3 And say to Tyre, O you who are seated at the doorway of the sea, trading for the peoples with the great sea-lands, these are the words of the Lord: You, O Tyre, have said, I am a ship completely beautiful.
4 Your builders have made your outlines in the heart of the seas, they have made you completely beautiful.
5 They have made all your boards of fir-trees from Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make the supports for your sails.
6 Of oak-trees from Bashan they have made your driving blades; they have made your floors of ivory and boxwood from the sea-lands of Kittim.
7 The best linen with needlework from Egypt was your sail, stretched out to be a flag for you; blue and purple from the sea-lands of Elishah gave you shade.
8 The people of Zidon and Arvad were your boatmen; the wise men of Zemer were in you; they were guiding your ships;
9 The responsible men of Gebal and its wise men were in you, making your boards watertight: all the ships of the sea with their seamen were in you trading in your goods.
10 Cush and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war, hanging up their body-covers and head-dresses of war in you: they gave you your glory.
11 The men of Arvad in your army were on your walls, and were watchmen in your towers, hanging up their arms on your walls round about; they made you completely beautiful.
12 Tarshish did business with you because of the great amount of your wealth; they gave silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods.
13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders; they gave living men and brass vessels for your goods.
14 The people of Togarmah gave horses and war-horses and transport beasts for your goods.
15 The men of Rodan were your traders: a great number of sea-lands did business with you: they gave you horns of ivory and ebony as an offering.
16 Edom did business with you because of the great number of things which you made; they gave emeralds, purple, and needlework, and the best linen and coral and rubies for your goods.
17 Judah and the land of Israel were your traders; they gave grain of Minnith and sweet cakes and honey and oil and perfume for your goods.
18 Damascus did business with you because of the great amount of your wealth, with wine of Helbon and white wool.
19 ... for your goods: they gave polished iron and spices for your goods.
20 Dedan did trade with you in cloths for the backs of horses.
21 Arabia and all the rulers of Kedar did business with you; in lambs and sheep and goats, in these they did business with you.
22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah did trade with you; they gave the best of all sorts of spices and all sorts of stones of great price and gold for your goods.
23 Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Asshur and all the Medes:
24 These were your traders in beautiful robes, in rolls of blue and needlework, and in chests of coloured cloth, corded with cords and made of cedar-wood, in them they did trade with you.
25 Tarshish ships did business for you in your goods: and you were made full, and great was your glory in the heart of the seas.
26 Your boatmen have taken you into great waters: you have been broken by the east wind in the heart of the seas.
27 Your wealth and your goods, the things in which you do trade, your seamen and those guiding your ships, those who make your boards watertight, and those who do business with your goods, and all your men of war who are in you, with all who have come together in you, will go down into the heart of the seas in the day of your downfall.
28 At the sound of the cry of your ships' guides, the boards of the ship will be shaking.
29 And all the boatmen, the seamen and those who are expert at guiding a ship through the sea, will come down from their ships and take their places on the land;
30 And their voices will be sounding over you, and crying bitterly they will put dust on their heads, rolling themselves in the dust:
31 And they will have the hair of their heads cut off because of you, and will put haircloth on their bodies, weeping for you with bitter grief in their souls, even with bitter sorrow.
32 And in their weeping they will make a song of grief for you, sorrowing over you and saying, Who is like Tyre, who has come to an end in the deep sea?
33 When your goods went out over the seas, you made numbers of peoples full; the wealth of the kings of the earth was increased with your great wealth and all your goods.
34 Now that you are broken by the seas in the deep waters, your goods and all your people will go down with you.
35 All the people of the sea-lands are overcome with wonder at you, and their kings are full of fear, their faces are troubled.
36 Those who do business among the peoples make sounds of surprise at you; you have become a thing of fear, you have come to an end for ever.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 27
Commentary on Ezekiel 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
Eze 27:1-36. Tyre's Former Greatness, Suggesting a Lamentation over Her Sad Downfall.
2. lamentation—a funeral dirge, eulogizing her great attributes, to make the contrast the greater between her former and her latter state.
3. situate at the entry of the sea—literally, plural, "entrances," that is, ports or havens; referring to the double port of Tyre, at which vessels entered round the north and south ends of the island, so that ships could find a ready entrance from whatever point the wind might blow (compare Eze 28:2).
merchant of … people for many isles—that is, a mercantile emporium of the peoples of many seacoasts, both from the east and from the west (Isa 23:3), "a mart of nations."
of perfect beauty—(Eze 28:12).
4. Tyre, in consonance with her seagirt position, separated by a strait of half a mile from the mainland, is described as a ship built of the best material, and manned with the best mariners and skilful pilots, but at last wrecked in tempestuous seas (Eze 27:26).
