The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
Menander, the historian, who translated into Greek the Tyrian archives (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' 9: 14, sec. 2), notices a siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser, shortly after his capture of Samaria - i:e., not long after 721 BC Tyre was then in the height of its prosperity. Since the reign of Hiram it had planted the great colony of Carthage, 143 year and 8 months after the building of Solomon's temple (Josephus, 100: 'Apion.,' 1: 18). It had the island of Cyprus, with its valuable mines of the metal which takes its name, 'copper,' from the island. Sidon, Acco, and Old Tyre, on the mainland, were soon reduced; but New Tyre, on an island half a mile from the shore, held out for five years. Sargon probably finished the siege. Sennacherib does not, however, mention it among the cities which the Assyrian kings conquered, (Isaiah 36:1-22; Isaiah 37:1-38.) The expression, "Chaldeans" (Isaiah 23:13), implies an ulterior reference to its siege under Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years. Alexander the Great destroyed New Tyre after a seven month's siege.
Tyre (Hebrew, Tzor) - i:e., Rock; now Sur.
Ships of Tarshish - ships of Tyre returning from their voyage to Tarshish, or Tartessus in Spain, with which the Phoenicians had much commerce (Ezekiel 27:12-25). "Ships of Tarshish" is a phrase also used of large and distant-voyaging merchant vessels (Isaiah 2:16; 1 Kings 10:22; Psalms 48:7).
There is no house - namely, left: such was the case as to Old Tyre after Nebuchadnezzar's siege.
No entering in - there is no house to enter (Isaiah 24:10). Or rather, Tyre is so laid waste that there is no possibility of entering the harbour: which is appropriate to the previous "ships." Literally, 'it is laid waste, from (Hebrew, min (H4480)) there being a house, from there being an entrance:' which probably means, Tyre, once the emporium of all nations, is now laid waste, so that it is no longer a house with an open entrance to all. G. Robinson says, 'The harbour is a small circular basin, now quite filled up with sand and broken columns, leaving scarcely space enough for small boats to enter.'
From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them - Cyprus: of which the cities, including Citium in the South (whence came "Chittim"), were mostly Phoenician (Ezekiel 27:6). The ships from Tarshish on their way to Tyre learn the tidings
(It is revealed to them) of the downfall of Tyre. At a later period Chittim denoted the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean (Daniel 11:30). The Chittians (i:e., the Cyprians) had revolted from Tyre: upon which the Tyrian King Eluloeus sailed against them and reduced them. But the King of Assyria attacked all Phoenicia; and with the help of 60 ships and 800 rowers of Sidon, Acco (Acre), and Old Tyre, and the Phoenicians in general, who submitted to him, he attacked Tyre. The Tyrian archives represent themselves as victorious, and as having still held out five years, in spite of the Assyrian king's placing of guards at their rivers and aqueducts. But national vanity would prompt them to hide their own defeat, which they might the more safely do, as Tyre still remained a powerful state with its own kings (Jeremiah 25:22; Jeremiah 27:3; Ezekiel 28:2-12), after its temporary humiliation, until the siege under Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.