Ezekielchapter 27
36 verses · Ezekiel · 593 to 571 BC · The Prophets
“Now you, son of man, take up a lament for Tyre.
Introduction
Ezekiel, The Prophets, Ezekiel Overview.
This chapter is a funeral song, sung over a city that was still standing and still rich. Ezekiel wrote it for exiles who had bought Tyre's goods all their lives. He pictures the city as a great merchant ship and names where every part of her came from, and then he names her trading partners one by one. Listen for the long list of peoples and goods, which reads like a map of the ancient world's trade. Then listen for the wind that ends it all, and for the sailors and merchants who stand on the shore and weep.
Context
- Who
- Exiles who had bought Tyrian goods all their lives and never thought about where they came from
- What
- A lament over Tyre pictured as a splendid merchant ship, with a list of her trading partners and an account of her shipwreck.
- Where
- Spoken at Tel Abib in Babylonia over Tyre, with a list of trading partners that reaches from Tarshish in the west to Arabia and the Euphrates in the east.
- When
- About 586 BC, after the fall of Jerusalem, in the Babylonian exile.
- Why
- To show that the wealth and trade on which Tyre relied would sink with her and could not save her.
Historical context
The lament builds Tyre as a ship, part by part, and every material is a real trade good with a real source. Planks of fir from Senir, another name for Mount Hermon. A mast of cedar from Lebanon, the most prized timber in the ancient world. Oars from the oaks of Bashan, east of the Sea of Galilee. A deck of boxwood inlaid with ivory from Cyprus. A sail of embroidered Egyptian linen. An awning of blue and purple.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
That purple is the city's signature. Tyrian purple was extracted from murex sea snails, thousands of them for a few grams of dye, and vast heaps of crushed shells have been found along the Phoenician coast. It was the most expensive colour on earth, which is why it became the colour of royalty.
The crew is drawn from the region: rowers from Sidon and Arvad, skilled men of Gebal, the city the Greeks called Byblos, as the caulkers who sealed the seams. Mercenaries from Persia, Lud and Put garrison the walls, and shields and helmets are hung on them, which was a real display practice.
Then comes the trade list, and it is a map of the ancient economy. Silver, iron, tin and lead from Tarshish in the far west. Slaves and bronze vessels from Javan, Tubal and Meshech in Asia Minor. Horses and mules from Beth-togarmah. Ivory and ebony from the coasts. Wheat, honey, oil and balm from Israel and Judah. Wine of Helbon and wool from Damascus. Lambs, rams and goats from Arabia and Kedar. Spices, precious stones and gold from Sheba and Raamah in the south. Fine garments and carpets from Haran, Asshur and the cities of the Euphrates.
Then the east wind wrecks the ship in the heart of the seas, and everything on the list goes down with it, cargo, crew, pilots and all.
Significance
The exiles had learned in the hardest way that a city could be lost. Tyre had learned nothing of the kind. This lament walks a wealthy world through its own inventory and then sinks it in one paragraph.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For hearers who had watched the nations get rich while Judah burned, the message is that trade is not a defence. The merchants among the peoples hiss at her, and she comes to a dreadful end, and never exists again in the way she once did.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus joins the chapter to the weeks of the Torah portions through the works arranged by portion. Under the second verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Balak 1:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 1:1. Under the third verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 12:14. Under the twenty-seventh verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 27:6.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern.
The lament over Tyre is read as one long figure, and Rashi names it at the fifth verse. Tyre was built on the sea and destroyed by the sea, so "the prophet compares it to a superior ship whose cargo in its hold was too heavy for it" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:5:1). The ship sank by the east wind. He first explains why the city stood so high. Many large cities stand by the sea without a good port, but Tyre had "the port where the ships come up to the wall and the gates" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:3:1).
