Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coastland!
Parallel translations
- WEB Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!
- KJV Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.
- NKJV Cross over to Tarshish; Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!
- NASB Pass over to Tarshish; Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland.
- NLT Send word now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live in distant lands!
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 Phoenicians are told to flee as refugees to distant Tarshish, wailing in grief. Their coastland is no longer safe.
Overview
Once the senders of trading fleets, the inhabitants now flee across the sea as exiles. The call to wail underscores the reversal of fortune. God can turn a proud people's commerce into a scattering and a lament.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 23:12He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus—even there you will find no rest.”
- Isa 23:10Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
- Isa 21:15For they flee from the sword—the sword that is drawn—from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.
- Isa 16:7Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.
- Isa 23:1–2This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
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 23:6 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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