Ezekiel 26:17
in Ezekiel 26Then 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 peoples!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall take up a lamentation over thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there!
KJV
And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
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This verse in Ezekiel 26
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(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.
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
O city of renown inhabited by seafaring men
The lament opens with the Hebrew cry of a funeral song, how, the same word that begins the book of Lamentations. The city that once imposed terror is now mourned by those it frightened. Its fleets ranged the whole Mediterranean.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
), famous among the nations, the crowning city (so she is called Isa. xxiii. 8 ), a city that had crowns in her gift, honoured all she smiled upon, crowned herself and all about her. She was inhabited of seas, that is, of those that trade at sea, of those who from all parts came thither by sea, bringing with them the abundance of the seas and the treasures hidden in the sand.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
How art thou destroyed! [1.] It shall be a great surprise to them, and they shall be affected with wonder, that a place so well fortified by nature and art, so famed for politics and so full of money, which is the sinews of war, that held out so long and with so much bravery, should be taken at last (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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.
And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say unto thee,.... The following mournful song: how art thou destroyed that wast inhabited of seafaring men; or, "of the seas": by men who used the seas, and traded by sea to different parts of the world; and was frequented by persons that came by sea thither, by the great ocean, by the Red sea, the Mediterranean sea, and others; or, which was surrounded by the sea.
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.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Wast strong in the sea - The strength of Tyre was so great, that Alexander despaired of being able to reduce it unless he could fill up that arm of the sea that ran between it and the main land. And this work cost his army seven months of labor.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
So Venice was called "the bride of the sea." strong in the sea--through her insular position. cause their terror to be on all that haunt it--namely, the sea. The Hebrew is rather, "they put their terror upon all her (the city's) inhabitants," that is, they make the name of every Tyrian to be feared [FAIRBAIRN].
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).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָשְׂא֨וּ | venaseu | and they will take up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עָלַ֤יִךְ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קִינָה֙ | kinah | a lamentation | H7015 → | 18 times |
| וְאָ֣מְרוּ | veameru | and they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| אֵ֣יךְ | ʾeikh | how! | H349 → | |
| אָבַ֔דְתְּ | ʾavadt | you have perished | H6 → | 184 times |
| נוֹשֶׁ֖בֶת | noshevet | O inhabited [city] | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| מִיַּמִּ֑ים | miyamim | from [the] seas | H3220 → | 396 times |
| הָעִ֣יר | hair | O city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַהֻלָּ֗לָה | hahulalah | that <it> was praised | H1984 → | |
| אֲשֶׁר֩ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָיְתָ֨ה | hayetah | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| חֲזָקָ֤ה | chazakah | mighty | H2389 → | 56 times |
| בַיָּם֙ | vaiyam | in the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| הִ֣יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְיֹשְׁבֶ֔יהָ | veyosheveiha | and inhabitants its | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָתְנ֥וּ | natenu | they gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| חִתִּיתָ֖ם | chititam | terror their | H2851 → | 8 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יוֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃ | yosheveiha | inhabitants its | H3427 → | 1079 times |
וְנָשְׂא֨וּand they will take up
venaseuH5375 →656 times
עָלַ֤יִךְon you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
קִינָה֙a lamentation
kinahH7015 →18 times
וְאָ֣מְרוּand they will say
veameruH559 →5305 times
לָ֔ךְto you
lakh
אֵ֣יךְhow!
ʾeikhH349 →
אָבַ֔דְתְּyou have perished
ʾavadtH6 →184 times
נוֹשֶׁ֖בֶתO inhabited [city]
noshevetH3427 →1079 times
מִיַּמִּ֑יםfrom [the] seas
miyamimH3220 →396 times
הָעִ֣ירO city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הַהֻלָּ֗לָהthat <it> was praised
hahulalahH1984 →
אֲשֶׁר֩which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הָיְתָ֨הit was
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
חֲזָקָ֤הmighty
chazakahH2389 →56 times
בַיָּם֙in the sea
vaiyamH3220 →396 times
הִ֣יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
וְיֹשְׁבֶ֔יהָand inhabitants its
veyosheveihaH3427 →1079 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
נָתְנ֥וּthey gave
natenuH5414 →2011 times
חִתִּיתָ֖םterror their
chititamH2851 →8 times
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
יוֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃inhabitants its
yosheveihaH3427 →1079 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
Isaiah 14:12How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:13–17
You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
- Luke 10:18
So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
- Revelation 12:7–10
Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
- Revelation 8:10
Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
- Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Ezekiel 28:13–17
Through
Ezekiel 19:1“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel
it leads to
- Ezekiel 27:2
“Now you, son of man, take up a lament for Tyre.
- Ezekiel 19:14
Fire has gone out from its main branch and devoured its fruit; on it no strong branch remains fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”
- 2 Kings 24:6
And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
- Ezekiel 27:2
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
