Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
ITie Mourning for Ihe Fall of Tyre. EZEKIEL XXVII. Her Miches and Large Commere*.
10. dust—so thick shall be the "dust" stirred up by the iminense nutnbers of "horses," that it sliall "cover" tlie whole city as a cloud, horses . . . chariots—As in v. 3-5, Sfew Tyre on the insular rock in tlie sea (cf. Isaiah 2?. 2, 4, their terror upon all her (the city's) inhabitants," <. «, they make the name of every Tyrian to be feared. [FaibBAIRN.] IS. thy departure—Isaiah 2;5. 6, 12 predicts that the Tyrians, in consequence of the siege, should pass over the Mediterranean to the lands bordering onit("Chittim," "Tarshish," &c.). So Ezekiel here. Accordingly Jerome says that he read in Assyrian histories that, " when the Tyrians saw no hope of escaping, they fled to Carthage or some islands of the Ionian and jligean Seas." [Bishop Newton.] (See my Note on cli. 29. 18.) Grotius explains "departure," i.e., "in the day when hostages shall be carried away from thee to Babylon." The parallelism to "thy fall" makes me think "departure" must mean "thy end" in general, but with an included allusion to the " departure" of most of her people to her colonies at the fall of the citj. 19. great waters— appropriate metaphor of the Babylonian hosts, which literally, by breaking down insular Tyre's ramparts, caused the sea to "cover" part of her. !J0. the pit—Tyre's disappearance is compared to that of the dead placed in their sepulchres and no more seen among the living (cf. ch. .32. 18, 23; Isaiah 14. 11, 15, 19). I shall set gloi-y in tlie laud—In contrast to Tyre consigned to the "pit" of death, I shall set glory (i. c, my presence symbolized by the Shekinali cloud, the antitype to which shall be Messiah, " the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father," John 1. 14; Isaiah 4.2,5; Zechariah 6.13) in Judah. of the living—as opposed to Tyre consigned to the "pit" of death. Judea is to be the land of national and spiritual life, being restored after its captivity (ch. 47. 9). Fairbairn loses the antithesis by applying the negative to both clauses, "and that thou be not set as a glory in the land of the living." 21. terror—an example of judgment calculated to terrify
6) is nUerreU to ; so here, in v. 9-11, Old Tyre on the mainland. Both are included in the prophecies under one tiame. wheels—Faiubairn thinks that here, and in cli.
'2t, as "the wheels" are distinct from the "chariots," some wheelvvork for riding on, or for the operations of the siege, are meant. 11. thy stroug gnrrlsoiis lit., the statues of thy stretu/th : so the forts which are "monuments of thy strength." Maxjuer understands, in stricter agreement with Ihe meaning, "tlie statues" or "obelisks erected in honour of tlie idols, the tutelary gods of Tyre," as Melecarte, answering to the Grecian Hercules, whose temple stood in Old Tyre (ef. Jeremiah 43. 13, Margin). 13. lay thy stones . , . timber ... In . . . midst of . . , water—referring to the insular New Tyre {v. 3, 5; ch. 27.
4, 25, 26). When its lofty buildings and towers fall, surrounded as it was with the sea which entered its double harbour and washed its ramparts, the "stones . . . timbers . . . and dust " appropriately are described as thrown down "in the midst of the water." Though Ezekiel attributes the capture of Tyre to Nebuchadnezzar (Note, ch.
