Isaiah 23:2

“Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle, &c.] Either the isles of Chittim, or other islands that traded with Tyre, the singular being put for the plural, called upon to grieve and mourn, because the city of their merchandise was destroyed, as Kimchi; or of Tyre itself, which being situated at some distance from the shore, was an island itself, until it was joined to the continent by Alexanderf454; and even old Tyre might be so called, it being usual in Scripture to call places by the seashore isles; and besides, old Tyre included in it new Tyre, the island, as Plinyf455 suggests; who are instructed to be silent as mourners, and to cease from the hurries of business, which they would be obliged…”

“Be still--"struck dumb with awe." Addressed to those already in the country, eye-witnesses of its ruin (Lam 2:10); or, in contrast to the busy din of commerce once heard in Tyre; now all is hushed and still. isle--strictly applicable to New Tyre: in the sense coast, to the mainland city, Old Tyre (compare Isa 23:6; Isa 20:6). Zidon--of which Tyre was a colony, planted when Zidon was conquered by the Philistines of Ascalon. Zidon means a "fishing station"; this was its beginning. replenished--with wealth and an industrious population (Eze 27:3, Eze 27:8, Eze 27:23). Here "Zidon," as the oldest city of PhÅ“nicia, includes all the PhÅ“nician towns on the strip of "coast." Thus, Eth-baal, king…”

“Be still - This is the description of a city which is destroyed, where the din of commerce, and the sound of revelry is no longer heard. It is an address of the prophet to Tyre, indicating that it would be soon still, and destroyed. Ye inhabitants of the isle - (of Tyre). The word ‘isle’ (אי 'iy) is sometimes used to denote a “coast or maritime region” (see the note at Isaiah 20:6), but there seems no reason to doubt that here it means the island on which New Tyre was erected. This may have been occupied even before Old Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, though the main city was on the crest. Thou whom the merchants of Zidon - Tyre was a colony from Sidon; and the merchants of Sidon would…”

“Be still - Heb. be silent, boast no more of thy wealth and power. The isle - Of Tyre, which was an island, 'till Alexander joined it to the continent. The title of islands is often given by the Hebrews to places bordering upon the sea. That pass - That are a sea - faring people. Replenished - With manners, and commodities. Isaiah 23:4”

“23:2 Sidon was a Phoenician port to the north of Tyre. • Tyre’s commercial network of traders was extensive.”

“still: Heb. silent, Isa 41:1, Isa 47:5; Psa 46:10; Hab 2:20 the isle: Eze 27:3, Eze 27:4, Eze 28:2 the merchants: Ezek. 27:8-36 Isaiah 23:3”

“"Be alarmed, ye inhabitants of the coast! Sidonian merchants, sailing over the sea, filled thee once. And the sowing of Sichor came upon great waters, the harvest of the Nile, her store; and she became gain for nations." The suffixes of מלּא (to fill with wares and riches) and תּבוּאה (the bringing in, viz., into barns and granaries) refer to the word אי, which is used here as a feminine for the name of a country, and denotes the Phoenician coast, including the insular Tyre. "Sidonian merchants" are the Phoenicians generally, as in Homer; for the "great Sidon" of antiquity (Zidon rabbâh, Jos 11:8; Jos 19:28) was the mother-city of Phoenicia, which so thoroughly stamped its name upon the…”