Isaiah 23.1-14 and the Failure of the Sea God

Abstract

In Isa 23, the ships of Tarshish, on their voyage home, howl to see the destruction of their home ports of Tyre and Sidon: “The sea says: ‘I am like one who has never borne children.’” Bible scholars struggle over the interpretation of this verse, wondering why a masculine voice speaks about writhing in labor and bearing children. To the mythic mind, however, this verse makes perfect sense, for the sea god, known in the Greek world as Poseidon, sired as many as 140 children, including two sons that are connected to places mentioned in this passage, Belus, an early king of Egypt, and Agenor, king of Tyre (with his son Phoenix = Phoenicia). Now that some of those places are destroyed, it is as if the Sea never fathered them. In contrast to the biblical God, the prophet states, the sea god has limited power and can only mourn the fate of his progeny. The use of the term מָעוֹז‎ “stronghold” in Isa 23 may refer to the protecting gods/avatars who lament over the destruction of the Phoenician nation-states, as the text gloats over their destruction.

Isaiah 23 is about the destruction of Tyre and/or Sidon, cities of Phoenicia on the eastern Mediterranean coast. In this biblical passage from the eighth century BCE, ships attempt to return to their seaport homes but wail when they see that their cities have been destroyed. The Israelite prophet mocks the powerlessness of the great god of the sea and the local (epichoric) gods who have failed to protect the cities which are considered their progeny. The prophet celebrates the power of his One God.

Isaiah 23: The problems

Scholars who attempt to understand Isa 23 are aware of its many difficulties in translation, geography, unity, and dating. ¹ While 23.1 says that this is a speech to and about Tyre, it is Sidon that seems to be the subject of vv. 1-14. The verses concerning Tyre seem to be a prose poem (vv. 5, 8-9, 11b-12a, 15, 17-18); the poetic verses about Sidon (1-4, 6-7, 10, 12b-14) are characterized by the rhythm and strophic form of the elegy. Therefore, critical scholarship concludes that the original core of Isa 23 is the poem in vv. 1-14, an elegy on the fall of Sidon, without the work of a later redactor who added a prose prophecy of seventy years of misery for Tyre (23.15), the ditty about the harlot (23.16) and the introductory rubric “The Burden of Tyre” (23.1). In discussing the difference between 23.1-14 about Sidon and the addition of vv. 15-18 about Tyre, Ginsberg (1971, 9:49–61 [cols. 56, 58]) states, “The latter does not sound like Isaiah either in diction or in sentiments,” while in the former “the diction is Isaiah’s, and the period is the Assyrian one.” One could support Ginsberg’s statement by pointing to many examples, including the pronouncement, “Ah, let Moab howl/Let all in Moab howl” in 16.7 and those concerning Damascus (ch. 17) and Egypt (ch. 19).

Sidon’s Phoenician period began in the twelfth through tenth centuries BCE. Built on a promontory facing an island, which sheltered its ships from storms and served as a refuge, Sidon was a prominent Phoenician city-state (Sader 2019). It was twice destroyed in war between the seventh and fourth centuries BCE. Many scholars conclude that we should posit Isaianic authorship during or after the attack on Phoenicia led by Sennacherib and the Assyrians in 705–701 (Rudolph 1959, 166–74; Erlandsson 1970, 97–102).

To quote Roberts (2015, 297), the oracle is extremely difficult, “as even a casual comparison of modern translations of the text will confirm. The audience to whom the prophet originally spoke the oracle presumably found the oracle easier to understand, because they knew the contemporary reports about what was going on … and were probably familiar with [the] poetic references. Modern interpreters are largely lacking such information.” Our goal is to understand vv. 1-14 as being spoken by Isaiah to his contemporaries that might readily understand the mythic references.

Isaiah 23.4

Our focus will be on verse 4, which is very difficult in itself. I present it here in Hebrew and then in a widely used translation:

בּוֹשִׁי צִידוֹן כִּי־אָמַר יָם מָעוֹז הַיָּם לֵאמֹר לֹא־חַלְתִּי וְלֹא־יָלַדְתִּי וְלֹא גִדַּלְתִּי בַּחוּרִים רוֹמַמְתִּי בְתוּלוֹת׃‎

For the sea—the stronghold [מָעוֹז‎] of the sea—declares: Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea; for the sea has spoken: “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.” (NJPS)

The basic questions are:

• What is the relationship between the sea and the מָעוֹז‎ “stronghold” of the sea?

• Why does יָם‎ “sea,” a masculine noun, speak about never being in labor, giving birth or raising children?

