The prophecies of Isaiah against other nations in 13-23 took me a while because I had to read both Goldingay’s treatment in The Theology of the Book of Isaiah and those chapters in Isaiah. What I mean is that, while the first 12 chapters of Isaiah contained material that I was already familiar with, these next chapters I had not read for a long time.
Goldingay says that there are three reasons that Isaiah goes on from addressing Judah to talking about other nations. First, Isaiah wants to allay the fear people have of their heavily armed and powerful neighbors. These nations may seem strong, but God is in control. Second, he wanted to oppose Judah’s inclination to make alliances with some of these nations and to trust them rather than God. And finally, he talks about some nations that were more irrelevant to Judah–like Dedan…
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James' Ramblings 