Isaiah 23:11,12 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

He stretched out his hand— We have here the latter member of the period concerning the grand projector and executor of the destruction of Tyre; where, in the 11th verse, the prophet tells us that the God of Israel hath stretched out his hand, hath exerted his power and strength to execute his judgments against Phoenicia, the sea or maritime coast of Syria; the effect of which was the destruction of many kingdoms, and among the rest that of Tyre in particular, by the hand of one to whom he has given commandment for that purpose. See chap. Isaiah 5:25. He therefore addresses the Tyrians, Isaiah 23:12 who, upon this threatening calamity, should be desirous to consult for their own safety, and avoid the oppressions and distresses of their country; exhorting them to speed their flight into Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, to which they frequently sailed, though he by no means assures them of rest even there. Justin expressly informs us, that the Sidonians being besieged, and expelled their city, by the king of Ascalon, went in ships and built Tyre: thus, ancient as this city was, it was the daughter of Sidon; which verifies what the prophet observes, Isaiah 23:2 that the merchants of Sidon, who pass over the sea, replenished her. It is well known, that the Phoenicians were the best navigators of antiquity, and sent forth colonies into several parts of the world; and of all these the Tyrians were the most celebrated for their shipping and colonies; in which respect Tyre exceeded Sidon; sending forth colonies into Africa and Spain, and beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The Tyrians, therefore, having planted colonies at Tarshish, and on the coasts of Chittim, it was natural for them, when they were pressed with dangers and difficulties at home, to fly to their friends and countrymen for refuge and protection; and that they really did so we learn from St. Jerome, upon the authority of Assyrian histories, which are now lost. But though the Tyrians were to pass over to Tarshish, and to Chittim, yet even there they were to find no rest, no quiet settlement. After Nebuchadnezzar had succeeded in Tyre and Egypt, we may suppose he carried his arms farther westward; and if, as history informs us, he proceeded as far as to all those places whither the Tyrians had sent forth colonies, this people might well be said to have no rest, their conqueror pursuing them from one country to another. Besides and after this, the Carthaginians and other colonies of the Tyrians lived in a very unsettled state: their history is made up of little but wars and tumults, even before their three fatal wars with the Romans, in every one of which their affairs grew worse and worse. Sicily and Spain, Europe and Africa, the land and their own element, were theatres of their calamities, till not only the new, but the old Carthage likewise, was destroyed. Thus as the Carthaginians sprung from the Tyrians, and the Tyrians from the Sidonians, and Sidon was the first-born of Canaan; Genesis 10:15 the curse upon Canaan seems to have pursued them to the most distant parts of the earth. See Bishop Newton as above, and Vitringa.