My approach will be to show that:

1. The meaning of מָעוֹז‎ “stronghold” can be expanded from “protection” to “the Protector” in the Bible.

2. The male sea god is supposed to protect his progeny from disaster.

3. This male sea god may be closely related to the god Poseidon, who was an important god in Phoenicia from very ancient times and so could be known by the prophet Isaiah, as shown by genealogical references making him the progenitor of cities including Sidon and Tyre.

4. This would explain why a male sea god would be said to bear children.

The meaning of מָעוֹז‎

In Isa 23, the God of the Israelites has stretched out his hand and destroyed Canaan’s מָעֻזִּים‎ “protectors.” The prophet mocks the sea god and proclaims the power of the Israelite God in vv. 11 and 14:

יָדוֹ נָטָה עַל־הַיָּם הִרְגִּיז מַמְלָכוֹת יְהוָה צִוָּה אֶל־כְּנַעַן לַשְׁמִד מָעֻזְנֶיהָ׃‎

The LORD poised His arm o’er the sea and made kingdoms quake;

It was He decreed destruction for Canaan’s ² מָעֻזִּים‎. (NJPS)

הֵילִילוּ אֳנִיּוֹת תַּרְשִׁישׁ כִּי שֻׁדַּד מָעֻזְּכֶן׃‎

Howl, O ships of Tarshish, for your מָעוֹז‎ is destroyed. (NJPS)

I suggest that מָעוֹז‎ “stronghold” in this passage refers not to “the stronghold of the sea” but to a personified avatar of the sea that can speak and mourn, and that מָעֻזְנֶיהָ‎ “its strongholds” refers not to the “strongholds” of Canaan, but the protecting powers (avatars) of these nations.

Biblical Hebrew מָעוֹז‎ “stronghold” is rich in theological significance. מָעוֹז‎ is derived from the root ayin-vav-zayin, which means, “to flee” or “seek refuge,” not ayin-zayin-zayin, which means “strength” (Brown, Driver, and Briggs 1907; Gesenius 1857). ³ And yet for עזז‎ to mean “Mighty One” is a possibility as the Ugaritic cognate ʿz is, interestingly enough, applied to Yam in Ugaritic texts (Gordon 1948, 166; Pritchard 1969, 131). The usual translation of מָעוֹז‎ as “refuge,” a place where one is protected and safe, is correct in examples such as the following: ⁴

For You have been a refuge (מָעוֹז‎) for the poor man, a shelter (מָעוֹז‎) for the needy man in his distress—shelter from rainstorm, shade from heat. When the fury of tyrants was like a winter rainstorm, … (Isa 25.4 NJPS)

Who set out to go down to Egypt without asking Me to seek refuge (מָעוֹז‎) with Pharaoh, to seek shelter under the protection of Egypt. The refuge (מָעוֹז‎) with Pharaoh shall result in your shame; the shelter under Egypt’s protection, in your chagrin. (Isa 30.2-3 NJPS) ⁵

מָעוֹז‎ “refuge” may mean “a place to which one can flee from a negative power and will be protected by a positive power.”

It is important to understand that מָעוֹז‎ can mean something other than “refuge.” In Isa 27.1-5, God will battle against those who do not trust in God and fight for those who do. The mythological references are striking, including the famous image of the Leviathan: God will punish the Elusive, Twisting Serpent, the Dragon of the Sea, with God’s great and mighty sword. One wonders if there is not some connection between the primordial mythological battle against the Sea and Isa 23, where the sea has been rendered powerless. The usual translation is:

If one offers me thorns and thistles, I will march to battle against him, and set all of them on fire. But if he holds fast to My refuge [יַחֲזֵק בְּמָעוּזִּי‎], He makes Me his friend, He makes Me his friend. (Isa 27.4b-5 NJPS)

מָעוֹז‎ does not mean “refuge” here; it seems to mean God’s “protecting power.” And שָׁלוֹם‎, translated here as “friend,” may indicate “protector.” That is, when people do not worship God, God fights against them; when they do worship God, they have protection. This biblical passage states that what people do impacts on the divine and determines whether God fights for or against them.

God is a protector in times of trouble; God is a refuge, but God also is a power that will chase the evil enemy to the death. A refuge does not move and chase. A similar example of מָעוֹז‎ as “protector” is Ps 28.8:

The LORD is their strength (עֹז‎) / He is a stronghold (מָעוֹז‎) for the deliverance of His anointed. (NJPS)

What does it mean to say that God is one’s מָעוֹז‎? God protects God’s adherent, using God’s power to protect God’s believer against evil. “Stronghold” reflects a fortress, but, again, a stronghold does not go out and deliver the people. Here, God is actively participating for the benefit of God’s adherents. We find similar examples in Ps 31.3-5:

Be a rock, a stronghold [מָעוֹז‎] for me / A citadel, for my deliverance. … / You free me from the net laid for me / For You are my stronghold [מָעוֹז‎]. (Ps 31.3cd, 5 NJPS)

A “protector” would be a better translation than “stronghold.” A stronghold does not free anyone from a net that has been laid for them. “Refuge” here would not illustrate how God goes out and frees God’s adherent from the net. ⁶

In the Hebrew Bible, then, in addition to the usual translations of “stronghold” or “refuge,” the term מָעוֹז‎ can mean the Power that protects one from enemies and the divine means of protection. Therefore, מָעוֹז‎ in Isa 23 may refer to a divine power that is supposed to protect that god’s adherents.

Some of the well-known exegetical problems of Isa 23 may find solutions in an understanding of the use of the complex Hebrew term מָעוֹז‎ here not as “stronghold” as it is usually translated, but as “protector.” I will claim that the speaker who laments in v. 4 is the sea, and if we understand that the sea is personified in its mythical form as a god who is supposed to be the “protector,” the passage begins to make better sense.

A male sea

Isa 23.4 has been the subject of emendation, but our first preference always should be to understand the text as it has been transmitted in the Masoretic Text. NJPS transposes the clauses. If instead, we follow the order of the Hebrew, the translation should be:

Be ashamed, Sidon / For Sea declares / The Power [מָעוֹז‎] of the Sea says: / “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; / I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

We note that we have both יָם‎ “sea,” without the definite article, and the מָעוֹז‎ of the sea, with the definite article, in parallelism, which I interpret to mean the male sea god who is the protector of the sea.

Despite the verbs and images of motherhood, especially the image of writhing in the pain of childbirth, “sea” is a masculine noun and the verb used here also is masculine. 1QIsa^a would make the verb feminine, as would Kaiser (1974, 160). Albrecht (1896, 61) assumes that we have an irregular combination of a feminine noun and a masculine verb. Wildberger (1997, 407) says, “In a transferred sense, however, one cannot forbid males to speak about becoming pregnant.”

The fact remains, however, that our text has a male subject and a male verb. Again, the text itself makes the Sea masculine, as is the מָעוֹז‎ of the sea. Biblical commentators struggle over this crux.

To the mythic mind, however, this verse makes perfect sense, for the god of the sea, known in the Greek world as Poseidon, is a male progenitor of the Phoenician cities of Sidon and Tyre.

The sea god = Yam = Poseidon

The Phoenician sea god Yam, the name we find in Isa 23, is characterized in Ugaritic narrative as the male god Yammu. ⁷ Yam/Yammu may have been identified with Poseidon by the Phoenicians from a very early point in their history. ⁸ Baumgarten (2015, 207) has proposed that Poseidon may correspond to both Yam and the chief god El: “A single Semitic deity might, in different places, be identified with different Greek gods and vice versa.” The identification of Poseidon with El, the chief god of the Ugaritic pantheon, shows that the Semites acknowledged his preeminence. In a bilingual inscription at Karatepe, a ninth-century BCE fortress in the Taurus Mountain range, the god El-Creator-of-the-Earth of the Phoenician text is equated in the Luwian hieroglyphs with the Babylonian god Ea whose realm was the waters that surround the earth. Poseidon may be the ʾĒl who dwells at the source of the two deeps in Ugaritic texts (Teixodor 1977, 42). A bilingual inscription from Palmyra dated to the first century equates ʾĒl-Creator-of-the-Earth with Poseidon (Donner and Röllig 1962–1964, nos. 11, 43, 129).

Poseidon seems to have been the great god in early Greek mythology before Zeus and it was only later that he was relegated to a lesser role (Mylonas 1966, 159; Otto 1954, 28). In earlier Mycenean times, the name Poseidon occurs with greater frequency than Zeus in the Linear B tablets, where Poseidon frequently carries the title wa-na-ka (wanax), meaning “king” in Linear B inscriptions. In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes. In Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis (Burkert 1985, 136–39).

