Ezekiel 27:12

Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches,.... Some understand this of the sea, which is sometimes called Tarshish; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it here: and the

Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

Tarshish; the city or country for the inhabitants; some say Carthaginians, others Tarsus in Cilicia; others with more probability say it is Tartessus, an ancient town on the mouth of the river Baetis; or rather, over against it, in an island, (where Gades, now Cadiz,) a convenient port to export the rich metals that were brought down the Baetis from the country abounding with them, and through which their Baetis ran, and the inhabitants of this Tartessus furnished the Tyrians with them. Spain was full of silver and iron; these were the product of the country. Tin; it is probable they fetched this from some islands over against the own country is most noted for tin and lead, which some say was fetched by the Phoenicians; if so, for aught I see to the contrary, the Tartessians, who were a people before ever the Tyrians came into those parts, might first trade here, and fetch it hence, and carry it to Tyre, the voyage being neither long or dangerous enough between that island and our Cornwall, to render the thing difficult or the conjecture improbable.

Ezekiel 27:12 Tarshish [was] thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all [kind of] riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.Ver. 12. Tarshish,] i.e., The Carthaginians, say some; the citizens of Tarsus, another colony of the Tyrians, say others. They traded in thy fairs.] Heb., In thy derelictions, because they left their commodities behind them, taking others in exchange; for, “ Non omnis fert omnia tellus. ”

(12) Traded in thy fairs.—Tarshish, Tartessus in Spain, was famous in antiquity for the metals enumerated, especially silver. The word for “fairs” occurs only in this chapter (Ezekiel 27:14; Ezekiel 27:16; Ezekiel 27:19; Ezekiel 27:22; Ezekiel 27:33). In the last case it is translated wares, as it should be throughout. The idea of the word is “something left with another in place of something else given in exchange,” in accordance with the habits of ancient commerce, which consisted chiefly in barter. Translate the clause, exchanged for thy wares.Ezekiel 27:12-23 give a general survey of the nations with whom the Tyrians were connected in commerce, omitting those already mentioned in the previous section. To avoid monotony, the prophet also constantly alternates in the use of synonymous words.

Verse 12. Tarshish was thy merchant] After having given an account of the naval and military equipment of this city, he now speaks of the various places and peoples with whom the Tyrians traded, and the different kinds of merchandise imported from those places. By Tarshish some understand the Carthaginians; some think Tartessus, near the straits of Gibraltar, is meant; others, Tharsis in Cilicia. The place was famous for all the useful metals, silver, iron, tin, and lead. All these they might have had from Britain.

12–25. The market of Tyre Several things are to be observed in this passage: 1. The representation is not that Tyre is traded with by the nations, though this is the fact lying under the figures employed. The nations are not customers of Tyre. Tyre neither buys nor sells, nor does she exchange one article for another. The nations are her merchants, who bring to her wares from every land; or they are her dependents, and the merchandise which they bring is a tribute which they render her (Ezekiel 27:15). They are her subjects, ministering to her luxury, bringing wares to her, and enriching her. The counterpart to this idea is that she enriches many peoples by bestowing her wealth upon them (Ezekiel 27:33). 2. The passage is artistic. Two words are employed for “to trade,” “to be a merchant.” The words have little difference of sense and are generally used alternately, e.g. one word in Ezekiel 27:12; Ezekiel 27:15-16; Ezekiel 27:18; Ezekiel 27:21, the other in Ezekiel 27:13; Ezekiel 27:15; Ezekiel 27:17; Ezekiel 27:20; Ezekiel 27:22 seq. Two words also are used in the sense of wares or goods, though hardly differing in meaning. These also are used alternately so as to diversify the phraseology, e.g. the one in Ezekiel 27:12; Ezekiel 27:14; Ezekiel 27:16; Ezekiel 27:18; Ezekiel 27:22, the other in Ezekiel 27:13 (15), 17, 19, with other variants of the same sense. Gesen. attributed various senses to these words, as: 1, traffic, trading, 2, fair, market-place, and 3, gain, wealth. The words do not appear to differ in meaning, and neither of the two probably has any other sense than the general one of wares. 3. Again, the language is diversified by the adoption of a variety of constructions. The word “give,” which receives an extraordinary extension of usage in Ez. and in later Heb. in general (cf. its use in the Apocalypse), is employed in the sense of put, bring, render, &c. That it ever means to “sell” (Ges.) is without evidence. The various constructions employed are seen in Ezekiel 27:12; Ezekiel 27:22 (acc. and prep. b, cf Ezekiel 27:13; Ezekiel 27:17); in Ezekiel 27:16; Ezekiel 27:18 (double prep. b), and in Ezekiel 27:14 (double accus.). These different constructions probably all express the same general meaning. There is much uncertainty in the text, e.g. for “sons of Dedan,” Ezekiel 27:15, LXX. reads, sons of the Rhodians, and for Aram (Syria) Ezekiel 27:16, Syriac reads Edom (so LXX. “man”), in both cases by interchange of the similar letters d and r. Ezekiel 27:19 is certainly out of order, and Ezekiel 27:24 exceedingly obscure. Owing to these obscurities the precise order followed in the enumeration of the nations is involved in some uncertainty. 1. vv, 12–14, the prophet names the nations lying in the widest circle around Tyre, beginning with the furthest west, Tarshish (Spain), and pursuing a line along the north, Javan (Ionia), Tubal (N. of Asia Minor), and Togarmah (Armenia). 2.

The thread broken at Ezekiel 27:8 is taken up, and the various nations are enumerated which traded with Tyre. Ezekiel 27:12 Tarshish - Tartessus in Spain (marginal references). Spain was rich in the metals named.

12. Tarshish was thy merchant — Josephus identifies Tarshish with Tarsus in Cilicia, and this view is still held by reputable Greek scholars, one of whom recently pointed out that from Ramses III to