2!). 18), yet it does not follow that the final destruction of it described is attributed by him to the same monarch. The overthrow of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar was the first link in the long chain of evil—the first deadly blow which prepared for, and was tlie earnest of, the final doom. The change in this verse from the individual conqueror "he," to the general "they," marks that what he did was not the whole, but only paved the way for others to complete the work begun by him. It was to be a progressive work until she was utterly destroyed. Thus the words here answer exactly to what Alexander did. With the " stones, timber," and rubbish of Old Tyre, he built a causeway in seven months to New Tyre on the island and so took it [Quint. Cukt., 4. 2], 322 b. c. 13. Instead of the joyousness of thy prosperity, a death-like silence shall reign (Isaiah 24.8; Jeremiah 7.34). 14. He concludes ill nearly the same words as he began {v. 4, 5). built no more—fulfilled as to the mainland Tyre, under Nebuchadnezzar. The insular Tyre recovered partly, after seventy years (Isaiah 23. 17, 18), but again suffered under Alexander, then under Antigonus, then under the Saracens at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Now its harbours are choked with sand, precluding all hope of future restoration, "not one entire house is left, and only a few fishermen take shelter in the vaults." [Maundhell.] So accurately has God's word come to pass. 13-ai. The impression which the overthrow of Tyre produced on other maritime nations and upon her own colonies, e. g., Utica, Carthage, and Tartessus or Tarall evil-doers, thou shalt be no more—not that there was to be no more a Tyre, but she was no more to be the Tyre that once was: her glory and name were to be no more. As to Old Tyre, the prophecy was literally fulfilled, not a vestige of it being left.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Ver. 1-30. Tyre's Former Greatness, Suggesting a Lamentation over her Sad Downfall, a. 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— it<., piurai, "entrances," i. e., ports or havens ; referring to the double port of Tyre, at which vessels entered rountl the north and south ends of the is!»nd, so that ships could find a ready entrance from whatever point the wind might blow (cf. ch. 28. 2). merchant of . . . people for many
Isles i. e., a mercantile emporium of the peoples of many sea-coasts, both from the east and from the west, I.saiah
23. 3, " A mart of nations." of perfect beauty—(Ch. 28. 12.) 4. Tyre, in consonance witli her .sea-girt pixsition, separated by a strait of half a mile from the mainland, is described as a stiip built of the best material, and manned with the best mariners ajid skilful pilots, but at last in tempestuous seas wrecked (i'. 26). 5. .Senlr—the Aniorite name of Hermon, or the southern height of Anti-libanus (Deuteronomy 3. 9); the Sidonian name was Sirion. "All thy . . . boards:" dual in Hebreiv, " dowWe-boards," viz., placed In a double order on the two sides of which the ship consisted. [Vatablus.] Or, referring to llie two sides or the two ends, the prow and the stern, which every ship has. [Munsteh.] cedars—most suited for "masts," from their height and durability. 6. Bashau celebrated for its oaks, as Lebanon was for its cedars, the company of . . . Ashnrltes—the most skillul workmen summoned from Assyria. Rather, as the Ifrbrew orthography requires, "They have made thy (rowing) bencties of ivory inlaid !>» the daughter of cedars" [Mauker], or t/ie bc.tt boxirood. Fairiiaiun, with Bochart, reads the Hebrew two words as one: "Thy plankwork shisl) in Spain, isles—maritime lands. Even mighty Carthage used to send a yearly oflering to the temple of Hercules at Tyre: and the mother-city gave high priests to her colonies. Hence the consternation at her fall felt in the widely-scattered dependencies with which she was so closely connected by the ties of religion, as well as commercial intercourse, shake—metaphorically: be agitated (Jeremiah 49. 21). 16. eome down from their thrones. . . upon tlie ground—"The throne of the mourners" (Job 2. 13; Jonah 3. 6). " Princes of the sea " are the merchant rulers of Carthage and other colonies of Tyre, who had made themselves rich and powerful by trading on the sea (Isaiah 2;}. 8). clothe . . . with trembling Hebrew, "tremblings." Uf. ch. 7.27, "Clothed with desolation;" Psalm 132.18. In a imblic calamity the garment was changed for a mourning garb. 17. inhabited of seafaring men— i. e., which wast freciuented by merchants of various sea-bordering lands. [Grotiu.s.] Faihbairn translates with Peschito, "Thou inhabitant of the seas" (as tlie fictnew lit. means). Tyre rose as it were out of the seas as if she got thence her inhabitants, being peopled so (dosely down to the waters. So Venice was called " t lie bride of the sea." strong In the sea—through her Insular posi I ion. rnuse their temir to l>e on all that haunt \t—viz., tiie sea. The Hebrav Is rather, "they put COD
(deck: instead of 'benches,' as the Hebrew is singular) tlicy made ivory with boxes." Jilnglish Vii'sion, with Maurer's correction, is simpler. Chiltim—Cyprus and Macedonia, frf m which, Pliny tells us, the b ist boxwood
PLANTS MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES.
