What Does Isaiah 23:1 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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.
“revealed” 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.
“laid waste” 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.
He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,THE THREAD
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth 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.
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