Most of his notes on the chapter gloss the ship and its trade word by word. The builders are "your architects" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:4:1). The oarsmen are "those who hold your oars to guide you" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:8:1). The elders of Gebal were skilled builders, and he joins them to Hiram's builders in 1 Kings 5:32 (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:9:1). The trade in living people he reads as "male and female slaves to sell" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:13:1). Tarshish is "a sea named Tarshish", and Vedan and Javan "are states" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:12:1 and 27:19:1).
The wheat of Minnith draws the longest note, and Rashi leaves it open. He gives a place name, a Midrash Aggadah on thick kernels sold by number, a reading of Targum Jonathan and one he heard in the name of Rabbi Simon. Then he says plainly, "But I do not know what it [wheat of Minnith] is", before offering his own guess that Minnith means "portions (מָנוֹת), prepared food" (Rashi on Ezekiel 27:17:1).
The corpus carries five further notes on this chapter without an English text, each of them marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They stand cited and unquoted at Radak on Ezekiel 27:1:1, 27:2:1, 27:10:1, 27:14:1 and 27:22:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the second verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 20:1, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Balak 1:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 1:1. It also holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 765:9 there. On the third verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah 2:19, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 2:17 and Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 12:14. It also holds Midrash Tehillim 48:2, Pesikta Rabbati 41:1 and Shemot Rabbah 36:1 there. It also holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 243:1 there. On the fourth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Nedarim 3:8. On the fifth verse it holds Bava Batra 73a:4 and Ein Yaakov, Bava Batra 5:1.
On the sixth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 83:1 and Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 1:9:1. On the seventeenth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah 3:6, Kohelet Rabbah 1:8:2 and Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Missing and Extra Letters 1:33. On the eighteenth verse it holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 24:65:3. On the twenty-first verse it holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 30:7.
On the twenty-fourth verse it holds Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim on Sefer Yonah, Midrash Yonah (Version 2) 3. On the twenty-sixth verse it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Vayehi Beshalach 5:14, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 14:21:2 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 234:2. On the twenty-seventh verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 27:6, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 4:9 and Pesikta DeRav Kahana 5:19. It also holds Pesikta Rabbati 14:1, Pesikta Rabbati 15:1 and Tractate Derekh Eretz Rabbah 2:11 there. It also holds Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 759:9 there. On the twenty-eighth verse it holds Introductions to Tanaitic Literature, Introductions to Tractates of the Mishnah, Kelim 385.
On the twenty-ninth verse it holds Bava Batra 73a:5, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yevamot 6:10 and Ein Yaakov, Yevamot 6:12. It also holds Kohelet Rabbah 5:8:1, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 11:8:2 and Vayikra Rabbah 22:1 there. On the thirtieth verse it holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 48:19. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Ezekiel 27:3:1 to 27:24:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Radak, Radak on Ezekiel 27:1:1, 27:2:1, 27:10:1, 27:14:1 and 27:22:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/ezekiel/27.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this chapter and printing no weekly portion, no Haftarah and no festival reading.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A perfect ship built from the world's finest timber
Ezekiel 27:1-3
the word of the LORD came to me: The Lord instructs the prophet to compose a formal dirge, shifting the book's form from courtroom sentence to funeral song. The city is addressed by its boast, I am of perfect beauty. Henry reads the lament's placement, ahead of the fall it describes, as prophetic certainty treated as already accomplished.
Ezekiel 27:1
“The dirge of Tyre written in poetical form. Tyre is compared to a fair vessel, to whose equipment the various nations of the world contribute, launching forth in majesty, to be wrecked and to perish. The nations enumerated point out Tyre as the center of commerce between the eastern and western world. This position, occupied for a short time by Jerusalem, was long maintained by Tyre, until the erection of Alexandria supplanted her in this traffic. Compare the dirge of Babylon Isa. 14:3-23; in each case the city named represents the world-power antagonistic to God.”
take up a lament for Tyre: Lament translates qinah, the Hebrew funeral song. Ezekiel composes others over the princes of Israel in chapter 19, the king of Tyre in 28:12 and Pharaoh in chapter 32. The form mourns the living as already dead.
