Ezekiel 26

REVIEW QUESTIONS

List five specific predictions made against Tyre. How was each fulfilled?

Who does Ezekiel name specifically as an agent of Tyre’s destruction?

What damage did Alexander the Great inflict upon Tyre?

Has the prediction about Tyre never being rebuilt been fulfilled literally?

What effect would the fall of Tyre have on her trading allies?

To what does Ezekiel liken Tyre in his allegorical dirge song?

What comparison is made between Daniel and the king of Tyre?

Why did the king of Tyre consider himself deity?

What comparison is made between the king of Tyre and Adam?

Why do some scholars think that the fall of Satan is being described in Ezekiel 28:11-19?

In what sense did the king of Tyre dwell in the garden of God? In what way could he be compared to a cherub?

What was the mountain of the gods in pagan mythology?

What was the bloody fate of Sidon?

In contrast to the destiny of Tyre and Sidon, what did Ezekiel foresee for the people of God?

How did Tyre and Sidon figure in the ministry of Jesus?

Ezekiel 26:1-6

Chapter Thirteen

JUDGMENT ON TYRE AND SIDON 26:1-28:26

The Phoenician seaport cities of Tyre and Sidon next come under the purview of the prophet. Tyre, the more important of the two cities, receives far more attention seventy-six verses as compared to but four verses devoted to Sidon. The lengthy Tyre material is itself divided into four distinct messages. The first two speak of the city itself, the last two of the king of that city. H. L. Ellison has offered the interesting suggestion that Ezekiel saw in the fall of the commercial city of Tyre a picture of the fall of Babylon, a similar commercial metropolis.[379]

[379] Ellison, EMM, p. 100.

I. THE DESTRUCTION OF TYRE 26:1-26

The Tyre material is dated to the eleventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, the same year that Jerusalem fell the final time to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. The month is not stated in the text, but it was likely the sixth month just after the destruction of Jerusalem. In terms of the modern calendar, Jerusalem was captured by the Chaldeans on July 29; the city was destroyed and burned on August 28, 587 B.C.[380] If it was the first day of the sixth month on which the oracles against Tyre were composed, the date would be September 18, 587 B.C.[381]

[380] Finigan, HBC, p. 206,

[381] In the eleventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. New Year’s Day fell on April 23, 587 B.C. See Finigan, Ibid

To appreciate the prophecies regarding Tyre, one needs to be familiar with some of the geography of the place. Tyre is located a mere thirty-five miles as the crow flies from the Sea of Galilee and only a hundred miles or so from Jerusalem. Ancient merchants would traverse this distance by camel in a few days. Tyre was situated in a most advantageous location on the Mediterranean Sea coast. The city possessed two excellent harbors, one on the mainland where a portion of the city was built, and the other on an off-shore island where the main fortress was located. It was this rocky island that gave the city its Hebrew name tsor, rock. The mainland city was connected to the island fortress by a causeway which was built by King Hiram in the tenth century before Christ. The island city helped double the trading capacity of Tyre as well as provide a last refuge for the citizens in time of attack.

The Phoenicians were the merchants of antiquity. Export products included glassware and dyed materials. A beautiful purple dye was made from a shellfish native to the area, Tyre was a prize which conquerors desired above all others. Tyre seems to have suffered less damage than the other states of Syria-Palestine during the Assyrian era, although she had to pay heavy tribute to maintain her commercial freedom. The prediction of Tyre’s destruction can be divided into four paragraphs each introduced by the traditional messenger formula, thus says the Lord GOD.

A. The Reason for and Extent of the Destruction 26:1-6

TRANSLATION

(1) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem: Aha, she who was the door of peoples is broken; it has turned unto me; I shall be filled with the one who has been laid waste. (3) Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up against you many nations, as the sea causes its waves to come up. (4) And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers; and I will scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. (5) She shall become a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it (oracle of the LORD); and she shall be come a spoil for the nations. (6) And her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

The first paragraph of the Tyre oracle is couched in the because. therefore pattern of the previous chapter. Tyre’s offense was that she had gloated over the fall of Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been the gate of the peoples, a major trading center at the intersection of a large number of international trade-routes. The caravan tolls which once filled Jerusalem’s coffers would come to Tyre now that the capital of Judah was laid waste. A bit of greed and selfishness is evidenced in the joyous exclamation, I shall be filled (Ezekiel 26:2). Because of this greed and arrogant pride the God of Israel declared Himself to be an adversary of Tyre (Ezekiel 26:3 a).

