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And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
Isaiah 23:3 · King James Version
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.
  • BSB 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.
  • 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 2:18And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
  • 1 Chr 13:5So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.
  • Ezek 27:33When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
  • Isa 23:8Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?
  • Joel 3:5Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
  • Deut 11:10For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
  • Rev 18:11–13And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
  • Isa 32:20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
  • Ezek 27:3–23And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
  • Isa 19:7The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.
  • Ezek 28:4With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 23:3YouTube · 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 23:3 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

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.