Discovery BoxIsaiah 23:3 
Context23:3 the deep waters! 1
Grain from the Shihor region, 2
crops grown near the Nile 3 she receives; 4
she is the trade center 5 of the nations.
Isaiah 23:18
Context23:18 Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes. 6
Isaiah 45:14
Context45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 7 of Egypt and the revenue 8 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 9 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 10
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 11
‘Truly God is with 12 you; he has no peer; 13
there is no other God!’”
1 tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.
2 tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.
3 tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”
4 tn Heb “[is] her revenue.”
5 tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.”
6 tn Heb “for eating to fullness and for beautiful covering[s].”
sn The point of this verse, which in its blatant nationalism comes precariously close to comparing the Lord to one who controls or manages a prostitute, is that Tyre will become a subject of Israel and her God. Tyre’s commercial profits will be used to enrich the Lord’s people.
7 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
8 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
9 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
10 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
11 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
12 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
13 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