Five specific predictions concerning the future of Tyre are contained in Ezekiel 26:3 b - Ezekiel 26:6.

1. Prediction One: Many nations would come against Tyre. Wave after wave of enemy soldiers would storm that place (Ezekiel 26:3). Commencing with the attack of Nebuchadnezzar, Tyre experienced at least five major assaults: Alexander the Great attacked the place in 332 B.C. and succeeded in conquering the city after a siege of seven months. Antigonus besieged Tyre in 314 B.C. and conquered the city after a siege of fifteen months. The Arabs captured the city in A.D. 636 and it was retaken by the Crusaders in A.D. 1124. Finally, the Arabs retook the city in A.D. 1291.

2. Prediction Two: Tyre would be made a bare rock. The proud walls and towers would be broken down (Ezekiel 26:4). Alexander the Great scraped the old mainland site of Tyre clean. With the debris and rubble he built a peninsula out into the sea by means of which he was able to make a land assault on the island fortress.

3. Prediction Three: Fisherman would spread their nets over the site of Tyre (Ezekiel 26:5). The dry rocky island would be a suitable place for such activity. The presence of fish nets implies fisher men. Hence, the prophet is not suggesting that the site of Tyre would be totally abandoned. A small fishing village exists upon the ancient ruins of Tyre today.[382]

[382] Modern Tyre is not the original city, but was built down the coast from the original site.

4. Prediction Four: Tyre would become spoil for the nations (Ezekiel 26:5 b). History records that each successive wave of attackers enriched itself at the expense of Tyre. See also comments on prediction one above.

5. Prediction Five: Satellite towns and villages (her daughters) on the mainland would be slain by the sword, i.e., destroyed by warfare. Nebuchadnezzar took the mainland city of Tyre and the surrounding towns and villages during his campaign in that region.

All of the five blows mentioned above would befall Tyre for two reasons: (1) God had so decreed it in a solemn oracle, and He cannot lie (Ezekiel 26:5); and (2) the God of Israel would thereby be vindicated in the eyes of the Phoenician peoples (Ezekiel 26:6).

Ezekiel 26:7-14

B. The Agents of Destruction 26:7-14

TRANSLATION

(7) For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the north, king of kings, with horses and chariots, horsemen, a company, even much people. (8) He shall slay with the sword your daughters in the field; and be shall make movable towers against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up shields against you. (9) And he shall set his battering rams against your walls, and your towers he shall break down by his axes. (10) Because of the multitude of his horses, their dust shall cover you; at the noise of his horsemen, wheels, and chariots your walls shall shake, when he enters into your gates as men would enter a city through a breach. (11) With the hoofs of his horses he shall tread down all your streets; he shall slay your people with the sword, and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground. (12) And they shall make spoil of your wealth, and confiscate your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and tear down your delightful houses; and they shall put your stones, your timber and your dust in the midst of the water. (13) And I will cause the noise of your songs to cease, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. (14) And I will make you a bare rock; you shall become a place for the spreading of nets, you shall be built no more; for I the LORD have spoken (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

The generalized predictions regarding the fate of Tyre are amplified in Ezekiel 26:7-14. Particular attention is devoted to the role of Nebuchadnezzar. This constitutes the sixth distinct prediction in the Tyre prophecy.

6. Prediction Six Nebuchadnezzar[383] will destroy the mainland city of Tyre.

[383] The name is spelled two ways in the Bible (1) Nebuchadnezzar and (2) Nebuchadrezzar. The latter spelling, which is closer to the actual Babylonian spelling, is used here in the Hebrew text

The Chaldean king is here called king of kings because he had dominion over dozens of vassal kingdoms (cf. Daniel 2:37; Ezra 7:12). Nebuchadnezzar would approach Tyre from the north around the hump of the Fertile Crescent. Armed to the teeth, Nebuchadnezzar’s cavalry, chariotry and innumerable infantry would approach Tyre (Ezekiel 26:7), First, the mainland towns and villages Tyre’s daughters would fall. The attack on the island fortress was to follow the standard siege tactics of that day. Forts or siege towers would be erected to allow the attacking soldiers to be elevated to the level of the wall where they could more easily engage the defenders. Mounds of earth and rubble were heaped up about the city to accomplish the same purpose. Large shields linked together provided protection for the besiegers (Ezekiel 26:8). Battering rams were used to attempt to penetrate the stone walls at which time axe-like swords would be used to destroy other fortifications (Ezekiel 26:9).

