Isaiah 23:17
in Isaiah 23And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
KJV
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
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This verse in Isaiah 23
Commentary
13 notes on this verseHer hire - The Hebrew word properly signifies, the hire of an harlot. Fornication - Shall trade promiscuously with people of all nations, as harlots entertain all comers.
This site's exposition
Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years
on Isaiah 23:15-18
"Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years", the span Jeremiah fixes for Babylon. The harlot's song is sung again, and she returns "to all the kingdoms". Her "profits and wages will be set apart", which Henry and Delitzsch set beside the wealth of the nations in chapter 60.
This site's exposition
the LORD will restore Tyre
The LORD restores Tyre after seventy years, and the city returns at once to its old hire. Clarke records that Tyre recovered its wealth after Nebuchadnezzar's siege and again after Alexander's. Aphrahat saw the rich city of his day.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 17) And it will be, after seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and He will restore it to its merchandise, and again it will commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.
Now we see that Tyre was inhabited and was opulent after it had "wandered seventy years," and after it had received the reward of its prostitutions.
(Verse 15 and following) And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years, Tyre shall sing as a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, O harlot that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered. After seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he promises the benefit of a liberator: and it shall come to pass after seventy years; that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again, that is, she shall trade: I will …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9 The L ORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. 10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v8-10
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years,....
That she shall use her best endeavours to recover her trade again. She shall sing as a harlot, that has been some time under correction for her lewdness; but, when she is set at liberty (so violent is the bent of corruption), she will use her old arts of temptation.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
visit--not in wrath, but mercy. hire--image from a harlot: her gains by commerce. After the Babylonian dynasty was ended, Tyre was rebuilt; also, again, after the destruction under Alexander.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
After the end of seventy years - Tyre, after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, recovered, as it is here foretold, its ancient trade, wealth, and grandeur; as it did likewise after a second destruction by Alexander. It became Christian early with the rest of the neighboring countries. St. Paul himself found many Christians there, Act 21:4. It suffered much in the Diocletian persecution. It was an archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerusalem, with fourteen bishoprics under its jurisdiction. It continued Christian till it was taken by the Saracens in 639; was recovered by the Christians in 1124; but in 1280 was conquered by the Mamelukes, and afterwards taken from them by the Turks in 1517. Since that time it has sunk into utter decay; is now a mere ruin, a bare rock, “a place to spread nets upon,” as the Prophet Ezekiel foretold it should be, Eze 26:14. See Sandy’s Travels; Vitringa on the place; Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert. xi.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Lord will visit Tyre - He will restore her to her former wealth and magnificence. And she shall turn to her hire - The word ‘hire’ here denotes the wages or reward that is given to an harlot; and the idea which was commenced in the previous verses is here continued - of Tyre as an harlot - frivolous, splendid, licentious, and holding intercourse with strangers and foreigners. The gains of that commerce with other nations are here represented as her hire.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֞ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מִקֵּ֣ץ׀ | miketz | from [the] end of | H7093 → | 67 times |
| שִׁבְעִ֣ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | 91 times |
| שָׁנָ֗ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| יִפְקֹ֤ד | yifkod | he will visit | H6485 → | 303 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צֹ֔ר | tzor | Tyre | H6865 → | 42 times |
| וְשָׁבָ֖ה | veshavah | and it will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לְאֶתְנַנָּ֑ה | leetnanah | to hire its | H868 → | |
| וְזָֽנְתָ֛ה | vezanetah | and it will act [the] prostitute | H2181 → | 94 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַמְלְכ֥וֹת | mamlekhot | [the] kingdoms of | H4467 → | 117 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ | haadamah | the earth | H127 → | 225 times |
וְהָיָ֞הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
מִקֵּ֣ץ׀from [the] end of
miketzH7093 →67 times
שִׁבְעִ֣יםseventy
shivimH7657 →91 times
שָׁנָ֗הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
יִפְקֹ֤דhe will visit
yifkodH6485 →303 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צֹ֔רTyre
tzorH6865 →42 times
וְשָׁבָ֖הand it will return
veshavahH7725 →1056 times
לְאֶתְנַנָּ֑הto hire its
leetnanahH868 →
וְזָֽנְתָ֛הand it will act [the] prostitute
vezanetahH2181 →94 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מַמְלְכ֥וֹת[the] kingdoms of
mamlekhotH4467 →117 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] surface of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאֲדָמָֽה׃the earth
haadamahH127 →225 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 19:2For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:43
Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries…
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Revelation 18:20
Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Deuteronomy 32:35
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- Revelation 16:5–7
And I heard the angel of the waters say: “Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments.
- Deuteronomy 32:43
Through
Nahum 3:4because of the many harlotries of the harlot, the seductive mistress of sorcery, who betrays nations by her prostitution and clans by her witchcraft.
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:9
These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the…
- Isaiah 47:9
Through
Zephaniah 2:7The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God…
it leads to
- Exodus 4:31
and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.
- Zephaniah 3:20
At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore…
- Exodus 4:31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATION 21:6; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.