Pass over to Tarshish, wail, O inhabitants of the coast!: This short verse contains two more imperatives, which are Pass over and wail. Pass over may be rendered “sail across.” Good News Translation makes it explicit that the reason for going to Tarshish is “to escape.” For Tarshish and wail, see Isa 23.1. The addressees here are the inhabitants of the coast, the same audience as in Isa 23.2.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Sail across to Tarshish,
weep aloud, you who live on the coast!

• You residents on the coast,
[escape and] sail to Tarshish and cry in grief!

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .