Isaiah 23:12
in Isaiah 23He 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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over to Kittim; even there shalt thou have no rest.
KJV
And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.
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This verse in Isaiah 23
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 12) The Lord of hosts commanded to destroy its strength from Canaan, and they will say: 'You shall not add to do harm and injustice to the virgin daughter of Sidon. Tyre and Sidon are in the land of Canaan, and as we have shown above, presenting the testimony of the Gospel in which it is read that a Canaanite woman or a Syrophoenician went out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon and met the Lord and Savior.
This site's exposition
Cultivate your land like the Nile
on Isaiah 23:10-14
"The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea", so the God of Israel commands the element Tyre thought she owned. Verse 13 sets "the land of the Chaldeans" before Tyre as a warning. The section closes as the oracle opened, "Wail, O ships of Tarshish".
This site's exposition
O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon
A virgin city was one never taken by an enemy, and Wesley and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the title that way. The word oppressed says the city is about to be taken. Its people will flee to Cyprus and find no rest there.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 12) The Lord commanded against Canaan, to crush its strong ones. He showed that there is a sea, upon which the Lord stretched out his hand, saying: He commanded against Canaan. For Tyre was founded in the land of Canaan. Read the Scriptures, especially the Gospel (Mark 7), where the Syrophoenician woman, interceding for her daughter, comes out of the land of Canaan, which is called the Canaanite woman. And at the same time, because he had said: He stretched out his hand, lest you believe that the Lord was working with his limbs and physical function, he added that it was commanded, that it was done by God's order.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And the intended end: and he said: you shall glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who sustain calumny, accused of pride: let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the rich man glory in his riches (Jer 9:23); and …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Virgin - So he calls her, because she had hitherto never born the yoke of a conquering enemy. Zidon - Tyre may be called the daughter of Zidon, because she was first built and possessed by a colony of the Zidonians.
And he said, thou shalt no more rejoice,....
Those that are uneasy in one place will be so in another; and, when God's judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them. But whence shall all this trouble come? (1.) God will be the author of it; it is a destruction from the Almighty.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And he said - God said Isa 23:9. Thou shalt no more rejoice - The sense is, that Tyre was soon to be destroyed. It does not mean that it should never afterward exult or rejoice, for the prophet says Isa 23:17, that after its destruction it would be restored, and again be filled with exultation and joy. O thou oppressed Virgin - Lowth renders this, ‘O thou deflowered virgin,’ expressing the sense of the word המעשׁקה hame‛ushâqâh. O daughter of Zidon - Isa 23:4. “Pass over to Chittim” (see the note at Isa 23:1).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he--God. rejoice--riotously (Isa 23:7). oppressed--"deflowered"; laying aside the figure "taken by storm"; the Arabs compare a city never taken to an undefiled virgin (compare Na 3:5, &c.). daughter of Zidon--Tyre: or else, sons of Zidon, that is, the whole land and people of Phœnicia (see on Isa 23:2) [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-curly-quotes
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
to Kittim to the land of Kittim, arise and cross; even there you shall have no rest. Why do I say, “Arise and cross over?” ([According to our reading, that of the printed editions, we find no answer to this question.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Behold the land of the Chaldees, this people has never been It was not to be a people, for they are called, (Habakkuk:6) “bitter, impetuous nation.” They are a foolish nation, of the creatures that the Holy One, blessed be He, (so to speak,) regrets (creating) them. [Tractate Sukkah (52b)].
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוֹסִ֥יפִי | tosifi | you will repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| ע֖וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לַעְל֑וֹז | la'loz | to exult | H5937 → | |
| הַֽמְעֻשָּׁקָ֞ה | hamushakah | O oppressed [one] | H6231 → | |
| בְּתוּלַ֣ת | betulat | [the] virgin of | H1330 → | 50 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| צִיד֗וֹן | tzidon | Sidon | H6721 → | 22 times |
| כִּתִּים֙ | kitiyim | Cyprus | H3794 → | |
| ק֣וּמִי | kumi | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| עֲבֹ֔רִי | ʾavori | pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָנ֥וּחַֽ | yanuach | it will be rest | H5117 → | 142 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to <the> you |
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תוֹסִ֥יפִיyou will repeat
tosifiH3254 →212 times
ע֖וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
לַעְל֑וֹזto exult
la'lozH5937 →
הַֽמְעֻשָּׁקָ֞הO oppressed [one]
hamushakahH6231 →
בְּתוּלַ֣ת[the] virgin of
betulatH1330 →50 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
צִיד֗וֹןSidon
tzidonH6721 →22 times
כִּתִּים֙Cyprus
kitiyimH3794 →
ק֣וּמִיarise
kumiH6965 →628 times
עֲבֹ֔רִיpass over
ʾavoriH5674 →556 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָנ֥וּחַֽit will be rest
yanuachH5117 →142 times
לָֽךְ׃to <the> you
lakh
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 18:22And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:13
So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.
- Jeremiah 25:10
Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
- Ezekiel 26:13
Through
Isaiah 47:1“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:33
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her…
- Psalms 137:8
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Jeremiah 46:11
Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
- Jeremiah 50:42
They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.
- Zechariah 2:7
“Get up, O Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the Daughter of Babylon!”
- Jeremiah 51:33
Through
Ezekiel 27:6Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:13
against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan,
- Isaiah 2:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; 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.