Ezekiel 27:2
“Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus. Compose an elegy, and sing it; make a mournful noise, and deliver out a funeral ditty; such as the "praeficae", or mournful women, made at funerals, in which they said all they could in praise of the dead, and made very doleful lamentations for them: this the prophet was to do in a prophetic manner, for the confirmation of what was prophesied of by him; and it may teach us, that even wicked men are to be pitied, when in distress and calamity.”
who dwells at the gateway to the sea: The Hebrew speaks of the entrances of the sea, the harbours where ships put in. The island city had two, one facing north toward Sidon and one facing south toward Egypt. Its boast of beauty is the pride the chapter sinks.
Ezekiel 27:3
Entry - literally, “entries.” Ancient Tyre had two ports, that called the Sidonian to the north, the Egyptian to the south; the former exists to the present day. The term “entry of the sea” is naturally enough applied to a harbor as a place from which ships enter and return from the sea. The city was known in the earliest times as “Tyre the port.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:3
“Non omis fert omnia tellus--One land does not supply all the varieties of produce. Providence dispenses its gifts variously, some to each, and all to none, that there may be a mutual commerce among those whom God has made of one blood, though they are made to dwell on all the face of the earth, Acts xvii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Ezekiel 27:4-7
your builders perfected your beauty: The chapter's long central section pictures Tyre itself as a magnificent ship, built from the resources of the whole known world: fir boards from Senir. The sail is fine linen from Egypt. Keil reads the ship figure as deliberate, a trading city pictured as its own finest export.
Ezekiel 27:4
“Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, Fixed by the Lord himself, and which could never be removed. Tyre stood about half a mile from the continent, surrounded with the waters of the sea, till it was made a peninsula by Alexander: thy builders have perfected thy beauty.”
3 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 27:4
“Thy builders have perfected thy beauty - Under the allegory of a beautiful ship, the prophet, here and in the following verses, paints the glory of this ancient city. Horace describes the commonwealth of Rome by the same allegory, and is as minute in his description, Carm. lib. 1. Od. xiv: - O navis, referent in mare te novi Fluctus? O quid agis? Fortiter occupa Portum.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:4
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Ezekiel 27:4
“The Tyrians are thought to be the first that invented the art of navigation; at least they improved it, and brought it to as great a perfection perhaps as it could be without the loadstone. [1.] They made the boards, or planks, for the hulk of the ship, of fir-trees fetched from Senir, a mount in the land of Israel, joined with Hermon, Cant. iv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
cypress from Senir: Senir is the Amorite name for Mount Hermon, as Deuteronomy 3:9 records. Cedar from Lebanon was the prized timber of the ancient world, the wood Hiram of Tyre sent Solomon for the temple. Tyre built its planking and mast from its neighbors' forests.
Ezekiel 27:5
“They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir,.... The same with Sion and Hermon, which the Sidonians called Sirion, and the Amorites Shenir, Deu 3:9 here, it seems, grew the best of fir trees, of which the Tyrians made boards and planks for shipping; of these the two sides of the ship, as the word (r) here used in the dual number is thought to signify, or the fore and hind decks, were made.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:5
“Fir trees of Senir - Senir is a mountain which the Sidonians called Sirion, and the Hebrews Hermon, Deu 3:9. It was beyond Jordan, and extended from Libanus to the mountains of Gilead.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
oaks from Bashan they made your oars: Bashan, the high plateau east of the Sea of Galilee, was known for its oaks, as Isaiah 2:13 shows. The coasts of Cyprus translate Kittim, named for the Phoenician town of Kition on that island. Phoenician craftsmen were famed for ivory inlay.