5. Senir—the Amorite name of Hermon, or the southern height of Anti-libanus (De 3:9); the Sidonian name was Sirion. "All thy … boards"; dual in Hebrew, "double-boards," namely, placed in a double order on the two sides of which the ship consisted [Vatablus]. Or, referring to the two sides or the two ends, the prow and the stern, which every ship has [Munster].
cedars—most suited for "masts," from their height and durability.
6. Bashan—celebrated for its oaks, as Lebanon was for its cedars.
the company of … Ashurites—the most skilful workmen summoned from Assyria. Rather, as the Hebrew orthography requires, "They have made thy (rowing) benches of ivory inlaid in the daughter of cedars" [Maurer], or, the best boxwood. Fairbairn, with Bochart, reads the Hebrew two words as one: "Thy plankwork (deck: instead of 'benches,' as the Hebrew is singular) they made ivory with boxes." English Version, with Maurer's correction, is simpler.
Chittim—Cyprus and Macedonia, from which, Pliny tells us, the best boxwood came [Grotius].
7. broidered … sail—The ancients embroidered their sails often at great expense, especially the Egyptians, whose linen, still preserved in mummies, is of the finest texture.
Elishah—Greece; so called from Elis, a large and ancient division of Peloponnesus. Pausanias says that the best of linen was produced in it, and in no other part of Greece; called by Homer, Alisium.
that which covered thee—thy awning.
8. Arvad—a small island and city near Phœnicia, now Ruad: its inhabitants are still noted for seafaring habits.
thy wise men, O Tyrus … thy pilots—While the men of Arvad, once thy equals (Ge 10:18), and the Sidonians, once thy superiors, were employed by thee in subordinate positions as "mariners," thou madest thine own skilled men alone to be commanders and pilots. Implying the political and mercantile superiority of Tyre.
9. Gebal—a Phœnician city and region between Beirut and Tripolis, famed for skilled workmen (1Ki 5:18, Margin; Ps 83:7).
calkers—stoppers of chinks in a vessel: carrying on the metaphor as to Tyre.
occupy thy merchandise—that is, to exchange merchandise with thee.
10. Persia … Phut—warriors from the extreme east and west.
Lud—the Lydians of Asia Minor, near the Meander, famed for archery (Isa 66:19); rather than those of Ethiopia, as the Lydians of Asia Minor form a kind of intermediate step between Persia and Phut (the Libyans about Cyrene, shielded warriors, Jer 46:9, descended from Phut, son of Ham).
hanged … shield … comeliness—Warriors hanged their accoutrements on the walls for ornament. Divested of the metaphor, it means that it was an honor to thee to have so many nations supplying thee with hired soldiers.
11. Gammadims—rather, as the Tyrians were Syro-Phœnicians, from a Syriac root, meaning daring, "men of daring" [Ludovicus De Dieu]. It is not likely the keeping of watch "in the towers" would have been entrusted to foreigners. Others take it from a Hebrew root, "a dagger," or short sword (Jud 3:16), "short-swordsmen."
12. Tarshish—Tartessus in Spain, a country famed for various metals, which were exported to Tyre. Much of the "tin" probably was conveyed by the Phœnicians from Cornwall to Tarshish.
traded in thy fairs—"did barter with thee" [Fairbairn]; from a root, "to leave," something left in barter for something else.
13. Javan—the Ionians or Greeks: for the Ionians of Asia Minor were the first Greeks with whom the Asiatics came in contact.
Tubal … Meshech—the Tibareni and Moschi, in the mountain region between the Black and Caspian Seas.
persons of men—that is, as slaves. So the Turkish harems are supplied with female slaves from Circassia and Georgia.
vessels—all kinds of articles. Superior weapons are still manufactured in the Caucasus region.
14. Togarmah—Armenia: descended from Gomer (Ge 10:3). Their mountainous region south of the Caucasus was celebrated for horses.
horsemen—rather, "riding-horses," as distinct from "horses" for chariots [Fairbairn].
15. Dedan—near the Persian Sea: thus an avenue to the commerce of India. Not the Dedan in Arabia (Eze 27:20), as the names in the context here prove, but the Dedan sprung from Cush [Bochart], (Ge 10:7).
merchandise of thine hand—that is, were dependent on thee for trade [Fairbairn]; came to buy the produce of thy hands [Grotius].
a present—literally, "a reward in return"; a price paid for merchandise.
horns of ivory—Ivory is so termed from its resemblance to horns. The Hebrew word for "ivory" means "tooth"; so that they cannot have mistaken ivory as if coming from the horns of certain animals, instead of from the tusks of the elephant.
16. "Syria was thy mart for the multitude," &c. For "Syria" the Septuagint reads "Edom." But the Syrians were famed as merchants.
occupied—old English for "traded"; so in Lu 19:13.
agate—Others translate, "ruby," "chalcedony," or "pearls."
