Ezekiel 26:12
in Ezekiel 26They will plunder your wealth and pillage your merchandise. They will demolish your walls, tear down your beautiful homes, and throw your stones and timber and soil into the water.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise; and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses; and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the waters.
KJV
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
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This verse in Ezekiel 26
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water - This answers to the taking of Tyre by Alexander; he actually took the timbers, stones, rubbish, etc. of old Tyre, and filled up the space between it and new Tyre, and thus connected the latter with the main land; and this he was obliged to do before he could take it.
This site's exposition
lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water
The verse's last clause has drawn particular attention across the centuries, they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water, since the island city's own later history supplies what reads as a sequel: when Alexander the Great besieged Tyre in 332 BC, he built a causeway to the island using rubble from the mainland city Nebuchadnezzar had already leveled, casting its stones and timber into the sea to reach the fortress beyond it. Fairbairn and Barnes both point to this later event as bearing out the passage, though the verse itself names no besieger and the observation rests on reading the oracle's arc across two campaigns two and a half centuries apart.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches,....
It was in hope of the plunder that the city was set upon with so much vigour. See the vanity of riches, that they are kept for the owners to their hurt; they entice and recompense thieves, and not only cease to benefit those who took pains for them and were duly entitled to them, but are made to serve their enemies, who are thereby put into a capacity of doing them so much the more mischief.
The city held out a long siege, but it was taken at last. (2.) A great deal of blood shall be shed: Her daughters who are in the field, the cities upon the continent, which were subject to Tyre as the mother-city, the inhabitants of them shall be slain by the sword,
The utter ruin of Tyre is here represented in very strong and lively figures, which are exceedingly affecting. See how high, how great, Tyre had been, how little likely ever to come to this. The remembrance of men's former grandeur and plenty is a great aggravation of their present disgrace and poverty.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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 the 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.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָׁלְל֣וּ | veshalu | and they will plunder | H7997 → | 16 times |
| חֵילֵ֗ךְ | cheilekh | wealth your | H2428 → | 246 times |
| וּבָֽזְזוּ֙ | uvazezu | and they will take as spoil | H962 → | 43 times |
| רְכֻלָּתֵ֔ךְ | rekhulatekh | merchandise your | H7404 → | 4 times |
| וְהָֽרְסוּ֙ | veharesu | and they will tear down | H2040 → | 43 times |
| חוֹמוֹתַ֔יִךְ | chomotayikh | walls your | H2346 → | 133 times |
| וּבָתֵּ֥י | uvatei | and [the] houses of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| חֶמְדָּתֵ֖ךְ | chemdatekh | desire your | H2532 → | |
| יִתֹּ֑צוּ | yitotzu | they will pull down | H5422 → | 42 times |
| וַאֲבָנַ֤יִךְ | vaavanayikh | and stones your | H68 → | 273 times |
| וְעֵצַ֙יִךְ֙ | veetzayikh | and wood<s> your | H6086 → | 328 times |
| וַֽעֲפָרֵ֔ךְ | vaafarekh | and dust your | H6083 → | 110 times |
| בְּת֥וֹךְ | betokh | in [the] midst of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| יָשִֽׂימוּ׃ | yasimu | they will put | H7760 → | 584 times |
וְשָׁלְל֣וּand they will plunder
veshaluH7997 →16 times
חֵילֵ֗ךְwealth your
cheilekhH2428 →246 times
וּבָֽזְזוּ֙and they will take as spoil
uvazezuH962 →43 times
רְכֻלָּתֵ֔ךְmerchandise your
rekhulatekhH7404 →4 times
וְהָֽרְסוּ֙and they will tear down
veharesuH2040 →43 times
חוֹמוֹתַ֔יִךְwalls your
chomotayikhH2346 →133 times
וּבָתֵּ֥יand [the] houses of
uvateiH1004 →2046 times
חֶמְדָּתֵ֖ךְdesire your
chemdatekhH2532 →
יִתֹּ֑צוּthey will pull down
yitotzuH5422 →42 times
וַאֲבָנַ֤יִךְand stones your
vaavanayikhH68 →273 times
וְעֵצַ֙יִךְ֙and wood<s> your
veetzayikhH6086 →328 times
וַֽעֲפָרֵ֔ךְand dust your
vaafarekhH6083 →110 times
בְּת֥וֹךְin [the] midst of
betokhH8432 →418 times
מַ֖יִם[the] waters
mayimH4325 →581 times
יָשִֽׂימוּ׃they will put
yasimuH7760 →584 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 5:11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
- Deuteronomy 28:30
You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not…
- Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
- James 2:6
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
- Zephaniah 1:13
Through
Daniel 11:8He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:19
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
- Isaiah 46:1–2
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Jeremiah 43:12–13
I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of…
- Isaiah 37:19
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.