Isaiah 23

"The burden of Tyre.  Wail you ships of Tarshish!  For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no harbor; from the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them."  v.1

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"Massa," the Hebrew word for burden, or oracle as some translations say.  It refers to something that is taken or carried such as a present, tribute, or message.  It is also used when God uses His prophets to convey judgment against someone or some nation.  "Isaiah frequently uses it as 'oracles against the nations,' where he spoke of God's judgment on different kingdoms.  Translating this word as burden emphasizes that Isaiah carried and delivered God's indictments against the nations" (NKJV Study Bible).  How hard is it to be the messenger of a burden?  Why kind of response do you get?

Tyre and other adventurous seaports of Tarshish (located in Spain most likely) are spoken of here of their destruction.  They're told to wail or howl because the commerce they became rich by was now to be destroyed.  "And although this prophecy seem directly and properly to respect the former destruction, yet it seems to have some reference to the latter also; only it is intimated, that after seventy years Tyrus should recover her former power and glory, before her second and final destruction" (Jamison-Fassuet-Brown Commentary).   If all your riches were taken from you or lost, would this cause great wailing?  How would you respond?