17. Minnith … Pannag—names of places in Israel famed for good wheat, wherewith Tyre was supplied (1Ki 5:9, 11; Ezr 3:7; Ac 12:20); Minnith was formerly an Ammonite city (Jud 11:33). "Pannag" is identified by Grotius with "Phenice," the Greek name for "Canaan." "They traded … wheat," that is, they supplied thy market with wheat.
balm—or, "balsam."
18. Helbon—or Chalybon, in Syria, now Aleppo; famed for its wines; the Persian monarchs would drink no other.
19. Dan also—None of the other places enumerated commence with the copula ("also"; Hebrew, ve). Moreover, the products specified, "cassia, calamus," apply rather to places in Arabia. Therefore, Fairbairn translates, "Vedan"; perhaps the modern Aden, near the straits of Bab-el-man-deb. Grotius refers it to Dana, mentioned by Ptolemy.
Javan—not the Greeks of Europe or Asia Minor, but of a Greek settlement in Arabia.
going to and fro—rather, as Hebrew admits, "from Uzal." This is added to "Javan," to mark which Javan is meant (Ge 10:27). The metropolis of Arabia Felix, or Yemen; called also Sanaa [Bochart]. English Version gives a good sense, thus: All peoples, whether near as the Israelite "Dan," or far as the Greeks or "Javan," who were wont to "go to and fro" from their love of traffic, frequented thy marts, bringing bright iron, &c., these products not being necessarily represented as those of Dan or Javan.
bright iron—Yemen is still famed for its sword blades.
calamus—aromatic cane.
20. Dedan—in Arabia; distinct from the Dedan in Eze 27:15 (see on Eze 27:15). Descended from Abraham and Keturah (Ge 25:3) [Bochart].
precious clothes—splendid coverlets.
21. Arabia—the nomadic tribes of Arabia, among which Kedar was pre-eminent.
occupied with thee—literally, "of thy hand," that is, they traded with thee for wares, the product of thy hand (see on Eze 27:15, 16).
22. Sheba … Raamah—in Arabia.
chief of … spices—that is, best spices (De 33:15). Obtained from India and conveyed in caravans to Tyre.
23. Haran—the dwelling-place of Abraham in Mesopotamia, after he moved from Ur (Ge 11:31).
Canneh—Calneh, an Assyrian city on the Tigris; the Ctesiphon of the Greeks (Ge 10:10).
Eden—probably a region in Babylonia (see Ge 2:8).
Chilmad—a compound; the place designated by Ptolemy "Gaala of Media." The Chaldee version interprets it of Media. Henderson refers it to Carmanda, which Xenophon describes as a large city beyond the Euphrates.
24. all sorts of things—Hebrew, "perfections"; exquisite articles of finery [Grotius].
clothes—rather, "mantles" or "cloaks"; literally, "wrappings." For "blue," Henderson translates, "purple."
chests of rich apparel, bound with cords—treasures or repositories of damask stuffs, consisting of variegated threads woven together in figures [Henderson].
cedar—The "chests" were made of cedar, in order to last the longer; and it also keeps off decay and has a sweet odor.
25. sing of thee—personification; thy great merchant ships were palpable proofs of thy greatness. Others translate from a different Hebrew root, "were thy (mercantile) travellers." Fairbairn translates, "Were thy walls." But the parallelism to "thou wast glorious" favors English Version, "sing of thee."
26. In contrast to her previous greatness, her downfall is here, by a sudden transition, depicted under the image of a vessel foundering at sea.
east wind—blowing from Lebanon, the most violent wind in the Mediterranean (Ps 48:7). A Levanter, as it is called. Nebuchadnezzar is meant. The "sea" is the war with him which the "rowers," or rulers of the state vessel, had "brought" it into, to its ruin.
27. The detailed enumeration implies the utter completeness of the ruin.
and in all thy company—"even with all thy collected multitude" [Henderson].
28. The suburbs—the buildings of Tyre on the adjoining continent.
29. So on the downfall of spiritual Babylon (Re 18:17, &c.).
shall stand upon … land—being cast out of their ships in which heretofore they prided themselves.
30. against thee—rather, "concerning thee."
31. utterly bald—literally, "bald with baldness." The Phœnician custom in mourning; which, as being connected with heathenish superstitions, was forbidden to Israel (De 14:1).
32. take up—lift up.
the destroyed—a destroyed one. Literally, (as opposed to its previous bustle of thronging merchants and mariners, Eze 27:27), "one brought to death's stillness."
in … midst of … sea—insular Tyre.
33. out of the seas—brought on shore out of the ships.
filledst—didst supply plentifully with wares.
enrich … kings—with the custom dues levied on the wares.
34. In the time when … shall … shall—Now that thou art broken (wrecked) … thy merchandise … are fallen [Maurer].
35. isles—seacoasts.
36. hiss—with astonishment; as in 1Ki 9:8.