Ezekiel 27:6
“Of the oaks of Bashan - Some translate alder, others the pine. The company of the Ashurites - The word אשרים asherim is by several translated boxwood. The seats or benches being made of this wood inlaid with ivory. Isles of Chittim - The Italian islands; the islands of Greece; Cyprus. Calmet says Macedonia is meant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 27:6
“With box - From the isles, and parts about the Ionian, Aegean, and other seas of the Mediterranean, where box-tree is a native, and of great growth and firmness, fit to saw into boards for benches; they were conveyed to Tyre, where their artists inlaid these box boards with ivory, and made them beautiful seats in their ships.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:6
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
embroidered fine linen from Egypt: Egyptian linen was the finest woven in the ancient world, and an embroidered sail doubled as the ship's flag at sea. Elishah is a son of Javan in Genesis 10:4, a people of the Greek coasts or Cyprus. Purple dye was Tyre's own trade.
Ezekiel 27:7
“Or, “Fine linen Gen 41:42 with embroidery from Egypt was” thy sail that it might be to thee for a banner. Sails from Egypt were worked with various figures upon them which served as a device. Their boats had no separate pennons. Blue and purple - Tyrian purple was famous. The Tyrians no doubt imported from the neighboring coasts the mollusks from which they dyed the fine linen of Egypt. Isles of Elishah - See Gen 10:4. Elishah is considered equivalent to the Greek AEolis on the western coast of Asia Minor.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:7
“The word signifies a banner as well as a sail. [6.] They hung those rooms on ship-board with blue and purple, the richest cloths and richest colours they could get from the isles they traded with. For though Tyre was itself famous for purple, which is therefore called the Tyrian dye, yet they must have that which was far-fetched.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Ezekiel 27:8-9
The men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen: The crew is drawn the same way as the timber, Zidon and Arvad supplying mariners, Tyre's own wise men serving as pilots. Gill notes the specificity of each city's trade, mariners here, pilots there, calkers elsewhere, as evidence of a maritime economy organized by specialized skill.
Ezekiel 27:8
“The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners,.... Zidon was a city in Phoenicia, near to Tyre, and older than that, by whose inhabitants it was built; see the notes on Isa 23:2 and Arvad was an island in Phoenicia, to the south of Zidon, not far from Tyre. Mr. Maundrell (g) says it is about a league distant from the shore; and is now called by the Turks Ruad.”
2 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 27:8
“Arvad - Or Aradus, an island belonging to Phoenicia, twenty furlongs from the continent. Mariners - Rowers in thy galleys; the rich Tyrians would not employ their own in such servile works, they hired strangers. Wise men - Thy learned men: for navigation was the great study of the Tyrians.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:8
“The inhabitants of Arvad and Zidon were thy mariners. These came from cities hear them; Zidon was sister to Tyre, not two leagues off, to the northward; there they bred able seamen, which it is the interest of the maritime powers to support and give all the countenance they can to.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The elders of Gebal: Men of Gebal had worked beside Hiram's builders on Solomon's temple, as 1 Kings 5:18 records. Elders here marks the senior masters of the craft. Their skill kept the great ship sound.
Ezekiel 27:9
“The ancients of Gebal,.... A promontory of the Phoenicians, the same with the Gabale of Pliny (n), and with the land of the Giblites, Jos 13:5. It was by the Greeks called Byblus; and so the Septuagint here render the words, the elders of Bybli or Byblus, a place once famous for the birth and temple of Adonis; it is now called Gibyle.”
Ezekiel 27:10-11
Men of Persia, Lydia, and Put: Military glory joins commercial glory: Persia, Lud and Phut supply soldiers who hang shield and helmet in thee, decorative arms. Fairbairn reads the militarized decoration as part of the chapter's larger point, that Tyre had turned every resource into an expression of wealth and beauty.
