Ezekiel 27:1-36 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments

Ezekiel 27. The Dirge over Tyre. The interest of the brilliant poem that follows is greatly enhanced by the description of the commerce of Tyre in a passage (Ezekiel 27:9 b - Ezekiel 27:25 a) remarkable alike for its textual difficulty and for its importance as a source for our knowledge of the trade of the ancient world. Tyre is compared to a gallant ship, of finished beauty, with equipments the finest and costliest, manned and piloted by the most skilful of sailors (Ezekiel 27:1-9). In Ezekiel 27:5, Senir = Herman. In Ezekiel 27:6, Kittim = Cyprus. In Ezekiel 27:7, Elishah possibly= Italy or Sicily. In Ezekiel 27:8, Zidon, N. of Tyre: Arvad, N. of Zidon: Gebal, between Zidon and Arvad.

Then follows (Ezekiel 27:9 b - Ezekiel 27:25 a) a gorgeous account of the commerce of Tyre, the varied commodities which were brought to her (as mistress of the seas), and the distant lands from which they came. In the description of the lands a certain order is observable: (a) the Mediterranean shores, (b) Eastern lands in three parallel lines drawn from south to north. Two verses (Ezekiel 27:10 f.) describe the mercenaries of Tyre. (By Lud and Put, if not also Persia in Ezekiel 27:10, are probably meant African peoples. Gammadim (Ezekiel 27:11) is quite obscure. Tarshish (Ezekiel 27:12) in S. Spain: Javan=Ionia or Greece: Tubal and Meshech (Psalms 120:5 *), S. and S.E. of the Black Sea. Togarmah (Ezekiel 27:14)= Armenia. For Syria (Ezekiel 27:16) read Edom. Note the products of Judah and Israel in Ezekiel 27:17. Minnith, an Ammonite town. Pannag, unknown, should perhaps be donag = wax. Helbon (Ezekiel 27:18), slightly N. of Damascus. The first sentence of Ezekiel 27:19 should probably read, From Uzal in S. Arabiacame well-wrought iron. Dedan (Ezekiel 27:20), S. of Edom. Kedar (Ezekiel 27:21), N. of Arabia. Sheba (Ezekiel 27:22), in S. Arabia. Raamah, possibly near Persian Gulf. Haran (Ezekiel 27:23), in Mesopotamia, associated with Abraham. Canneh, site unknown. Eden on middle of Euphrates. Chilmad (Ezekiel 27:23) unknown.)

With wares from all these far-off lands the gallant ship (i.e. Tyre) is laden, and rowed out to the high seas, where she is wrecked by a mighty east wind (symbolic of Nebuchadrezzar). Very graphic is the description of the ship, her wares and company, engulfed in the heart of the sea (Ezekiel 27:26-28). (In Ezekiel 27:28, suburbs perhaps = surrounding regions). Then the other sea peoples with whom Tyre traded, and who are themselves involved in her ruin, utter a dirge in expression of their amazement and sorrow (Ezekiel 27:29-36).

Ezekiel 27:1-36

1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;

3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfecta beauty.

4 Thy borders are in the midstb of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

5 They have madec all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the companyd of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.

7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; bluee and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.

9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers:f all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.

11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.g

14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.

15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.

16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.

17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.h

18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

20 Dedan was thy merchant in preciousi clothes for chariots.

21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupiedj with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.

24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midstk of the seas.

27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

28 The suburbsl shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.

32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.

36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror,m and never shalt be any more.