In hyperbolic language typical of such battle scenes, Ezekiel paints the picture of the coming conqueror. Clouds of dust generated by the approach of innumerable horses would billow up over the walls. The walls of the city would seem to shake from the pounding hoofs and speeding chariot wheels. The hostile conqueror would enter into the gates of the trembling city as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach, i.e., without resistance (Ezekiel 26:10).

Within the captured city a merciless slaughter would take place. Cavalry units would be dispatched down every street to slay all who might be found there. The sacred and symbolic pillars which had been erected in honor of the national god Melquart[384] would come crashing to the ground (Ezekiel 26:11).

[384] Herodotus makes mention of two such pillars in the city of Tyre.

The destruction of Tyre was not to be accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar alone. Verse three already has alluded to the many nations which would be involved. This suggests that the destruction of Tyre would be spread over the centuries. Nebuchadnezzar did besiege Tyre, and his siege lasted thirteen years (587-574 B.C.).[385] However, while he appears to have conquered the mainland suburbs of Tyre, he was never able to conquer the island fortress. Ezekiel was very much aware that Nebuchadnezzar would not be able to capture the entire city (Ezekiel 29:17-20), and for this reason God would give to him the land of Egypt. Nonetheless, the long struggle exhausted the power and resources of Tyre, and its capitulation in 574 B.C. meant the end of Phoenician national life.[386] During the Persian period Tyre lost its dominating position on the coast to Sidon. She also lost her most important trading colonies. However, Tyre continued to survive as a trading and shipping center throughout the Persian period.

[385] Josephus, Antiquities X. 11,I; Against Apion 1.21. No contemporary record of this siege remains.

[386] Kapelrud, IDB, R-Z, p. 723.

An important shift in pronouns from he to they occurs in Ezekiel 26:12. This is a point not to be overlooked. At this point the prophet begins to describe a second stage of Tyre’s destruction. The first half of Eze 26:12 amplifies a bit prediction four mentioned above; the latter half of the verse expands on prediction two. Ezekiel 26:14 a combines and repeats predictions two and three. The wealth of Tyre would fall into the hands of the enemy. The walls and luxurious houses would be torn down. The stone, timber and even the dust of the place would be pushed into the water of the Mediterranean Sea (Ezekiel 26:12). The joyous sounds of that once vibrant city would be silenced (Ezekiel 26:13). The island fortress would be nothing but a barren rock upon which fishermen would spread their nets.

The allusion in Ezekiel 26:12-14 a is likely to the armies of Alexander the Great. The Macedonia conqueror attacked the city in 332 B.C. He rather easily conquered the mainland city as Nebuchadnezzar had done 250 years before. Alexander utterly demolished the place. Then by means of an imaginative strategy and an amazing engineering feat Alexander accomplished what Nebuchadnezzar had failed to accomplish; he conquered the island fortress. Using the debris from the mainland city he constructed a causeway half a mile long and two hundred feet wide across the straits. For a time the Tyrians resisted heroically, employing fire ships to damage the construction work and flinging pots of burning naphtha, sulphur and red-hot sand by means of catapults. Alexander was forced to quickly assemble a fleet of over three hundred ships to protect the construction crews and blockade the city. After about seven months the young general grew impatient with the entire operation. He finally ordered floating batteries to be constructed upon which rams were mounted. His naval vessels were able thereby to force their way into the two island harbors. His troops quickly scaled the walls and captured the city. Eight thousand citizens of Tyre were slaughtered, thirty thousand were sold into slavery, and later on another occasion two thousand were hanged.[387] The mole which the armies of Alexander built partly from houses and monuments torn down on the mainland, still remains connecting what formerly was an island to the mainland.

[387] Fuller, EB, XXII, 653.

7. Prediction Seven Tyre would never be rebuilt (Ezekiel 26:14 b), Freshwater springs at the site of mainland Tyre would make the spot an ideal site for a modern city. But since the destruction by Alexander the mainland Tyre has never been rebuilt. Several successive cities were built on the site of what formerly was the island fortress of Tyre. Since the days of Alexander this island has become a man-made peninsula. After the Phoenician city of Tyre was conquered by the Moslems it was never rebuilt. The Phoenicians disappeared from history. The insignificant villages built by the Moslems on the site can in no wise be equated with Phoenician Tyre any more than a modern American city could be considered the resurrection of some ancient Indian village which might have once occupied the site. A further consideration is that a city in Bible days was not considered to be built (or rebuilt) until it had walls. A wall-less fishing village could not be considered a resurrection of ancient Tyre.[388]

[388] Hall (WBC, p. 437) feels the prophecy means only that subsequent cities built on the site would lack the greatness of Phoenician Tyre.

Ezekiel 26:15-18

C. The Result of Tyre’s Destruction 26:15-18

TRANSLATION

(15) Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst? (16) Then all the princes of the sea shall go down from upon their thrones, and remove their robes, and strip off their woven garments; they shall clothe themselves with trembling; upon the ground they shall sit, and shall tremble continually, and be appalled over you. (17) And they shall take up for you a lamentation, and they shall say to you: How sad that the one who was populated from the seas, has been destroyed the famous city, which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which caused their terror to be on all its inhabitants. (18) Now shall the islands tremble in the day of your fall; the islands which are in the sea shall be frightened because of your departure.

COMMENTS

A whole network of satellite trading colonies would be affected by the fall of Tyre. The coastal states along the Mediterranean would quake in consternation and dismay at the news of the fall of Tyre and the terrible slaughter which had transpired there (Ezekiel 26:15). Again using prophetic hyperbole, the prophet describes the rulers of these trading partners removing their royal robes and clothing themselves with trembling, i.e., they would take on the disposition and demeanor of mourners. They would sit on the ground trembling, visibly shaken by the news that such a powerful overlord had been destroyed (Ezekiel 26:16).

News of the demise of Tyre would evoke a lament from neighboring princes. How sad it is,[389] they would wail. The most famous and most powerful of all the seafaring people had been destroyed! (Ezekiel 26:17). If Tyre has fallen, who would be next? The shipping communities on the islands and coastlands of the Mediterranean would tremble as they contemplated their own prospects for survival (Ezekiel 26:18).

[389] The Hebrew ech (elsewhere echah) introduces a dirge.

Ezekiel 26:19-21

D. The Doom of Tyre 26:19-21

TRANSLATION

(19) For thus says the Lord GOD: When I shall make you a desolation, like the cities which are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon you, and the great waters shall cover You; (20) then will I bring you down with them that go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, like the places which are desolate from of old, with those who go down to the pit, in order that you may not be inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living. (21) I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you be sought for, you shall never be found again (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

Tyre would become as desolate as an uninhabited city. The sea would wash over the bare rock that once was covered with the palaces of merchant princes (Ezekiel 26:19).[390] The prophet apparently thought of the sinking into the depth of the water as leading to the world of the dead that lay beneath them. Tyre would descend into the nether world the pit the abode of the dead.[391] There she would join the people Of old, the dead of former ages, the inhabitants of other cities left desolate. From the time of its destruction the city would not be re-inhabited. But while Tyre with all its pomp and power would exist only in the spirit world beyond, God would manifest His glory in the land of the living, i.e., in this present world. The everlasting kingdom of God in all of its power and glory would be established (Ezekiel 26:20).

[390] Massive walls about the fortress island kept the water of the sea at bay.

[391] The image may haw been suggested by Isaiah 14:9 where it is used of Babylon.

God would use the destruction of Tyre to bring terror to the hearts of other pompous powers (I will make you a terror).[392] The once proud metropolis would leave no trace of her former glory. Tyre would be in the abode of the dead. No one would be able to find her in the land of the living (Ezekiel 26:21). Two more specific predictions regarding Tyre come to view in the last two verses of chapter 26.

[392] NASB renders, I will bring terrors upon you, which is a possible translation. This translation would raise the question as to whether the terrors referred to what transpired prior to the destruction of Tyre, or after Tyre descended into the pit.

8. Prediction Eight Tyre to be depopulated. You will not be inhabited (Ezekiel 26:20). Again, the prediction applies to Phoenician Tyre, not subsequent villages which may have had the same name or partially occupied the same site. See comments on pre diction seven.

9. Prediction Nine: Tyre would never be found again (Ezekiel 26:21). Does the prophet mean to say that the city would be so destroyed that its very location would be lost? It is difficult to believe that the actual location of the city could be lost when it formerly occupied completely an island. Probably the meaning is that Phoenician Tyre once destroyed would never be found. The glorious and glamorous city would disappear forever.