Isaiah’s Prophecy Against Tyre

Tyre (Greek: Τύρος) is located on the eastern Mediterranean coast, just 12 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border. Today, we can only see shadows of its past. Tyre was once part of the Roman Empire and later sent envoys to the Eastern Han Dynasty, where its king was bestowed with a “golden seal and purple ribbon” in 100 AD by Emperor He of Han. It is now a city in the southern administrative district of Lebanon, known as Sur, also transliterated as Tyre or Tyrus in some Christian Bible versions like the Chinese Union Version. Ancient Chinese texts referred to Tyre as “Dou Le.”

Tyre was an ancient Phoenician city and is currently the fourth-largest city in Lebanon and one of its main ports. Tyre is also a popular tourist destination, boasting numerous archaeological sites, including its Roman Hippodrome, which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

Historical and archaeological evidence indicates that Tyre has been continuously inhabited since the early second millennium BC, long before the Israelites settled in Canaan. When the Bible speaks of the early history of Canaanites and Israel, Tyre first appears as part of the western boundary of Asher’s territory (Joshua 19:29). In this passage, it is specifically called a “fortified city” and considered an important landmark. Tyre does not appear again in the Bible until King Hiram of Tyre supplied cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons to build David’s palace (2 Samuel 5:11). From David’s time onward, the connection between Israel and Tyre became significant. King Hiram of Tyre provided cedar wood, carpenters, and stonemasons for the construction of both David’s palace and the Temple.

In 701 BC, Assyrian King Sennacherib devastated and destroyed the Phoenician cities to the north, leaving the population in dire straits. Although Tyre itself was not occupied, it was severely affected. The Assyrian Empire gradually declined over the next seventy years, giving Tyre a chance to recover and rise again. Thus, “At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth” (Isaiah 23:17).

After Judah’s seventy years of exile, God again used Tyre, just as in Solomon’s time, to provide cedar trees—and possibly craftsmen—for the rebuilding of the Temple by the Israelites returning from Babylonian captivity (Ezra 3:7). However, Tyre engaged in profit-driven trade with other nations, even violating the Sabbath regulations by doing business with the returning Judeans (Nehemiah 13:16). Therefore, Tyre would fall again. They would not enjoy the wealth they had accumulated anew but would be taken by those who feared God.