Ezekiel 27
PATThe same subject is continued, where the prophet, setting • forth the great trade and riches of Tyre, foretells the • irrecoverable fall thereof. Digitiz&d by Microsoft ® CHAP. XXVII.] UPON ezekiel; country in Arabia, often mentioned in Scripture, which received its name from Kedar, Ishmaers son, who settled there. (Gen. xxv. 13.)
Ezekiel 27:2
AAKEup a lamentation for Tyrus. This alludes to the mournful ditties used at funerals, wherein the praficce, or mourning women, recounted every thing that was valuable or praiseworthy belonging to the deceased, and then lamented his loss. (See the notes upon Jer. ix.17, 18.) In like manner, those that traded with Tyre should mourn over her, and bewail the loss of her riches and greatness. (Compare xxvi. 16, 17. and see ver. 32.) & AY to the prince ofTyrus.] Whose name w T as Ithobalus, according to the Phoenician annals, extracts out of which may be seen in Josephus, lib. i. contr.‘Appion, p. 1046.; I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas.] Some princes have been so extravagant as’ to’affect Divine honours: this seems to have been the terriper of this vain man. The words are an insolent boast of self-sufficiency, as if he had said, I fear none, nor stand in need of any: I am seated in a place of impregnable strength: the seas surround me, that no enemy can assault me. So they represent the excessive pride and carnal security of this prince, who trusted in his own strength, and forgot his de-
Ezekiel 27:3
Thou that art situate at the entry of the sea. A sea-port, fitted by situation for carrying on trade with many countries. (See Isa. xxiii. 1.) Thou hast smd, I am of perfect beauty.] Thou hast said in the pride of thy heart, (see xxviii. 2.) The strength of my navy and fortresses are everyway complete and beautiful: (see ver. 4. 11.) and I am furnished with all accommodations that can make me considerable in the eyes of the world. (See ver. 10, 11. and xxviii. 12.)
Ezekiel 27:4
Tliy borders are in the midst of the seas.*. Taking the words in a strict sense, they are a description of New Tyre, which stood in an island. (Compare xxvi*. 5.) The Tyrians are called theinhabiters of the island, Isa. xxiii. 2. But in the Hebrew phrase all places are called islands which lie upon the sea-coast. (See the note on Isa. xi. 11.) Tliy builders have perfected thy beauty.] The following verses shew, that the words are chiefly to be understood of the builders of their ships, wherein the chief strength and glory of the Tyrians was placed.
Ezekiel 27:5
They have made all thy ship-boards of fir-trees from Slienir. The decks of thy ships were made of fir fetched from Mount Hermon, called anciently Shcnir. (See Deut. iii. 9.)
Ezekiel 27:6
The company of the Ashurites have made thy benches’of ivory. The Assyrians have made the seats for the rowers of ivory, in a very costly manner. This is the sense of the verse, if we follow the common reading: but Bochart, not without reason, supposes, that the word bath-ashurim is pointed wrong, and should be read bith-ashurim, and then the sentence must be translated, They have made thy seats of ivory enclosed in box, the expression being parallel to that of Virgil, iEn. x. r Quale per artcm Inclusum buxo aut Orycia terebintho Lucet cbur." This sense the Chaldee follows. Brought out of the isles of Chittim.] The isles of Chittim are the countries lying upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jer! ii. 10.)
Ezekiel 27:7
Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest out for thy sail. Fine linen was one of the principal commodities of Egypt: (see 1 Kings x. 28. Prov. vii. 16. Isa. xix. 9.) and was a habit used by persons of the best quality: (see Gen. xli. 42. Esther viii. 15.) which shews to what an excess of vanity the Tyrians were come, to use such costly manufactures for sails to their ships. Suetonius, in his life of Caligula, cap. 37. reckons this among several instances of that emperors extravagance, that he furnished his pleasure-boats with costly sails, and other expensive ornaments. Blue and purple from the isles ofElisha was that which covered thee.] Blue and purple are elsewhere reckoned among those colours which set off the richest attire. (See Exod. xxv. 4. Jer. x. 9.) The common clothing of the Tyrians was of these kinds, which were brought from tho islands of the Egean Sea, particularly Coos, famed for purple among heathen authors. Elisha denotes the countries upon the coast of Greece; a part of Peloponnesus retains the name of Elis among the Greek writers.
