Ezekiel 26:4
in Ezekiel 26They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and make her a bare rock.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
KJV
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
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This verse in Ezekiel 26
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus.... Undermining them, or breaking them down with their battering rams: and break down her towers; with axes, Eze 26:9 built upon the walls; erected for the defence of the city, and for watchmen to stand in, to look out from them for the enemy, and observe his motions, as well as for soldiers to fight from: and I will scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock; a bare smooth rock, which has not any surface of earth upon it.
This site's exposition
as the sea brings up its waves
on Ezekiel 26:3-6
The judgment is pictured as the sea Tyre lived by turned against it. Walls and towers fall, and it is made like the top of a rock, a place for the spreading of nets. Keil notes the recognition formula closing the unit, they shall know that I am the Lord.
This site's exposition
make her a bare rock
Tyre's Hebrew name, Tsor, means rock. The oracle turns the name against the city, which will be scraped down to its rock, bare and sun-bleached like a shoreline ledge. Gill notes the wordplay on its name.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 26) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, because Tyre (or Sidon) has said of Jerusalem: Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it is turned to me, I shall be filled, it has become desolate; therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Tyre (or Sidon), and I will bring many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will also scrape her dust from her - I will totally destroy her fortifications, and leave her nothing but a barren rock, as she was before. This cannot refer to the capture of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It flourished long after his time.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשִׁחֲת֞וּ | veshichatu | and they will destroy | H7843 → | 146 times |
| חֹמ֣וֹת | chomot | [the] walls of | H2346 → | 133 times |
| צֹ֗ר | tzor | Tyre | H6865 → | 42 times |
| וְהָֽרְסוּ֙ | veharesu | and they will tear down | H2040 → | 43 times |
| מִגְדָּלֶ֔יהָ | migdaleiha | towers its | H4026 → | 48 times |
| וְסִֽחֵיתִ֥י | vesicheiti | and I will scrape away | H5500 → | |
| עֲפָרָ֖הּ | ʾafarah | dust its | H6083 → | 110 times |
| מִמֶּ֑נָּה | mimenah | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וְנָתַתִּ֥י | venatati | and I will make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אוֹתָ֖הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לִצְחִ֥יחַ | litzchiach | into bareness of | H6706 → | 5 times |
| סָֽלַע׃ | sala' | rock | H5553 → | 58 times |
וְשִׁחֲת֞וּand they will destroy
veshichatuH7843 →146 times
חֹמ֣וֹת[the] walls of
chomotH2346 →133 times
צֹ֗רTyre
tzorH6865 →42 times
וְהָֽרְסוּ֙and they will tear down
veharesuH2040 →43 times
מִגְדָּלֶ֔יהָtowers its
migdaleihaH4026 →48 times
וְסִֽחֵיתִ֥יand I will scrape away
vesicheitiH5500 →
עֲפָרָ֖הּdust its
ʾafarahH6083 →110 times
מִמֶּ֑נָּהfrom it
mimenahH4480 →1188 times
וְנָתַתִּ֥יand I will make
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
אוֹתָ֖הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
לִצְחִ֥יחַinto bareness of
litzchiachH6706 →5 times
סָֽלַע׃rock
sala'H5553 →58 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 23:11The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed.
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:3–4
Tyre has built herself a fortress; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were…
- Zechariah 9:3–4
Through
Amos 1:10So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre to consume its citadels.”
it leads to
- Zechariah 9:4
Behold, the Lord will impoverish her and cast her wealth into the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.
- Zechariah 9:4
Through
Ezekiel 26:12They 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.
it leads to
- Isaiah 23:8
Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are renowned on the earth?
- Amos 5:11
Therefore, 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…
- 2 Chronicles 32:27
Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuable articles.
- Isaiah 23:8
Through
Jeremiah 5:10Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:27
For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
- Hosea 1:9
And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.
- Jeremiah 4:27
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 Prophecies of Ezekiel; 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 and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.