Ezekiel 27:25
in Ezekiel 27The ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise. And you were filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.
KJV
The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
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This verse in Ezekiel 27
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 25) And you were filled, and greatly glorified (or burdened) in the heart of the sea. Nothing, he says, was lacking to you concerning the riches of the islands. However, this glorification was a burden for the possessor, for you cannot bear riches in moderation, even though poverty often serves as a temptation (Prov. 30). Thus, Solomon asks for only what is necessary; he equally detests wealth and poverty, so that pride does not creep in with the former and impatience and falsehood with the latter.
This site's exposition
Haran, Canneh, and Eden
on Ezekiel 27:23-25
The list turns from goods to acclaim: the ships of Tarshish did sing of thee. This is the chapter's high point, the ship fully built, fully crewed, fully laden and fully praised. Keil reads the placement deliberately, the fullest description of Tyre's glory set beside the account of its sinking.
This site's exposition
The ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise
Ships of Tarshish came to mean the largest ocean going merchant ships, whatever their port. Tarshish itself is often placed in southern Spain. The heavy cargo sets up the next verse, where the loaded ship founders.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 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
); thou wast admired and cried up by all the nations that had dealings with thee; for thou wast replenished in wealth and number of people, wast beautified, and made very glorious, in the midst of the seas. Those that grow very rich are cried up as very glorious; for riches are glorious things in the eyes of carnal people, Gen. xxxi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in market,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Did sing of thee - Or, were thy bulwarks, i. e., bulwarks of thy traffic. Others render it: “were thy caravans,” thy merchandise.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
sing of thee--personification; thy great merchant ships were palpable proofs of thy greatness. Others translate from a different Hebrew root, "were thy (mercantile) travellers." FAIRBAIRN translates, "Were thy walls." But the parallelism to "thou wast glorious" favors English Version, "sing of thee."
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The ships of Tarshish - The ships of Tharsis, in Cilicia, were the chief of those which traded with thee.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֳנִיּ֣וֹת | ʾoniyot | [the] ships of | H591 → | 31 times |
| תַּרְשִׁ֔ישׁ | tarshish | Tarshish | H8659 → | 28 times |
| שָׁרוֹתַ֖יִךְ | sharotayikh | [were] travelers your | H7788 → | |
| מַעֲרָבֵ֑ךְ | maaravekh | merchandise your | H4627 → | 9 times |
| וַתִּמָּלְאִ֧י | vatimali | and you were filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| וַֽתִּכְבְּדִ֛י | vatikhbedi | and you were honored | H3513 → | 113 times |
| מְאֹ֖ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| בְּלֵ֥ב־ | belev | in [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יַמִּֽים׃ | yamim | [the] seas | H3220 → | 396 times |
אֳנִיּ֣וֹת[the] ships of
ʾoniyotH591 →31 times
תַּרְשִׁ֔ישׁTarshish
tarshishH8659 →28 times
שָׁרוֹתַ֖יִךְ[were] travelers your
sharotayikhH7788 →
מַעֲרָבֵ֑ךְmerchandise your
maaravekhH4627 →9 times
וַתִּמָּלְאִ֧יand you were filled
vatimaliH4390 →249 times
וַֽתִּכְבְּדִ֛יand you were honored
vatikhbediH3513 →113 times
מְאֹ֖דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
בְּלֵ֥ב־in [the] heart of
belevH3820 →595 times
יַמִּֽים׃[the] seas
yamimH3220 →396 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 60:9Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:16
against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 55:5
Surely you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, has bestowed glory…
- Isaiah 2:16
Through
1 Kings 10:22For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:48
Jehoshaphat built ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 20:36–37
They agreed to make ships to go to Tarshish, and these were built in Ezion-geber.
- 1 Kings 22:48
Through
Isaiah 2:16against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 10:22
For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 10:22
Through
Isaiah 23:14Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor has been destroyed!
it leads to
- Isaiah 23:1
This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 23:1
Through
Psalms 48:7With a wind from the east You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 18:17
I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
- Ezekiel 27:25–26
The ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise. And you were filled with heavy cargo in the heart of the sea.
- Jeremiah 18:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.