18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
(Verse 15 and following) And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years, Tyre shall sing as a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, O harlot that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered. After seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And his merchandise shall be holy unto the Lord: it shall not be gathered nor laid up; for his merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. This that is spoken of: a memorial before the Lord: and upon the face of the earth. And as the time of a man's life, which is not contained in the Hebrew, but is added in the Greek. And Tyre, after the seventy years of her captivity, shall return, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up, for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. The divine discourse exhorts Sidon and Tyre to repentance, and promises that his labors and rewards are to be sanctified by the Lord. Who does not have hope for salvation from sins, if indeed he has sung well, and all the strings of virtues, which were once slackened, are to be composed into praises of the Lord? We read in the forty-fourth psalm, which specifically pertains to the union of the bridegroom and the bride, that is, to God the Savior and the sacraments of the Church, it is said among other things: The daughters of Tyre will offer you gifts, the rich among the people will seek your favor (Ps. XLIV, 13). And the bridegroom himself speaks again to the Tyrian bride: Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear; and forget your people and your father's house, for the king desires your beauty. (Ibid. 11, 12). Hence, in the description of her beauty, it is said: The queen stands at your right hand, in a golden robe, adorned with various ornaments (Ibid., 10). And again: All the glory of the king's daughter is within (Ibid., 14). But if the king desires the beauty of penitent Tyre, and having the ornaments of various virtues, how much more will his reward and business be not in Tyre, where he does not dwell, but among those who live in the sight of the Lord! After they have repented, they will hear from the Lord and Savior: 'Eat, my friends, and drink, and be intoxicated, my beloved' (Song of Solomon 5:1). What it means to eat and drink, and be satisfied with the gathering of all virtues, the faithful reader understands. The temple was desolate for seventy years, as Jeremiah (Chapter 29), Daniel (Chapter 9), and Zechariah (Chapter 7) teach. And in Ezekiel (Chapter 16) we read about Sodom being restored to its former state, and about Egypt receiving its former abundance after the desolation and dryness of the land and the seven rivers. The number seventy signifies complete and perfect repentance, either in the span of seven days or in the completion of seven decades, so that just as Tyre, when the time of repentance is fulfilled, may return to its former state. Concerning this, I believe that the prostitute is referred to in the mystical language of Solomon's Proverbs: Do not look at the worst woman; for honey drips from the lips of the harlot, who fattens your throat for a short time, and afterwards you will find it bitter as gall (Prov. V, 2-4). For she peers through the window of her house onto the streets (Matth. VII): for the way that leads to death is wide and spacious, and she dares not tempt the wise, for she only lures the foolish, and she walks beside the corners, having lost the straight line: she talks to him in darkness and in gloom, and under the guise of pleasures she leads him like a victim to death. If she has been converted and has sung well, and has completed the time of perfect penance of years, she will eat and drink, and will be satisfied. Let Novatian hear, and let him be silent.
To seek out the exact form of the reading, I gave my attention to the translation of Aquila, which says, “And it will happen that its commerce and wages are consecrated to the Lord.” Thus the Hebrew has, precisely, “commerce and wages” without the articles, not, according to the Septuagint, “the commerce and the wages,” by which it appears to mean all the commerce and all the wages. According to Aquila, “Its commerce and wages are consecrated to the Lord.” Not its whole commerce or its whole wages, but a part of the commerce and a part of the wages are consecrated to the Lord. And this is what has been fulfilled in our day. For the church of God is established in the city of Tyre, as indeed in the rest of the nations, and many of the wages in it and what is stored up for business are offered to the church and consecrated to the Lord. The things that people bring, they offer in piety, not for themselves in order to enjoy the gifts offered to God but “for those who dwell before the Lord.” (Namely, [these gifts are] for those who serve at the altar, “for the Lord had enjoined that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel” and “those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings.”)
(Verse 18) And his business shall be holy to the Lord, and his wages shall be set apart for the Lord; they shall not be stored up or hoarded away. For those who dwell before the Lord, his business shall be to eat in plenty and be clothed until old age. These things, according to history, we have not yet discovered if they have been fulfilled, unless it is to be thought that after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of Tyre, the two cities were friendly with each other and frequently sent gifts to the temple of God in Tyre. Just as we read in Ezra (Esdras 13:16) that he drove away the Tyrians who were selling fish on the Sabbath and did not allow them to enter the city, and it should be estimated from this example about other business dealings as well. The Jews delay their empty prayers for the future, stating that these will be fulfilled after the Antichrist in a thousand years. It is not surprising if they fabricate such things, as they have rejected the truth of Christ and are preparing to receive the Antichrist, the instrument of the devil. Even Christians who fall into Judaizing contend that these words refer to a thousand years of blessedness. However, I, in understanding the vision of Babylon as a type of its destruction, interpret it as the time of its fulfillment, and in Egypt, with its idols destroyed and the altar of the Lord erected, I refer it to the time of Christ. Likewise, in the vision of Moab, I recognize the throne of the Savior placed on his land, and in all the other visions of Damascus, I have no doubt that they are sacraments of our times. Thus, in the vision of Tyre, which is the most extreme, I interpret it as the time of Christian felicity: that after it is built and regains its former state, all merchants return to their ancient customs, entering its harbor, and their goods and labor are dedicated to the Lord. Let us consider the churches built in Tyre, let us think about the wealth of all, which is not stored up or hoarded, but given to those who live before the Lord, who, as altar servants, share with the altar (1 Corinthians 9). However, the Tyrians serve not for wealth, nor to accumulate the wealth of priests, but to provide for the necessary sustenance: so that, according to the Apostle, having food and clothing, we may be content with these (1 Timothy 6). And note that it did not say negotiations and goods of Tyre sanctified to be given to the Lord to those who dwell in Jerusalem as the Jews think, but to those who are before the Lord, who serve Him. For the Lord established it so that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel (I Cor. IX). But to serve the Lord and to dwell before Him is not a matter of place, but of merit. Thus far we have discussed the visions of Isaiah, or the burdens that he imposed on certain nations, as you have commanded, and as we have been able to, following the historical interpretation, focusing only on the footsteps of Hebrew truth. The following things pertain to all nations, and generally to the completion of the whole world. About these things, neither did you ask me to write, nor was it a waste of time for me to dictate unasked and barely written about sought-after things.
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 23:15-18