Tlie Riches and Ommerce of Tyre. EZEKIEL XXVII. The Irrecoverable Fall of the Oily.
with wheat, balm—or, " balsam." 18. Hclboii—or Chalybon, iti Syria, now Aleppo; famed for its wines; the Persian monarchs would drink no other. 19. Dan also— None of the otlier places enumerated commence with the copula (also; Hebrew, "ve"). Moreover, the products specified, "cassia, calamus," apply rather to places In Arabia. Therefore, Fairbaibn <rarisfae«, " Vedan ;" perhaps the modern Aden, near the straits of Bab-el-mandeb. 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 Hecame. [Gbotics.] 7. broldered . . . sail—The ancients embroidereil their sails often at great expense, especially the Egyptians, whose linen, still preserved in mummies,
Ih of the tinest texture. Eaishali—Greece ; so called from
Ells, a large and ancient division of Peloponese. Pausanlas says, that the best of linen was produced in it, and in nootlier part of Greece; called by Homer "Alisium." that whlcli covered tliee—tliy awning. 8. Arvad—
Bmall island and city near Phoenicia, now Huad: its inhabitants are still noted for sea-faring habits, tliy wise Dien, O Tjrrus . . . tliy pilots—Whilst the men of Arvad once thy equals (Genesis 10. 18), and the Sidonians once thy superiors, were employed by thee in subordinate positions as "mariners," thou madest thine own sliilled men alone to be commanders and pilots. Implying the fcrew admits, "from Uzal." This is added to "Javan," to mark whicli Javan is meant (Genesis 10. 27). The metropolis of Arabia Felix, or Yemen; called also Sanaa. [Bochart.] EngliJsh Version gives a good sense, thus, AU peoples, whether near as the Israelite " Dan," or far as the Greeks or " Javan," who were wont to " go to and fro" liom their love of traffic, frequented tliy marts, bringing bright iron, &c., these products not being necessaril.y represented as those of Dan or Javan. bright Iron—Yemen political and mercantile superiority of Tyre. 9. Gebal—
Phoenician city and region between Beirut and Tripolis, famed for slcilied workmen (Margin, I Kings 5. 18; Psalm
83. 7). calkers stoppers of chinks in a vessel : carrying on the metaphor as to Tyre, occupy tliy mercliandlse i. e., to exchange merchandise with thee. 10. Persia . . . Pliut —warriors from the extreme east and west. Liid-the Lydians of Asia Minor, near the Meander, famed for archery (Isaiah 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 Gyrene, Khielded warriors, Jeremiah 4^ 9, descended from Phut, son of Ham), hanged . . . shield . . . comeliness—waris still famed for its sword blades, calamus—aromatic cane. 30. Dedan—in Arabia ; distinct from the Dedan in
V. 15 (see note). Descended from Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25. 3). [Bochart.] precious clothes—splendid coverlets. 31. Arabia—the nomadic tribes of Arabia, among which Kedar was pre-eminent, occupied tvlth thee— ii'Z., "of thy hand," /. e., they traded with thee for wares, the product of thy hand (notes, see v. 15, 16). 33. Slieba . . . Rainali—in Arabia, spices, &c.—obtained from India and conveyed In caravans to Tyre, chief of . . . spices— 1. e., best spices (Deuteronortiy 33. 15). 23. Haran the dwelling-place of Abraham in Mesopotamia, after he moved from Ur (Genesis U. 31). Caniieh Calneh, an Assyrian cit.v on the Tigris; the Ctesiphon of the Greeks (Genesis 10. 10). Eden—probably a region in Babylonia (see Genesis 2. 8). Chllmad—a compound ; the place designated by Ptolemy Oaala of Media. The Chaldee version interprets it of Media. Henderson refers it to Carmanda, which Xenoplion describes as a large city beyond the Euphrates. 