1 Tyrus, for insulting against Jerusalem, is threatened. 7 The power of Nebuchadrezzar against her. 15 The mourning and astonishment of the sea at her fall.
Prophecy Against Tyre
Eze 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 26:2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’
Eze 26:3 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
Eze 26:4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
Eze 26:5 It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations.
Eze 26:6 Also her daughter villages which are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.’
Eze 26:7 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people.
Eze 26:8 He will slay with the sword your daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a defense against you.
Eze 26:9 He will direct his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
Eze 26:10 Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, when he enters your gates, as men enter a city that has been breached.
Eze 26:11 With the hooves of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.
Eze 26:12 They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water.
Eze 26:13 I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more.
Eze 26:14 I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD.
Eze 26:15 “Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: ‘Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you?
Eze 26:16 Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.
Eze 26:17 And they will take up a lamentation for you, and say to you: “How you have perished, O one inhabited by seafaring men, O renowned city, Who was strong at sea, She and her inhabitants, Who caused their terror to be on all her inhabitants!
Eze 26:18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; Yes, the coastlands by the sea are troubled at your departure.” ‘
Eze 26:19 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like cities that are not inhabited, when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover you,
Eze 26:20 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living.
Eze 26:21 I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again,’ says the Lord GOD.”
Prophecy Against Tyre
Eze 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
1. In the eleventh year. Of Jehoiachin’s captivity (see on ch. 1:2; see p. 572). This is the year (587/586 b.c.) in which Jerusalem fell, if it coincides with the regnal year of Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:2–4, 8, 9). The month is not given. Some think the prophecy was given after the fall of the city (see Eze. 26:2), and it could have been if Ezekiel was using a fall-to-fall year; however, the reference to the capture of the city may have been anticipatory.
The prophecies against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines were comparatively short. That against Tyre occupies three chapters (chs. 26–28); that against Egypt, the most important foreign nation denounced by Ezekiel, four chapters.
Prophecy Against Tyre
Eze 26:2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’
2. Tyrus. Tyre was a powerful commercial city composed of Old Tyre, situated on the mainland, and New Tyre, built on a rocky island some 140 acres in area about a half mile from shore. New Tyre had two harbors, one on the north and one on the south. From these the Tyrians sent their fleets of ships as far into the Atlantic as West Africa and possibly Britain.
Tyre founded colonies in Spain and North Africa, some of which became famous, like Carthage, Gades, and Abdera. Tyre was also famous for its craftsmen. Its manufactured products, such as works of copper, textiles (especially dyed purple), glassware, and pottery, were famous throughout the world.
The Phoenicians spoke a Semitic language. Their religion played a prominent role in their life. Their chief god was Melkarth (sometimes called Baal Melkarth), the patron god of Tyre. This was evidently the Baal worshiped in Israel under Jezebel’s influence. They also worshiped Ashtoreth and other divinities with orgies of the most corrupt nature (see Vol. II, pp. 38–41).
For the history of ancient Phoenicia see on Gen. 10:6, 15, 17, 18; Vol. II, pp. 67–69.
Aha. See on ch. 25:3. Tyre’s joy at Jerusalem’s downfall seems to have been purely selfish. In the days of Solomon, Jerusalem had been a great inland commercial center through which flowed trade from Arabia and even from India. Jerusalem had doubtless been enriched by trade with the Phoenicians. Even in her decline, because of the importance of her situation, Jerusalem had no doubt been the center of many commercial transactions that Tyre would have been happy to monopolize.
Eze 26:3 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
3. Many nations. Perhaps, here, Nebuchadnezzar and “all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion,” that is, his allies (see Jer. 34:1). Or the prophet may be viewing the centuries ahead. Following Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the mainland city, successive conquests further reduced the proud city. Tyre became a part of the Persian Empire, though maintaining a partly independent status. Later it was ruled by the Macedonians, then the Romans.
Eze 26:4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
4. Scrape her dust. A figure of extensive destruction. Later, when Alexander besieged New Tyre, he built a causeway from the mainland to the island and used the stones and rubble from Old Tyre as material for it.
Eze 26:5 Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. She will become plunder for the nations,
5. The spreading of nets. The site of ancient Tyre is still used by fishermen for drying their nets.
Eze 26:6 and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
6. Daughters. Probably a poetic figure of the cities allied with Tyre who shared her fate.
Eze 26:7 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army.
7. Nebuchadrezzar. This spelling more nearly resembles the Babylonian original, Nabû–kudurri–uṣur, than the spelling Nebuchadnezzar (see on Dan. 1:1).
King of kings. Daniel applies the same title to Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:37). Persian kings adopted it (see Ezra 7:12), as can be seen from the inscriptions.
From the north. Indicating the direction of the invasion (see on Jer. 1:14).
