Tyre and Sidon were the main seaports of Phoenicia.
Tyre's crime, like Philistia's (Amos 1:6–8), was selling entire villages of Israelite captives to the Edomites as slaves. This captivity was more painful due to a sense of betrayal (see 2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1, 11; 16:30–31). Tyre was known for its reputation of "anything is for sale." Isaiah described the city as a prostitute selling her goods (Isaiah 23:15–17).