What Does Isaiah 23:1 Mean?
The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for it is ravaged, so that there is no house, no entering in; from the land of Chittim it is uncovered to them.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
The city’s ruin is not hidden within its walls: the same root that means “reveal” also carries the sense of being uncovered and displaced.
THE MEANING
When your security depends on a single center of access, its collapse can empty what seemed stable, and the news can reach you from the far edge of your network. The verse lets the loss stand plainly: there is no house, no entering in.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a wealthy center or far-reaching network guarantees lasting access; its dependents can be left with nowhere to enter.
THE ROOT
נִגְלָה
niglah
GROWS FROM
גלה
to uncover, disclose, or expose; the same root also carries the sense of going into exile.
“uncovered” in this verse is niglah. The root holds uncovering and displacement together: what is removed from its place can be left exposed. Here, Tyre’s collapse is disclosed to people far away, turning a city’s ruin into shared knowledge.
ALSO GROWS
galah: to uncover, disclose, or reveal
גָּלָה
This is the root verb behind the news of Tyre’s ruin becoming visible to those at sea.
golah: exile or exiles
גּוֹלָה
This branch carries the root’s sense of being displaced, echoing a city stripped of its place as a center of entry.
שֻׁדַּד
shuddad
GROWS FROM
שדד
to devastate, plunder, or despoil.
“ravaged” in this verse is shuddad. The word carries the force of plundering devastation. The verse immediately names what that means for Tyre: no house and no way in.
ALSO GROWS
shod: devastation, spoil, or plunder
שֹׁד
It makes the loss in “laid waste” concrete as what is taken and destroyed.
shoded: plunderer or devastator
שׁוֹדֵד
This branch gives the devastation an active force: the city is not merely quiet but brought low.
THE PATTERN
When a city’s trade depends on one center, that center’s fall turns abundance into public grief.
The one who leans his weight upon his riches falls, but the aligned bloom like a leaf.For in one hour such great wealth has been emptied. And every steersman, and every one who sails to a place, and sailors, and as many as work the sea, stood far off.THE THREAD
He uncovers the deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light rests with him.Isaiah’s “revealed” comes from גלה (galah), the same root rendered “revealeth” here. In Isaiah the city’s collapse is disclosed to those far away; Daniel shows the root’s uncovering sense applied to what lies hidden.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us