On the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations.
Parallel translations
- WEB On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations.
- KJV And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
- NKJV And on great waters the grain of Shihor, The harvest of the River, is her revenue; And she is a marketplace for the nations.
- NASB And were on many waters. The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue; And she was the market of nations.
- NLT sailing over deep waters. They brought you grain from Egypt and harvests from along the Nile. You were the marketplace of the world.
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 grew rich by trading the grain of Egypt, becoming the marketplace of the nations. Her wealth was vast but rested on God's providence she did not acknowledge.
Overview
The Nile's harvest, carried across great waters, made Tyre a hub for international commerce. Her revenue flowed from the produce of nations. Scripture exposes the pride of a city that gloried in trade while forgetting the God who governs the seas.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 2:18Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
- 1 Chr 13:5So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
- Ezek 27:33When your wares went out to sea, you satisfied many nations. You enriched the kings of the earth with your abundant wealth and merchandise.
- Isa 23:8Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are renowned on the earth?
- Joel 3:5For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.
- Deut 11:10For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden.
- Rev 18:11–13And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—
- Isa 32:20Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.
- Ezek 27:3–23Tell Tyre, who dwells at the gateway to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coasts, that this is what the Lord GOD says: You have said, O Tyre, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
- Isa 19:7The bulrushes by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.
- Ezek 28:4By your wisdom and understanding you have gained your wealth and amassed gold and silver for your treasuries.
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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 23:3 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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