Ezekiel 27:10
“They of Persia - Lud, the Lydians; Phut, a people of Africa, see Gen 10:6. From these places they had auxiliary troops; for as they traded with the then known world, were rich, and could afford to give good pay, they no doubt had soldiers and sailors from every part. Skilful and desperate men will go any where after their price.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:10
“Lud - Lydians, not those Cresus was king over, but those that dwelt in Egypt about the lake Maraeolis. Phut - Lybians, a people of Africa; these were their hired soldiers.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
the men of Gammad were in your towers: Helech is often identified with Cilicia in southern Asia Minor, called Hilakku in Assyrian records. The men of Gammad appear nowhere else, and their home is uncertain. Hired troops from many lands manned Tyre's walls.
Ezekiel 27:11
“The Gammadims were in thy towers - Some think these were a people of Phoenicia; others, that tutelar images are meant; others, that the word expresses strong men, Who acted as guards. The Vulgate reads Pygmaei, the pygmies, who were fabled to be a little people of a cubit in height, from גמד gomed. a cubit; and are told that this little people were celebrated for their wars with the cranes; but nothing of this kind can enter into this description.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The merchants of the nations trade in her fairs
Ezekiel 27:12-15
Tarshish was your merchant: The trade list turns to Javan, Tubal and Meshech, peoples of Asia Minor, who traded the persons of men and vessels of brass. Clarke reads the human trafficking named at verse 13 without any softening, the same matter-of-fact list format used for iron and ivory applied to men.
Ezekiel 27:12
“Tarshish was thy merchant - After having given an account of the naval and military equipment of this city, he now speaks of the various places and peoples with whom the Tyrians traded, and the different kinds of merchandise imported from those places. By Tarshish some understand the Carthaginians; some think Tartessus, near the straits of Gibraltar, is meant; others, Tharsis in Cilicia. The place was famous for all the useful metals, silver, iron, tin, and lead. All these they might have had from Britain.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:12
“Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches,.... Some understand this of the sea, which is sometimes called Tarshish; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it here: and the Targum, "from the sea, or they of the sea bring merchandise into the midst of thee:'' that is, those who lived upon the coasts, or on the isles, of the Mediterranean sea.”
exchanged slaves and bronze utensils: Javan is the Hebrew name for the Ionian Greeks. Tubal and Meshech are peoples of eastern Asia Minor who reappear under Gog in chapter 38. Joel 3:6 charges Tyre with selling people of Judah to the Greeks.
Ezekiel 27:13
“Javan, Tubal, and Meshech - The Ionians, the Tybarenians, and the Cappadocians, or Muscovites. They traded the persons of men - That is, they trafficked in slaves. The bodies and souls of men were bought and sold in those days, as in our degenerate age. With these also they traded in brazen vessels.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:13
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The men of Beth-togarmah: Togarmah is a son of Gomer in Genesis 10:3, generally placed in the highlands of Armenia. The same people march with Gog's army from the far north in 38:6. Horses were the region's wealth.
Ezekiel 27:14
“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].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:14
“Of the house - Of the country. Togarmah - Armenia the lesser, Phrygia, Galatia, or Cappadocia. Horsemen - It is likely they might sell grooms, as best able to manage, and keep those horses.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
ivory tusks and ebony: The Greek Septuagint reads Rhodians here for Dedan. The Hebrew letters for d and r look alike. Ivory and ebony came by sea and caravan from Africa and India.
Ezekiel 27:15
“The men of Dedan - Dedan was one of the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, and dwelt in Arabia, Gen 25:3. Ivory and ebony might come from that quarter. By way of distinction ivory is called both in Hebrew ש shen, and in Arabic shen, the Tooth, as that beautiful substance is the tooth of the elephant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 27:15
“Isles - In the Indian seas, and in the Red-sea traded with thee. Horns - Elk's horns, or wild goats. Ebony - Is a very solid, heavy, shining, black wood, fit for many choice works.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:15
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Ezekiel 27:16-18
Aram was your customer: The list turns to Judah and the land of Israel, naming Israel as one trading partner among many, selling wheat, honey, oil and balm. Henry reads Israel's appearance as part of the chapter's irony, a people meant for a holy calling reduced to one line among trading nations.