With horses. The various divisions of the army named are all land forces. We find no record of any naval force being employed such as would have facilitated the capture of the insular city. The siege lasted 13 years. Nebuchadnezzar completely destroyed the city on the mainland, but was unsuccessful in taking island Tyre. An agreement was reached by which Tyre accepted the overlordship of Babylon.
Eze 26:8 He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you.
8. A fort. Verses 8–12 describe the usual methods of attack for a mainland city.
Eze 26:9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons.
Eze 26:10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through.
Eze 26:11 The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.
There may be a reference here to the two famous columns described by Herodotus (ii. 44), one of gold and one of emerald, in the temple of Melkarth, the Baal of Tyre.
Eze 26:12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.
12. The midst of the water. There is no record of Nebuchadnezzar’s attempting to build a mole to the island from the mainland. Such, however, was successfully undertaken by Alexander. Even then it was necessary for him to use his navy in order to bring the island city to surrender in 332 b.c. (Diodorus Siculus xvii. 40-46).
Eze 26:13 I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.
13. Thy songs. Careful readers of the book of Revelation have noted the great similarity between much of its symbolism and the language of certain passages in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. It is apparent that John, guided by Inspiration, borrowed extensively from the imagery of the prophets of old, in order to set forth the great climactic scenes of earth’s history in terms that would be familiar and meaningful to the careful reader of the OT.
Thus, the desolation of literal Babylon and Tyre provided John with a pictorial description of the desolation of mystical Babylon (see also on Isa. 13; 14; 23:1; 47:1; Jer. 25:12; 50:1). The symbolism and language of the book of Revelation become more clear and meaningful when studied in the light of what the prophets of old wrote concerning events of their era (see on Deut. 18:15).
Various aspects of the punishment of literal Tyre as set forth in Eze. 26 to 28 are of value in a study of the punishment of mystical Babylon, presented in Rev. 17 and 18. Note particularly the following:
Eze 26:14 I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD.
Some have found difficulty with this prediction since there is a city of some 14,000 inhabitants (1974 estimate) on the present peninsula that was formerly the island and the causeway. Some believe that the prophecy applies only to the continental city. They point to the state of desolation there—a desolation so complete that the site of the ancient city cannot even be positively identified—as evidence of the fulfillment of the prophet’s words.
On the other hand it must be realized that even if a city were erected on the ancient mainland site, Ezekiel’s prophecy would not be broken. Ezekiel’s prophecy was against the Tyre of his day as it stood in its ancient glory and culture. That civilization and its accompanying city were to be destroyed. Any modern building on the site would not be a revival of the ancient culture and hence not a breaking of the prophet’s word.
Furthermore, the expression “no more” (Heb. lo’ … ‘od) simply means “duration,” the length of time undefined but to be derived from the context. Thus Joseph wept on the neck of his father ‘od (Gen. 46:29), there translated, “a great while.” The idea of indefinite perpetuity, though not necessarily in the word ‘od, may be inferred from further references to Tyre’s fate (see on v. 21). See also on Isa. 13:20.
Eze 26:15 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you?
15. Isles. Heb. ’iyyim, meaning coastlands as well as islands.
16. Princes of the sea. That is, “merchant princes,” those who had obtained wealth and power by commerce, not actual sovereigns (see Isa. 23:8). Their surprise and grief are described under the figure of Oriental mourning.
Eze 26:17 Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you: “‘How you are destroyed, city of renown, peopled by men of the sea! You were a power on the seas, you and your citizens; you put your terror on all who lived there.
17. Inhabited of seafaring men. Literally, “inhabited from the seas.” The LXX reads simply “from the sea.”
Eze 26:18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; the islands in the sea are terrified at your collapse.’
18. Troubled. Doubtless because Tyre’s trade had contributed to their prosperity.
Eze 26:19 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you,
19. Bring up the deep. Verses 19–21 represent Tyre as descending into the pit. All who have passed from this life are represented as congregated there. Sometimes, poetically, as in Isa. 14, when a newcomer arrives, the inhabitants of the pit are represented as rousing themselves to address or to welcome him (see on Isa 14:9, 10). All of this, of course, is in figure. Ezekiel uses the same figure of Egypt (Eze. 32:18–32).
Eze 26:20 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living.
The Hebrew has been understood to mean that when proud Tyre, now rejoicing in the calamity of Judah, should be numbered with the dead, God would establish His people.
ze 26:21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
Never be found.
Literally, “nothingness of thee.”
Here the Heb. ‘od (see on v. 14) is connected to the word le‘olam, meaning, literally, “for an age.” The length of ‘olam must also be determined by its context (see on Ex. 21:6). The combination of ‘od and le‘olam seems to emphasize duration. Ezekiel’s words may thus be construed as signifying that the ancient culture and civilization of Tyre would disappear and be no more. Never would the ancient empire be revived.
b.c. Before Christ
14. Built no more