1 The rich supply of Tyre 26 The great and unrecoverable fall thereof.
Eze 27:1 The word of the LORD came to me:
Eze 27:2 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre.
Eze 27:3 Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘You say, Tyre, “I am perfect in beauty.”
Eze 27:4 Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection.
Eze 27:5 They made all your timbers of juniper from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
Eze 27:6 Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, adorned with ivory.
Eze 27:7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner; your awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.
Eze 27:8 Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.
Eze 27:9 Veteran craftsmen of Byblos were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for your wares.
Eze 27:10 “‘Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls, bringing you splendor.
Eze 27:11 Men of Arvad and Helek guarded your walls on every side; men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they brought your beauty to perfection.
Eze 27:12 “‘Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.
Eze 27:10 “‘Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls, bringing you splendor.
Eze 27:11 Men of Arvad and Helek guarded your walls on every side; men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they brought your beauty to perfection.
Eze 27:12 “‘Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.
Eze 27:13 “‘Greece, Tubal and Meshek did business with you; they traded human beings and articles of bronze for your wares.
Eze 27:14 “‘Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged chariot horses, cavalry horses and mules for your merchandise.
Eze 27:15 “‘The men of Rhodes traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.
Eze 27:16 “‘Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.
Eze 27:17 “‘Judah and Israel traded with you; they
exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.
Eze 27:18 “‘Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar
Eze 27:19 and casks of wine from Izal in exchange for your wares: wrought iron, cassia and calamus.
Eze 27:20 “‘Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you.
Eze 27:21 “‘Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.
Eze 27:22 “‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.
Eze 27:23 “‘Harran, Kanneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Ashur and Kilmad traded with you.
Eze 27:24 In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.
Eze 27:25 “‘The ships of Tarshish serve as carriers for your wares. You are filled with heavy cargo as you sail the sea.
Eze 27:26 Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas. But the east wind will break you to pieces far out at sea.
Eze 27:27 Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, sailors and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck.
Eze 27:28 The shorelands will quake when your sailors cry out.
Eze 27:29 All who handle the oars will abandon their ships; the mariners and all the sailors will stand on the shore.
Eze 27:30 They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
Eze 27:31 They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning.
Eze 27:32 As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: “Who was ever silenced like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?”
Eze 27:33 When your merchandise went out on the seas, you satisfied many nations; with your great wealth and your wares you enriched the kings of the earth.
Eze 27:34 Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters; your wares and all your company have gone down with you.
Eze 27:35 All who live in the coastlands are appalled at you; their kings shudder with horror and their faces are distorted with fear.
Eze 27:36 The merchants among the nations scoff at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.'”
Eze 27:1 The word of the LORD came to me:
- The word of the Lord. The new section carries on the prophecy against Tyre.
Eze 27:2 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre.
2. Lamentation for Tyrus. A poem in the qinah rhythm, the rhythm of the dirge (see Vol. III, p. 19), begins with v. 3. The lament pictures Tyre under the figure of a gallant ship, fully manned and equipped, sailing everywhere, conducting a prosperous trade, but at last brought into rough seas and shipwrecked. Occasionally the reality breaks through the figure, a characteristic of Ezekiel’s style.
Perhaps the reason why so much space is given to Tyre is that her pride, her ambition, her organization, her conduct, so closely parallel that of the great rebel leader, Satan. In ch. 28:11–19, under the figure of the prince of Tyre, the prophet takes up a lamentation for Satan himself. Later, John the revelator borrows the language of Ezekiel’s prophecy against Tyre to utter his lament at the collapse of Satan’s universal counterfeit religious organization (Rev. 18).
Eze 27:3 Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘You say, Tyre, “I am perfect in beauty.”
Gateway. Literally, “entrances,” here referring to Tyre’s two chief harbors, the “Egyptian,” on the south of the island, and the “Sidonian,” on the north.
Eze 27:4 Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection.
Your borders. Surrounded by water, as insular Tyre was, the city suggests the figure of a ship at sea.
Eze 27:5 They made all your timbers of juniper from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
5. Ship boards. The planking for the sides of the ship.
Senir. The Amorite, Ugaritic, and Akkadian name for Mt. Hermon (see Deut. 3:9).
Cedars from Lebanon. Doubtless valuable because of their height, strength, durability.
Eze 27:6 Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, adorned with ivory.
6. Bashan A fertile plateau region east of the Sea of Galilee (see on Joshua 12:4), famous for its oak forests and its cattle (see Ps. 22:12).
Eze 27:7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner; your awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.
7. Isles of Elishah. Or, “coasts of Elishah” (RSV; see on ch. 26:15). Elishah is mentioned as one of the sons of Javan (Gen. 10:4; 1 Chron. 1:7). Some have identified the isles of Elishah with Cyprus, others with Sicily and Sardinia.
That which covered. Probably the awning spread over the deck for protection from the burning sun.
Eze 27:8 Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.
8. Thy mariners. The ship’s crew is now described. The two cities mentioned as the source of these mariners were tributary to Tyre. Sidon was 231/3 mi. (37.3 km.) north-northeast from Tyre on the Phoenician coast. Arvad, the Greek Aradus, was a rocky island near the coast about 100 mi. (161 km.) north of Sidon.
O Tyre. The RSV reading “of Zemer” is based upon a slight alteration of the Hebrew text, and that upon the context and upon a comparison with Gen. 10:18. Zemer was a Phoenician city south of Arvad. Gebal is the ancient Byblos, the modern Jebeil, 411/2 mi. (66.4 km.) north-northeast of Sidon, situated on an eminence near the Adonis River. Its site is still rich in Phoenician ruins.
Eze 27:9 Veteran craftsmen of Byblos were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for your wares.
Eze 27:10 “‘Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls, bringing you splendor.
10. Of Persia. Tyre was largely dependent upon mercenaries for the rank and file of its army.
Lud. The Lydians (see on Gen. 10:13).
Phut. Believed by many Egyptologists to be the same as the Egyptian Punt, a territory in Africa bordering the Red Sea. Assyriologists, however, generally identify Phut with a division of Libya.
Eze 27:11 Men of Arvad and Helek guarded your walls on every side; men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they brought your beauty to perfection.
11. The Gammadims. This name occurs only here. The Gammadims were probably the inhabitants of Kumidi, a Phoenician city mentioned in the Amarna Letters. Gamad was probably a north Syrian Phoenician state.
Hanged their shields. Compare S. of Sol. 4:4.
Eze 27:12 “‘Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.
12. Tarshish. Believed to be the Greek Tartessus, a Phoenician colony on the south coast of Spain.
Fairs. Heb. ‘izbonim, “wares,” “goods,” “stores of merchandise.”
Eze 27:13 “‘Greece, Tubal and Meshek did business with you; they traded human beings and articles of bronze for your wares.
13. Javan. See on Gen. 10:2.
Tubal. The classic Tibarenians, the Tabalaeans mentioned in Assyrian curneiform documents (see on Gen. 10:2).
Meschech. The classic Moshians (Moschoi), the Mushku of Assyrian inscriptions (see on Gen. 10:2).
Togarmah. A name for the northern Armenians, a race descended from Japheth (see on Gen. 10:3), who called themselves the house of Torgom. They dealt in horses and asses, they inhabited the rough mountainous regions on the south side of the Caucasus.
Eze 27:14 “‘Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged chariot horses, cavalry horses and mules for your merchandise.
Eze 27:15 “‘The men of Rhodes traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.
15. Men of Dedan. An Arab tribe south of Edom (see on Gen. 10:7; Eze. 25:13).
Eze 27:16 “‘Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.
16. Syria. A number of Hebrew manuscripts, the version of Aquila, and the Syriac read “Edom” (see on ch. 16:57). Syria is referred to later under the name of “Damascus” (ch. 27:18).
Turquois. Heb. nophek, possibly the turquoise. It is difficult to identify positively many of the precious stones mentioned in the Scriptures. Through the development of chemistry, especially the branch of crystallography, it has become possible to identify some ancient precious stones by analyzing specimens found in archeological discoveries. The ancients classified a number of different stones of the same color under one name, even though of different chemical composition.
Agate. Heb. kadkod, possibly the ruby, or the red jasper.
Eze 27:17 “‘Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.
17. Minnith. An Ammonite city thought to have been near Heshbon (Judges 11:33).
Pannag. A word found only here. If it is a proper name, its significance has been lost. The Targums and LXX read “ointments”; the Vulgate, “balsam.” A similar Akkadian word, pannigu, describes a dish of flour or pastry. By a change of the Hebrew (paggag instead of pannag) the RSV reads “early figs.”
Eze 27:18 “‘Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar
18. Damascus. The former capital of an important Syrian kingdom.
Wine of Helbon. This wine is mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar’s inscriptions. The modern Ḥalbûn is about 13 mi. (20.8 km.) north by west from Damascus. Grapes are still cultivated in the vicinity.
Eze 27:19 and casks of wine from Izal in exchange for your wares: wrought iron, cassia and calamus.
19. Dan. There seems to be no satisfactory explanation for the mention of this small, unimportant town. The name does not appear in the LXX and on this basis is omitted in the RSV.
Javan. Heb. yawan, which should probably read yayin, “wine” (see LXX; RSV).
Going to and fro. Heb. me’uzzal, which, with a change in vowel pointing, may be translated “from Uzal,” an unidentified place in Arabia (see Gen. 10:27).
Cassia, and calamus. Both of these were ingredients of the holy anointing oil for the priests (Ex. 30:23, 24).
Eze 27:20 “‘Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you.
20. Precious clothes. Believed to mean saddlecloths.
Eze 27:21 “‘Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.
21. Arabia. Here used in the limited sense given to it elsewhere in the Scriptures (2 Chron. 9:14; Isa. 21:13; Jer. 25:24), namely, the northern desert portion of the country occupied by nomadic tribes.
Kedar. The name of one of the nomadic tribes descended from Ishmael (Gen. 25:13; cf. Isa. 60:7).
Eze 27:22 “‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.
22. Sheba. Descendants of Cush, the son of Ham (see Gen. 10:7). Their territory was in southwestern Arabia and included Yemen. It was the land of the queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, and it was noted even then for its spices and gold (1 Kings 10:1, 2, 10; Ps. 72:10, 15; Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6:20; see on Gen. 10:7).
Raamah. Believed to be a southern Arabian tribe (see on Gen. 10:7).
Eze 27:23 “‘Harran, Kanneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Ashur and Kilmad traded with you.
23. Haran. The prophet turns from Arabia to Mesopotamia. Haran, where Abraham lived for a time (Gen. 12:4), was in northwestern Mesopotamia on the Balikh River at the crossroads of two great caravan routes.
Canneh. Site unknown, but probably near Haran.
Eden. A district along the Euphrates south of Haran (see 2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12).
Sheba. This is the same Sheba as mentioned earlier (v. 22). The name is probably out of its order here. It does not appear in the LXX.
Asshur. The common name for Assyria, but the fact that it is listed here with other cities has led some scholars to identify it with the modern Qal‘ât Sherqâṭ on the west bank of the Tigris, about 50 mi. south of Nineveh.
Chilmad. An unknown site, probably located not far from the city of Asshur.
Eze 27:24 In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.
24. All sorts of things. Heb. maklulim, literally, “perfected things,” perhaps denoting “gorgeous garments.”
Made of cedar. Better, “made secure” (RSV).
Eze 27:25 “‘The ships of Tarshish serve as carriers for your wares. You are filled with heavy cargo as you sail the sea.
25. of Tarshish. For this term, probably designating ships engaged in carrying metals—as from Tarshish, probably in Spain—see on 1 Kings 10:22.
Eze 27:26 Your oarsmen take you out to the high seas. But the east wind will break you to pieces far out at sea.
26. Thy rowers. The figure of the ship is here resumed. The vessel is on the high seas, buffeted by the east wind, a treacherous, dangerous wind (see Ps. 48:7). The stately ship is broken by the fierceness of the gale.
Eze 27:27 Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, sailors and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck.
27. Thy mariners. The various classes of seamen are enumerated. Together all that made up the might, glory, and wealth of Tyre perished in one great disaster. All were cast into the midst of the sea at the breakup of this mighty ship of state.
Eze 27:28 The shorelands will quake when your sailors cry out.
28. Suburbs. The word thus translated usually means the open place around a city (see on Joshua 14:4). Here the general surroundings are indicated.
Eze 27:29 All who handle the oars will abandon their ships; the mariners and all the sailors will stand on the shore. 29. All that handle. The merchant world mourns the loss of the gallant ship with all the customary acts of mourning and composes a funeral hymn (vs. 32-36)
Eze 27:30 They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
Eze 27:31 They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning.
Eze 27:32 As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: “Who was ever silenced like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?”
Eze 27:33 When your merchandise went out on the seas, you satisfied many nations; with your great wealth and your wares you enriched the kings of the earth.
Eze 27:34 Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters; your wares and all your company have gone down with you.
Eze 27:35 All who live in the coastlands are appalled at you; their kings shudder with horror and their faces are distorted with fear.
Eze 27:36 The merchants among the nations scoff at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.'”