34:. all sorts of things—Hebrew, "perfections;" exquisite articles of finery. [Grotius.] clothes —rather, "mantles" or "cloaks;" lit., im-appings. For "blue," Henderson translates, "purple," chests of rich apparel, bound with cords—treasures or repositories of damask stuffs, consisting of variegated threads ivoven together riors hanged their accoutrements on the walls for ornament. Divested of the metaphor it means, it was an honour to thee to have so many nations supplying thee with hired soldiers. 11. Gammadlms— rather, as the Tyrians were Syro-Plioenicians, from a Syriac root, meaning darinc/, "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 (Judges 3. 16), "short-swordsmen." 13. Tarshlsh—Tartessus in Spain, a country famed for various metals, which were exported to Tyre. Much of the "tin" probably was conveyed by the Phoenicians from Cornwall to Tarshish. traded In thy fairs—"did barter with thee" [Fairbaibn]; from a root, "to leave," soinetliing left in barter for something else. 13. Javaii—the lonians or Greeks: for the lonians of Asia Minor were tlie first Greeks whom the Asiatics came in contact with. Tubal . . . Meshecli—the Tibareni and Mosehi, in the mountain-region between the Black and Caspian Seas, persons of men i. e., 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. Togarniah—Armenia: descended from' Gomer (Genesis 10. '-i). Their mountainous region south of tlie Caucasus was celebrated for horses, horsemen —rather, "riding-horses," as distinct from "horses" for in figures. [Henderson.] cedar—The "chests" were made of cedar, in order to last the longer; and also it keeps off decay, and has a sweet odour. 35. singof thee-personificatiou; thy great merchant ships were palpable proofs of thy greatness. Others translate from a di fterent Hebrew root, "were thy (mercantile) travellers." Fairbaibn translates, "Were thy walls." But the parallelism to "thou wast glorious" favours English Version, "sing of thee." 3G. 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 (Psalm 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. 37. The detailed enumeration implies the utter completeness of the ruin, and in all thy company—" even with all thy collected multitude." [Hendebson.] 38. The suburbs—The buildings of Tyre on the adjoining continent. 39. So on the downfiUl of chariots. [Faikbaikn.] 15. Dedan—near the Persian Sea: thus an avenue to the commerce of India. Not the Dedan in Arabia (v. 20), as the names in the context here prove, but the Dedan sprung from Cush [BOCHABT], (Genesis 10. 7). merchandise of thine hand —i.e., were dependent on thee for trade [Fairbaibn]; came to buy the produce of thy hands. [Grotius.] 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, a present lit., a reward in return ; a price paid spiritual Babylon (Revelation 18. 17, <ic.). shall stand upon . . . land—being cast out of their ships in which heretofore they prided themselves. 30. against thee— for mercliandise. IG. " Syria was thy mart for the multitude," &c. For Syria the IjXX. read Edam. But the Syrians were famed as merchants, occupied—old English for " traded ;" so in Luke 19. 13. agate—others transUUe, "ruby," " cha Ice<lony," or "pearls." 17. Mliinltli rather, "concerning thee." 31. utterly ^>al^\—lit., bald with baldness. The Phoenician custom in mourning; which, as being connected with heathenish superstitions, was forbidden to Israel (Deuteronomy 14. 1). 33. take up —lift up. the destroy<d—a destroyed one. Lit. (as opposed to its previous bustle of thronging merchants and mariners, t). 27), "one brought to death's stillness." In . .. midst of . . . sea—insular Tyro. 33. out of the seas brought on shore out of the sliips. fi Uedst—didst supply plentifully with wares, enrich , , . kings—with thfl 601, . , Pannag—names of places in Israel famed for good wheat, wherewith Tyre was supplied (1 Kings 5. fl, 11; Ezra 8. 7; Acts 12.20); Minnith was formerly an Ammonite city (Judges II. 3.!). "Pannag" is identified by Grotius with "Ptienicc, ' the Greelc name for Cnnaan. "Tbey traded . . . wlieat," i. <>., they supplied tliy market