Ezekiel 26:16
in Ezekiel 26All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at thee.
KJV
Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
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This verse in Ezekiel 26
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThen all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones,.... The kings of the islands of the sea shall lay aside their regalia, all their royal grandeur, and the ensigns of it; leave their thrones of state, and sit in an humble posture: and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments; their royal robes and raiment of needlework curiously embroidered, and richly wrought, such as princes wear; so did the king of Nineveh in token of humiliation, Jon 3:
This site's exposition
Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall
on Ezekiel 26:15-18
Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall pictures every trading partner absorbing the shock. The princes of the sea come down from their thrones to sit upon the ground. Gill reads the princes' mourning as evidence of how deeply Tyre's economy had bound the coastal world.
This site's exposition
princes of the sea will descend
The princes of the sea ruled coastal cities bound to Tyre by trade, among them its own colonies such as Carthage and Kition on Cyprus. They exchange embroidered robes for a garment of terror. Sitting on the ground was the posture of mourners, as in Job 2:13.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15 and following) Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the rumble of your downfall, and the groaning of your slain, when they are killed in your midst, shake the islands? And all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and they will take off their robes and cast aside their embroidered garments; they will put on sackcloth and sit on the ground, and they will tremble with horror at you.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
She is turned - The trading interest will turn to me. Scrape - I will leave thee nothing; thou shalt be scraped, and swept, that not so much as dust shall remain in thee. Like - As bare as was the rock on which thy city is built.
Or they shall by their own act and deed make themselves to tremble upon this occasion; they shall sit upon the ground in shame and sorrow; they shall tremble every moment at the thought of what has happened to Tyre, and for fear of what may happen to themselves; for what island is safe if Tyre be not?
This prophecy is dated in the eleventh year, which was the year that Jerusalem was taken, and in the first day of the month, but it is not said what month, some think the month in which Jerusalem was taken, which was the fourth month, others the month after; or perhaps it was the first month, and so it was the first day of the year.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Even mighty Carthage used to send a yearly offering 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" (Jer 49:21).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Jon 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 (Isa 23:8). clothe . . . with trembling--Hebrew, "tremblings." Compare Eze 7:27, "clothed with desolation"; In a public calamity the garment was changed for a mourning garb.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The princes of the sea - The chief maritime states, such as Leptis, Utica, Carthage, Gades, etc. See Calmet.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְֽיָרְד֞וּ | veyaredu | and they will go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מֵעַ֣ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כִּסְאוֹתָ֗ם | kisotam | thrones their | H3678 → | 135 times |
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נְשִׂיאֵ֣י | nesiei | [the] princes of | H5387 → | 134 times |
| הַיָּ֔ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| וְהֵסִ֙ירוּ֙ | vehesiru | and they will remove | H5493 → | 299 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מְעִ֣ילֵיהֶ֔ם | meileihem | robes their | H4598 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּגְדֵ֥י | bigdei | [the] clothes of | H899 → | 217 times |
| רִקְמָתָ֖ם | rikmatam | multicolored cloth their | H7553 → | 12 times |
| יִפְשֹׁ֑טוּ | yifshotu | they will strip off | H6584 → | 43 times |
| חֲרָד֤וֹת׀ | charadot | trembling<s> | H2731 → | |
| יִלְבָּ֙שׁוּ֙ | yilbashu | they will be clothed | H3847 → | 110 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֣רֶץ | haaretz | the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יֵשֵׁ֔בוּ | yeshevu | they will sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| וְחָֽרְדוּ֙ | vecharedu | and they will tremble | H2729 → | 39 times |
| לִרְגָעִ֔ים | lirgaim | to moments | H7281 → | |
| וְשָׁמְמ֖וּ | veshamemu | and they will be appalled | H8074 → | 86 times |
| עָלָֽיִךְ׃ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וְֽיָרְד֞וּand they will go down
veyareduH3381 →381 times
מֵעַ֣לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
כִּסְאוֹתָ֗םthrones their
kisotamH3678 →135 times
כֹּ֚לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
נְשִׂיאֵ֣י[the] princes of
nesieiH5387 →134 times
הַיָּ֔םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
וְהֵסִ֙ירוּ֙and they will remove
vehesiruH5493 →299 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מְעִ֣ילֵיהֶ֔םrobes their
meileihemH4598 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בִּגְדֵ֥י[the] clothes of
bigdeiH899 →217 times
רִקְמָתָ֖םmulticolored cloth their
rikmatamH7553 →12 times
יִפְשֹׁ֑טוּthey will strip off
yifshotuH6584 →43 times
חֲרָד֤וֹת׀trembling<s>
charadotH2731 →
יִלְבָּ֙שׁוּ֙they will be clothed
yilbashuH3847 →110 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֣רֶץthe ground
haaretzH776 →2504 times
יֵשֵׁ֔בוּthey will sit
yeshevuH3427 →1079 times
וְחָֽרְדוּ֙and they will tremble
vechareduH2729 →39 times
לִרְגָעִ֔יםto moments
lirgaimH7281 →
וְשָׁמְמ֖וּand they will be appalled
veshamemuH8074 →86 times
עָלָֽיִךְ׃on you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 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
Job 8:22Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
it leads to
- Psalms 132:18
I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown upon him will gleam.”
- Psalms 109:29
May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
- Psalms 35:26
May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
- Job 18:14
He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
- Job 8:18
If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’
- Psalms 132:18
Through
Hosea 11:10They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
it leads to
- Joel 3:16
The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
- Isaiah 31:4
For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not…
- Joel 3:16
Through
Jonah 3:6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
it leads to
- Esther 4:1–4
When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
- Esther 4:1–4
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.