As Zeus rose, Poseidon declined. Poseidon has various powers—the sea, the storm, the earthquake (Parker 2011, 77), the tamer of horses, and the power of horses ⁹ (Parker 2011, 94)—all of which seem connected to a mode of activity, turbulence, and dangerous violence, or as Burkert (1985, 139) puts it, “an embodiment of elemental force.” Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice to him. ¹⁰ Poseidon was known in the Mediterranean world as the protector of those who work on, travel, or live by the sea. Poseidon was said to have great power in hindering those he opposes and ensuring the safe passage of those he would protect. Poseidon controls earthquakes and was known as Ἐνοσίχθων and Ἐνοσίγαιος (“earth-shaker”). ¹¹

Here is a Homeric Hymn, usually dated in the seventh century BCE:

I begin by singing about the great god Poseidon, mighty mover of the earth and the unfruitful sea, Lord of the deep, who rules over Helikon and far-reaching Aegae. The gods, Earth-Shaker [Ennosigaios], allotted to you a double distinction: to be both the tamer of horses and the preserver of ships. Hail, Poseidon, dark-haired Upholder of Earth [Gaienokhos]! Keep a compassionate heart, blessed one, and help those who sail. (Sargent 1973, 72)

The question is not: Did Isaiah know Homer? It is possible that he did, for the consensus seems to be that the Iliad and the Odyssey poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE (Croally and Hyde 2011, 26). We should remember, however, that Homer distilled and shaped a great deal of Greek epic, genealogy, and poetry; he drew from rich and diverse traditions. Poseidon was an important character in this pre-Homeric world (Gantz 1996, 62–63).

The sea god Poseidon and the cities of Sidon and Tyre

Green (1997, 43) writes about “the overriding centrality of myth to the self-definition and self-esteem of any family or polis” and cites Wickersham who speaks “of the centrality of myth to a polis’ self-concept, and how all its myths are interwoven” (Wickersham 1991, 23–24). Malkin (1994, 3) writes, “Attitudes are historical facts; myths can be facts when they articulate attitudes.” These general statements can be illustrated by showing that Isa 23 may contain allusions to a fascinating web of myths and genealogies connecting the god Poseidon and the city of Sidon, Agenor/Canaan, Agenor’s wife Tyro/Tyre, Phoenicia/Phoenix, Egypt, Cyprus, and Carthage. According to Greek myths and genealogies about the ancient civilization of the Mediterranean, these cities and lands are the offspring of Poseidon.

Poseidon, a male god, does have many children, among which are many cities or their eponymous founders. Poseidon has sired as many as 140 children, including gods (e.g., Proteus), nymphs (e.g., Rhode), animals (e.g., Pegasus), monsters (e.g., Kharybdis and Polyphemos), and two sons that are connected strongly to places mentioned in this passage (Belus, an early king of Egypt, and Agenor, king of Tyre [with his son Phoenix = Phoenicia]).

Poseidon is the father of Agenor, by Libya, born in Memphis (Aeschylus, Suppliant Women, 317). Agenor traveled to Phoenicia and founded Sidon (Apollodorus, 3.1.1). According to Diodorus (5.78.1), Agenor ruled over Sidon and Tyre. He was said to have reigned in that city for 63 years (Malalas, Chronographia, 2.30). Poseidon desires Tyro because she “surpassed all mortal women in beauty” and she became the mother by him of Pelias and Neleus (Catalogue of Women, frag. 30.33-34).

If the Sea or the god/מָעוֹז‎/avatar of the sea mourns for his children in Isa 23, if he is now as one who never bore or raised children, these “children” are the cities and places of the eastern Mediterranean. The entities representing the sea, Egypt, Canaan, Sidon, Tyre, Cyprus, and Tarshish were set in different relationships in various myths, but the links were strong and clear. Here are two genealogical statements:

Sons of Neptunus [Poseidon]. Agenor and Belus by Libya, daughter of Epaphus. (Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 157)

Epaphos was ruler of the Aigyptioi (Egyptians), he married Neilos’ daughter Memphis … and fathered a daughter Libya, after whom the country of Libya is named. Libya and Poseidon had twin sons Agenor and Belos. Belos remained to become king of Aigyptos. Agenor left for Phoinikia where he became king; he was the founder of a great line. (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.10)

If the Sea and Egypt produce Agenor/Canaan who produces Tyre, and if Poseidon rapes Tyro, there is a direct relationship between this god and the city, elevating Tyre in the mythical world. Tyre is the legendary birthplace of Europa and Elissa (Dido). Poseidon desires Tyro because she “surpassed all mortal women in beauty” and she becomes the mother of Pelias and Neleus (Catalogue of Women, frag. 30.33-34).

Poseidon is systematically portrayed on local coins as mounted on a chariot drawn by sea monsters. According to Quintus Curtius Rufus, the Tyrians and the Sidonians in the time of Alexander both believed that Agenor had founded their cities. He states this about Tyre, “If the popular tradition is to be believed, its people were the first to teach or to learn the alphabet, and it is a fact that its colonies were scattered almost throughout the entire world (Carthage in Africa, Thebes in Boeotia, Gades on the Ocean)” (Rufus 2001, 61).

Again, to follow Malkin, while we cannot say that it a historical fact that Egyptians were involved in the founding of Tyre, we can say that there was a belief that Tyre somehow descended from or was related to Egypt. ¹² Thus Tyro, the eponym of Tyre, the daughter of Salmoneus the king of Elis, was raped by Poseidon and bore him two sons, Neleus and Pelias. In another variation, Tyro is described as Agenor’s wife. Agenor’s wife also can be called Telephassa, the daughter of Nilus, god of the Nile, and Nephele. ¹³ We see the close relationship between Agenor = Canaan and Egypt = Nilus/Neleus. Indeed, Isa 23 includes otherwise obscure references to Egypt and the river Nile:

When the Egyptians heard it, they quailed / As when they heard about Tyre. … / Traverse your land like the Nile / Fair Tarshish; / This is a harbor no more. (Isa 23.5, 10 NJPS)

This mythic web may help us to understand this verse. Using our time reckoning and following Herodotus (Histories 2.145.1), Agenor would have lived before the year 2000 BCE. Agenor and his twin brother Belus are born in Memphis (Egypt), the sons of Poseidon and Libya. Belus becomes king of Egypt and Agenor leaves to become the Phoenician king of Tyre (Schmitz 1867, 68). While Agenor is said to have been the father of Cadmus (founder of Thebes and inventor of the alphabet), Europa, Cilix, Phoenix, and Thasus (Euripides Scholia Phoenician Women 5; Hyginus, Fabulae 178; Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.25 §7; Scholiast on Apollon. Rhod. 2.178; 3.1186), other sources state that Belus was the father of Agenor and Phoenix and it was Phoenix who was the father of those five figures. ¹⁴

Whatever the variations, Agenor/Canaan and Phoenix/Phoenicia are closely related in Greek lore. Agenor is Canaan, Phoenix is Phoenicia, Tyro is Tyre, but who is Sidon’s eponymous hero? There is no such eponymous deity for Sidon, unless, as I speculate, the name relates to the name Poseidon.

Conclusion

The sea’s “children” are the cities and places of the eastern Mediterranean. The entities representing the sea, Egypt, and Canaan were set in different relationships in various myths, but the links were strong and clear. In this mythological dimension to Isa 23, the “Lament of Tyre and Sidon,” Poseidon did not prevent catastrophes from afflicting his progeny, the Canaanite/Phoenician states, and so the god should be ashamed in his inability to perform his most basic function. While Poseidon is supposed to control the domain of the ocean and is called the “god of the sea,” he has not protected his offspring, whose destruction is poetically described.

With this mythological background in mind, I suggest this translation of Isa 23.4:

Be ashamed, (god of) Sidon, / Because the Sea says / The Power of the Sea, saying, / I am not in labor / And I cannot bear / Or raise men / Or bring up maidens.

In the conventional rendering, the sea is speaking to Sidon, telling the city to be ashamed. Reading the verse as it is, the מָעוֹז‎ of the sea, which I take to mean the power/god of the sea, laments the fate of its offspring. The difference in my rendering may seem minor but I think it is instructive. The verse begins with a different voice telling Sidon to be ashamed, for he has proved to be powerless to defend his children, and all his offspring such as Tyre are helpless or destroyed. ¹⁵ Now that those places (Sidon, Tyre, and perhaps Tarshish) are destroyed, it is as if the Sea never fathered them. The passage states that the sea god did not prevent catastrophes from afflicting his progeny, the Canaanite/Phoenician states, and so the god should be ashamed. The “god of the sea” has not protected his offspring, whose destruction is poetically described in Isa 23.1-10.

Why does the Sea say that it is as if he has not given birth or raised young men and women? It means that it is as if he has not produced or protected cities and countries. It is a polemical attack on the origin stories of these cities, rejecting their myths that it was Poseidon who engendered Egypt, Tyre, and so on. The cities mentioned in Isa 23 worshipped Poseidon early on, and so these references to the Sea and its progeny would allow for an Isaian date for this passage. ¹⁶ The prophet, or the writer of Isa 23 did not necessarily know all or even most of this mythic background. The prophet/writer would only need a sense, not of the details say, of Poseidon raping Tyro, but that in “pagan” minds the Sea engendered Egypt which “parented” Canaan which “parented” Tyre which in turn “parented” colonies in Tarshish and Cyprus. The author of Isa 23 did not believe in the existence of these gods/avatars/protecting deities, and could be saying: “You all believed in these gods, and where did that get you? Hah! There is only one God Who has prevailed.”