Lament for Tyre
27
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2 📚“Now, son of man, take up a lament 📖 for Tyre, 3 📚and say to Tyre, “O you who are situated at the entrance to the sea, who are a merchant of the peoples on many islands, Thus says the Lord God:27:3 Ezek 28:2. Pride will lead to shipwreck.⚜
O Tyre, you have said,
‘I am perfect in beauty.’
4 📚Your frontiers are in the heart
of the seas, your builders have perfected
your beauty.
5 📚They made all your planks from fir trees
of Senir.
They brought cedars from Lebanon
to make masts for you.
27:5 Senir was another name for Mount Hermon which was famous for cedar trees.⚜
6 📚They made your oars from
the oaks of Bashan 📖.
The company of the Ashurites
inlaid your deck with ivory,
brought from the coasts of Kittim 📖.
7 📚Fine linen with embroidered work
from Egypt was what you spread
as your sail.
Blue and purple from the coasts
of Elishah 📖 was what covered you.
8 📚The inhabitants of Sidon 📖 and Arvad 📖
were your oarsmen.
Your wise men,
O Tyre, were in you;
they were your pilots.
9 📚The elders of Gebal 📖 and its wise men
were in you to repair your seams.
All the ships of the sea 📖 with their sailors
were in you to trade for
your merchandise.
27:5-9 The city of Tyre is compared to a sailing ship.⚜
10 📚“Men from Persia and Lud
and Phut were in your army,
your warriors.
They hung up shield and
helmet in you;
they brought you glory.
27:10 The city was wealthy enough to hire soldiers from distant places. Lydia was in the land that is today called Turkey. Put is Libya west of Egypt in north Africa.⚜
11 📚The men of Arvad with
your army were all around
on your walls,
and the Gammadites 📖 were
in your towers.
They hung their shields all around
on your walls;
they have made your beauty perfect.
12 📚“Tarshish 📖 was your customer because of the great wealth of goods; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your merchandise.
13 📚“Javan 📖, Tubal, and Meshech 📖 were your customers. They bartered human lives and bronze articles in your market.
14 📚“Those of the house of Togarmah 📖 traded for your goods with horses and horsemen and mules.
15 📚“The men of Dedan were your customers. Many islands took the merchandise from your hand. In payment they brought you ivory tusks and ebony.
16 📚“Syria was your customer because of the many goods you made. They traded for your merchandise with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
17 📚“Judah and the land of Israel were your customers. For your goods they exchanged wheat from Minnith 📖, and pastries 📖, and honey, and oil, and balm.
18 📚“Damascus 📖 was your customer because of your many products and the wealth of your goods, the wine of Helbon 📖, and white wool.
19 📚“Dan also and Javan travelling back and forth traded for your goods. Wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were among your merchandise.
20 📚“Dedan was your customer trading saddle cloths for riding.
21 📚“Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar traded with you in lambs, and rams, and goats; in these they were your customers.
22 📚“The merchants of Sheba and Raamah were your customers. They traded for your goods with the choicest of all spices, and with all kinds of precious stones, and gold.
27:20-22 Refers to areas on the Arabian Peninsula.⚜
23 📚“Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad, were your customers.
27:23 Refers to towns and areas northeast of Israel in what was called Mesopotamia.⚜
24 📚They traded with you in all sorts of things: in blue cloth, and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colours, with knotted cords, which were among your merchandise.
25 📚“The ships of Tarshish were carriers of your merchandise. And you were filled, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
27:12-25 This portion speaks of cities and regions on every side of Tyre, some quite distant. The description shows how important Tyre was as a center for commerce.⚜
26 📚Your oarsmen have taken you
to great waters.
The east wind will break you
in the midst of the seas.
27 📚Your riches, and your goods,
your merchandise, your sailors,
and your pilots, your caulkers,
and the traders in your merchandise,
and all your warriors who are in you
and in all your company
which is in your midst,
will fall into the midst of the seas
on the day of your ruin.
28 📚The shores will shake at the sound
of the cry of your pilots.
27:26-28 Tyre is compared to a ship again. It was built of the finest materials and sailed by the best sailors. But it will be wrecked in the sea and vanish from sight.⚜
29 📚And all who handle the oar,
the sailors, and all the pilots
of the sea,
will come down from their ships.
They will stand on the land,
30 📚And make their voice heard over you,
and cry bitterly, and throw dust
on their heads.
They will wallow in the ashes,
31 📚And shave their heads because
of you, and tie sackcloth around them,
and weep for you with bitterness
of heart and bitter wailing.
32 📚And in their wailing they will take up
a lament for you,
and mourn over you, saying,
‘What city is like Tyre,
like this one destroyed
in the midst of the sea?
33 📚When your wares went out
on the seas, you filled many people,
you enriched the kings of the earth
with your many riches and goods.’
34 📚At the time when you are
broken by the seas in the depths
of the waters your merchandise
and all your company in
your midst will fall.
35 📚All the inhabitants of the islands
will be astonished at you,
and their kings will be terrified,
and their faces will be troubled.
36 📚The merchants among the peoples
will hiss at you.
You will be an object of terror,
and will be no more forever”.
27:29-36 Those who traded with Tyre will lament at her destruction (Ezek 26:15-18). Their lament over Tyre will be really a selfish lament over their own loss, and will be mixed with fear of what is coming on them.⚜