Ezekiel 27:16
"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."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:16
“Syria - These were always a mercantile people. For the precious stones mentioned here see the notes on Exo 28:17 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
wheat from Minnith: Minnith was an Ammonite town east of the Jordan, named in Judges 11:33 in Jephthah's campaign. Israel's grain had fed Tyre since Solomon paid Hiram in wheat and oil, as 1 Kings 5:11 records. Balm came from Gilead.
Ezekiel 27:17
“Judah, and the land of Israel - traded in thy market wheat - The words have been understood as articles of merchandise, not names of places. So the Jews traded with the Tyrians in wheat, stacte, balsam, honey, oil, and resin.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar: Helbon is a village in the hills north of Damascus, and Strabo reports that its wine was served to the Persian kings. Zahar may be a place, or the Hebrew word for white, giving white wool. Damascus sold its own produce.
Ezekiel 27:18
“Damascus wine of Helbon - Now called by the Turks Haleb, and by us Aleppo. White wool - Very fine wool: wool of a fine quality. Some think Milesian wool is meant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:19-22
casks of wine from Izal: The list continues through Dan and Javan with iron, cassia and calamus. Sheba and Raamah close the section with the chief of all spices. Gill reads the sheer breadth of the list as the chapter's own argument for the scale of what falls when the city falls.
Ezekiel 27:19
“Dan also and Javan - It is probable that both these words mean some of the Grecian islands. Going to and fro - They both took and brought - imported and exported: but מאוזל meuzal, from uzal, may be a proper name. What place is signified I cannot tell, unless it be Azal, a name, according to Kamoos, of the capital of Arabia Felix.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:19
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
saddlecloths for riding: Dedan was an oasis town in northwest Arabia on the caravan road. Its traders supplied the cloths laid over horses and camels for riding. The name appears again beside Sheba in 38:13.
Ezekiel 27:20
“Dedan was thy merchant in precious cloths for chariots. Or, "cloths of freedom" (u); such as freemen and even nobles wore; and yet so extravagant were the Tyrians, that they bought these to line or cover their chariots with; this is different from the Dedan in Eze 27:15, and is either Dedan in Edom or Idumea, Jer 49:8, or in Arabia, the inhabitants of which descended from Dedan, a grandson of Abraham, Gen 25:3, which agrees with the following. (u) בבגדי חפש "pannis libertatis", Vatablus, Piscator; "ingenuorem", Junius & Tremellius. So Ben Melech, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:20
“Dedan - Possibly the descendants of Dedan, son of Raamah, see Gen 10:7. In precious clothes for chariots - Either fine carpets, or rich housings for horses, camels, etc., used for riding.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
all the princes of Kedar: Kedar was a son of Ishmael in Genesis 25:13, and his descendants were herdsmen of the Arabian desert living in tents. Their wealth was in flocks, so their princes traded lambs, rams and goats. Isaiah 60:7 pictures the flocks of Kedar gathered to the LORD's house.
Ezekiel 27:21
“Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar,.... Arabia was a large country, divided into three parts, Arabia Deserts, or the desert; Arabia Petraea, or the rocky; and Arabia Felix, or the happy. Kedar was in Arabia Petrea; its inhabitants were called Kedarenes, descended from Kedar, a son of Ishmael, Gen 25:13, they were chiefly shepherds, and dwelt in tents, to which the allusion is in Son 1:5, these princes were the rich and wealthy among them, who bought up the cattle of the meaner sort, and brought them to Tyre. In Jerom's time Kedar was the country of the Saracens.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:21
“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).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah: Sheba lay in southwest Arabia, the land whose queen brought Solomon gold, spices and precious stones in 1 Kings 10:10. Raamah is paired with Sheba in Genesis 10:7. The incense trade ran north from there by caravan.
