Ezekiel 27:2
in Ezekiel 27“Now you, son of man, take up a lament for Tyre.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre;
KJV
Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
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This verse in Ezekiel 27
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNow, 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.
This site's exposition
the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 27:1-3
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 27.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Therefore, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre and say to Tyre, which dwells at the entrance of the sea, to the merchant of the peoples to many islands (or from many islands).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), which is designed to make its ruin the more lamentable. A prediction of its fall and ruin, and the confusion and consternation which all its neighbours shall thereby be put into,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Even those that live at ease are to be lamented if they be not preparing for trouble. He must lament it because its ruin is hastening on apace; it is sure, it is near; and though the prophet foretel it, and justify God in it, yet he must lament it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Take up a lamentation for Tyrus - This is a singular and curious chapter. It gives a very circumstantial account of the trade of Tyre with different parts of the world, and the different sorts of merchandise in which she trafficked. The places and the imports are as regularly entered here as they could have been in a European custom-house.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the word of nevuah from before Hashem was with me, saying:
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתָּ֣ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בֶן־ | ven- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֔ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| שָׂ֥א | sa' | take up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צֹ֖ר | tzor | Tyre | H6865 → | 42 times |
| קִינָֽה׃ | kinah | a lamentation | H7015 → | 18 times |
וְאַתָּ֣הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
בֶן־O son of
ven-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֔םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
שָׂ֥אtake up
sa'H5375 →656 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
צֹ֖רTyre
tzorH6865 →42 times
קִינָֽה׃a lamentation
kinahH7015 →18 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
Ezekiel 27:32As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament for you: ‘Who was ever like Tyre, silenced in the middle of the sea?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 26:17
Then they will lament for you, saying, “How you have perished, O city of renown inhabited by seafaring men—she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people, who imposed terror on all…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 26:17
Through
Jeremiah 9:10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 12:4
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…
- Hosea 4:3
Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Ezekiel 33:28
I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
- Ezekiel 29:11
No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.
- Ezekiel 14:15
Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,
- Jeremiah 12:4
Through
Ezekiel 28:12“Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 19:1
“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel
- Colossians 2:3
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- Ezekiel 19:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy.