ישעיהו, פרק כ״ג, פסוק א׳

The magnificent and ancient coastal city of Tyre stood as a mighty maritime trade empire, serving as a vital merchant hub for distant islands [מלבי״ם]. When Jerusalem fell, Tyre rejoiced, hoping to inherit its wealth. In response, a harsh prophecy of wrath is directed at the Phoenician city, foretelling the absolute collapse of its vast trading empire [חומת אנך]. A historical debate exists regarding the identity of the empire that brings about this devastation. The primary approach among commentators is that the prophecy describes Tyre's ultimate destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם]. Conversely, some suggest this specific warning refers to an earlier siege and severe economic crippling inflicted by the Assyrian kings, Sennacherib or Shalmaneser, noting that the final Babylonian conquest was prophesied separately by Ezekiel [שד״ל, אברבנאל].

As the disaster unfolds, a bitter cry goes out to the sailors and merchants of Tarshish. Identified as a large, distant city in Spain, Tarshish had grown immensely wealthy through its tight trade relations with Tyre [רש״י, מלבי״ם, שד״ל, אברבנאל]. Another perspective suggests that this call to mourn is directed at the sea itself [רש״י]. These foreign merchants are summoned to wail because the very source of their livelihood and riches has been suddenly eradicated [אברבנאל]. The devastation is absolute. The city is violently robbed and ruined so thoroughly from the inside out that it ceases to exist as a home or a lodging place for traveling merchants. Its bustling port is left entirely desolate, completely inaccessible to arriving ships [רש״י, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם]. One particularly vivid description portrays the aftermath as a complete erasure, where the sea rises and floods the ruins until even the shoreline where ships once docked is washed away [מלבי״ם].

The fall of such a colossal empire raises the question of how the distant world learns of its sudden end. The news is revealed through the land of Kittim, which commentators identify with the Romans, the Greeks, or the island of Cyprus [רש״י, רד״ק, שד״ל, אברבנאל]. The primary approach explains that refugees from Tyre fled to Kittim. When the merchant ships of Tarshish passed through Kittim on their regular trade routes, these displaced survivors broke the bitter news to them [רש״י, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם, שד״ל]. Other perspectives offer different connections to Kittim. Some suggest the sheer magnitude of the destruction was so great that its echoes naturally reached as far as Kittim [אבן עזרא]. Others propose that the invading forces actually attacked Tyre by passing through Kittim [רש״י, ביאור שטיינזלץ], perhaps because the merchants of Kittim actively assisted the Babylonians in launching a naval assault [רד״ק]. Finally, the call to mourn may equally apply to the ships arriving from Kittim, as they, just like the fleets of Tarshish, have lost their central destination for global trade [אברבנאל].