Ezekiel 27:22
“Sheba and Raamah - Inhabitants of Arabia Felix, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, who were famous for their riches and spices.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:23-25
Haran, Canneh, and Eden: The list turns from goods to acclaim: the ships of Tarshish did sing of thee. This is the chapter's high point, the ship fully built, fully crewed, fully laden and fully praised. Keil reads the placement deliberately, the fullest description of Tyre's glory set beside the account of its sinking.
Ezekiel 27:23
“Haran, and Canneh, and Eden,.... Haran was a city of Mesopotamia, the same with Haran, where Abraham dwelt awhile, Act 7:2, the Charrae of the Parthians, famous for the defeat of Crassus. Canneh is thought to be the same with Calneh, Gen 10:10, afterwards called Ctesiphon; and here, by the Targum, Netzibin, a place not far from Tigris; and Eden also was between Tigris and Euphrates. All three places seem to be in Mesopotamia, and not far from each other; the latter is thought by some to be the place where the garden of Eden was.”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:23
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
multicolored rugs with cords tightly twisted: These fine garments and rugs are finished luxury textiles brought to the marketplace of Tyre from Mesopotamia, the region named in verse 23. The Hebrew word for rugs is rare, and older versions read it as chests of costly garments bound with cords. Blue dye was costly.
Ezekiel 27:24
“These were thy merchants in all sorts of things - The above people traded with the Tyrians in a great variety of the most valuable merchandise: blue or purple cloth, boxes of cedar, covered with skins, and bound with silken cords, and sealed with an engraved seal, finely cut, etc. See the Chaldee.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise: Ships of Tarshish came to mean the largest ocean going merchant ships, whatever their port. Tarshish itself is often placed in southern Spain. The heavy cargo sets up the next verse, where the loaded ship founders.
Ezekiel 27:25
“Did sing of thee - Or, were thy bulwarks, i. e., bulwarks of thy traffic. Others render it: “were thy caravans,” thy merchandise.”
The east wind wrecks her and the coastlands hiss
Ezekiel 27:26-27
the east wind will shatter you: The turn comes without warning: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Everything named across the chapter's long inventory falls together into the midst of the seas. Fairbairn reads the abruptness as intentional, the sudden collapse of a vessel the wind has broken.
Ezekiel 27:26
“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. The "sea" is the war with him which the "rowers," or rulers of the state vessel, had "brought" it into, to its ruin.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 27:26
“She is as a great ship richly laden, that is split or sunk by the indiscretion of her steersmen: Thy rowers have themselves brought thee into great and dangerous waters; the governors of the city, and those that had the management of their public affairs, by some mismanagement or other involved them in that war with the Chaldeans which was the ruin of their state.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Ezekiel 27:26
“Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters - Tyre is still considered under the allegory of a ship; and all the vessels of different nations trading with her are represented as towing her into deep waters - bringing her into great affluence. But while in this state, a stormy east wind, or a destructive wind, meaning the Chaldeans, arises, and dashes her to pieces! See the ode from Horace, already quoted on Eze 27:4 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
on the day of your downfall: The verse gathers every group named since verse 8 into one list. A ship sinks with all it carries, cargo and crew together. Tyre's wealth and its people share one fate.
Ezekiel 27:27
“All who have been enumerated as sharing in, and constituting, the glory of Tyre are now recounted as partakers in her wreck.”
Ezekiel 27:28-32
The countryside will shake: The mariners and pilots come down from their ships, casting dust on their heads. Commentators have long noted how closely Revelation 18 echoes this scene in its own lament over Babylon's fall. Henry reads the parallel as evidence that John drew on Ezekiel's dirge for the shape of his own.
