Old Testament Commentary - Ezekiel 27

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 27 Ezekiel laments the fall of Tyrus and the loss of her riches and commerce.
1 THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2 Now, thou son of man, take up a ^alamentation 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^a, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect ^abeauty.	3^a a merchant of the people for many isles Would this included the 'isles of the sea' upon which Jacob surmised that his people had landing in the promised land of America? That such merchandise, particularly drugs had been brought back from America to middle east seems confirmed by the consideration of the cocain mummies. And this would seem to tie into the means whereby Mulek's party did find their way of escape to the land of promise.
4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. 5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of ^aSenir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. 6 Of the ^aoaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company 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; blue and purple from the isles of ^aElishah 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 ^acalkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to ^boccupy thy merchandise.
10 They of Persia and of ^aLud 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 ^aTarshish 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 ^aMeshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. 14 They of the house of ^aTogarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. 15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many ^aisles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.
16 ^aSyria 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 ^aland of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of ^bMinnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
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 precious clothes for chariots.
21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they ^aoccupied 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 ^aships 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 ^aeast wind hath broken thee in the midst 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 suburbs 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 ^adust 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 ^aseas 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, and never shalt be any more.