Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.
- BSB “Take up your harp, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered.”
- NKJV “Take a harp, go about the city, You forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.”
- NASB Take your harp, wander around the city, You forgotten prostitute; Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.
- NLT Take a harp and walk the streets, you forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody and sing your songs so you will be remembered again.
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
A taunting song pictures forgotten Tyre as an aging prostitute strumming to win back customers. Her revived trade is portrayed as renewed enticement.
Overview
The mocking ditty likens Tyre's effort to regain influence to a discarded harlot seeking notice again. Her commerce is cast as alluring but morally compromised. The image warns that worldly enterprise easily becomes a snare of unfaithfulness toward God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Jer 30:14All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
- Prov 7:10–12And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 23:16 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
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