Ezekiel 27:28
“The cry of thy pilots - When the ship was dashed against the rocks by the violence of the winds and the waves, and all hope of life was taken away, then a universal cry was set up by all on board. I have heard this cry, and nothing more dismal can be imagined, when the ship by a violent tempest is driving among rocks on a lee shore. Then “All lost! cut away the boat!” is more dreadful than the cry of fire at midnight.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
will stand on the shore: Every crew that worked Tyre's trade comes ashore. A ship with no crew carries no cargo, so the trade of the whole coast stops with the city. The mourners stand where they can see the wreck.
Ezekiel 27:29
“As Tyre is figured by a large vessel, so are the subject-states by smaller boats which accompany the great ship. These terrified by the storm approach the land. Tyre is hopelessly swallowed up, crew and all, in the midst of the sea. The small crafts escape to shore.”
throw dust on their heads: Dust on the head was a sign of grief and humiliation, as Job's friends showed in Job 2:12. Rolling in ashes went further, the mourner lying down in the ash heap. Jeremiah 6:26 calls Judah to the same rite.
Ezekiel 27:30
“Shall cry bitterly - All that were on the land, seeing this dreadful sight, a gallant ship perishing with all her men and goods, are represented as setting up a dismal cry at this heart-rending sight. But what must they have felt who were on board? Reader, wert thou ever shipwrecked? Wert thou ever in a hurricane on a lee rocky shore, where the helm had lost its power, and the sails were rendered useless? Dost thou remember that apparently last moment, when the ship drove up to the tremendous rocks, riding on the back of a mountainous surge?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
shave their heads for you: Shaving the head was a mourning rite across the ancient Near East, forbidden to Israel's priests in Leviticus 21:5. Sackcloth was coarse goat hair cloth worn against the skin. Anguish of soul marks grief felt within.
The question echoes the praise Israel sang to God in Exodus 15:11, now spoken over a city. The Hebrew word rendered silenced is rare, and older versions read it as destroyed. The dirge ends the ship's voyage.
Ezekiel 27:33-36
You enriched the kings of the earth: The judgment lands in the same commercial terms it built the lament in, and the merchants among the people shall hiss at thee. Keil reads the final line, thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more, as closing on the note chapter 26 closed on.
shattered by the seas in the depths: The verse answers verse 33 line for line. The sea that carried Tyre's wares out to many nations now carries its people to the bottom. One sea receives both.
Ezekiel 27:34
“In the time when thou shall be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters.....”
1 more voice on this verse
Ezekiel 27:34
“There is an end of Tyre, that made such a noise and bustle in the world. This great blaze goes out in a snuff. How the fall of Tyre should be matter of terror to some and laughter to others, according as they were differently interested and affected.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Their kings shudder with fear: The kings shudder, for their own trade and treasuries hung on Tyre's markets. The Hebrew for contorted faces pictures features thrown into turmoil by shock. The shores that bought from Tyre now tremble at its end.
Ezekiel 27:35
“The news of Tyre’s ruin shall reach to distant isles, to merchant cities who trade with her. These in their selfish love of gain shall rejoice over her who was once paramount over them, hissing out against her curses and scorn.”
Those who trade among the nations hiss: Hissing, or whistling, was a sound of shock and scorn at a ruin. Passersby make the same sound at the ruined temple in 1 Kings 9:8. The merchants turn it on the city that enriched them.
Ezekiel 27:36
“The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee,.... As Tyre had done at Jerusalem, Eze 26:2 as she hoped to make better markets upon the fall of Jerusalem, and therefore rejoiced at it; so these merchants upon her fall will hope that her trade will come into their hands, and therefore despise her, hiss, and laugh at her in her abject state.”
2 more voices on this verse
Ezekiel 27:36
“Shall hiss at thee - שרקו shareku, shall shriek for thee. This powerfully expresses the sensation made on the feelings of the spectators on the shore when they saw the vessel swallowed up.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ezekiel 27:36
“She triumphed in Jerusalem's fall, and there are those that will triumph in hers. When God casts his judgments on the sinner men also shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place, Job xxvii. Is this the city which men called the perfection of beauty?”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Patrick Fairbairn and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.