Discovery BoxIsaiah 23:4 
Context23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,
for the sea 1 says this, O fortress of the sea:
“I have not gone into labor
or given birth;
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.” 2
Isaiah 23:12
Context23:12 He said,
“You will no longer celebrate,
oppressed 3 virgin daughter Sidon!
Get up, travel to Cyprus,
but you will find no relief there.” 4
1 tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.
2 tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).
sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were.
3 tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.
4 tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.
