10:15–19Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth,
- Zech 14:21Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.
- Mark 11:17He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!”
- Hos 12:7–8A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.
- Hag 2:7and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.
- Gen 9:25He said, “Canaan is cursed. He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”
- Ezek 26:15–19Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made within you?
- Ps 46:6The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.
- Isa 25:2For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built.
- Nah 1:14Yahweh has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.”
- Isa 2:19Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
- John 2:16To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
- Jer 47:7“How can you be quiet, since Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.”
- Ezek 27:34–35In the time that you were broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell within you.
- Isa 23:3On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.
- Ezek 26:10By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach.
- Exod 15:8–10With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
- Isa 14:16–17Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 23:11 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.