Ezekiel 27:8
The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners, &c. Thou madest use of the people of other cities and countries, to undergo the servile’office of being mariners or rowers, whilst thy own citizens pretended to the skill of steering thy ships, and professed the art of being pilots. Zidon was a famous sea-port town, the mother of Tyre; (see the note on Isa. xxiii. 12.) and Arvad, the same with Arpad or Arphad, (2 Kings xvii. 3t3. Isa. x. 9. Jer. xlix. 23.) called Aradus by the Greek and Latin authors, was an island and town in the neighbourhood of Tyre.
Ezekiel 27:9
The ancients of Gebal were thy calkers. Thou employedst the’inhabitants of Gebal for calking thy ships, as being remarkably skilfulin that trade: Gebal was a province of Phoenicia near Tyre. (See Psal. lxxxiii. 8. 1 Kings v. 18.) The LXX. interpreters suppose it the same with the city Byblos, with whom agree Eusebius and St. Jerome, de Locis Hebraicis. So the Septuagint render the word in the forementioned text, 1 Kings v. 18. Dr. Grabe, indeed, does there, by way of emendation, read TtfiXtoi in the text, and place B?j3Xcoc, the reading of the Alexandrian MS. in the margin: but that learned person did not then remember, that that very word was translated in the same manner in this place of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 27:10
Tliey of Persia, ofLtid, and Phut. Thy citizens being all given to trading, thou madest use of foreign soldiers for thine army when thy city was besieged. * Lud and Phut are two nations elsewhere mentioned together. (See xxx. 5. Jer. xlvi. 9.) Our interpreters understand by them in these two places, the people of Lybia and Lydia. But Phut and Lubim being mentioned as distinct people, Na^ hum iii. 9. Phut probably signifies some part of Africa near Egypt; and Lud, or Ludim, the Abyssines. These people, though Africans, are joined with the Persians, xxxviii. 5. Tliey hanged up the shield and helmet in thee.] In thy garrisons, which they kept in time of peace. Syria was thy merchant, &c] The Syrians imported into thy haven precious stones, and all sorts of curious apparel, in lieu of which they carried abroad the wares of thy own making.
Ezekiel 27:11
The men of Arvad (see ver. 8.) were with thine army upon the walls round about. They defended thy walls when they were assaulted by the king of Babylon’s army. (See the note upon xxvi. 8, 9.) TJie,Gammadims were in thy towers.] It is very uncertain what people are here meant by this name. Our learned Mr. Fuller supposes them people of Phoenicia. (See his Miscellanies, lib. vi. cap. 3.) Ludolphus conjectures they were Africans, in his Comment, in Histor. ^Ethiop. lib. i. cap. 22. The Chaldee paraphrase takes them to be Cappadocians. The Vulgar Latin renders the word Pygmies; but if we should grant there were such a people, as Ludol-, phus takes a great deal of pains to prove there were, yet they would not be fit to make use of for soldiers.— Gammadims: Dr. Spencer thinks they were images of the tutelar gods, like the lares among the Romans; and were not above a cubit in length. (See his additions to the books de Lcgib. Hebraicis.) Microsoft® [chap. XXVII. Tliey have made thy beauty perfect.] See ver. 3.
Ezekiel 27:12
Tarshish was thy merchant. Tarshish probably signifies a port of Spain, called by the Greek and Latin authors Tartessus, situate not far from the place where Cadiz now stands; famous of old for Hercules’s pillars, being the utmost boundary of the ancient navigation. It comes from thence to signify any “merchant-adventurers who traded in the Mediterranean Sea. (Sec the note upon Isa. ii. 1G.) The commodities here mentioned, which these merchants traded in, being the product of Spain, confirms this exposition.
Ezekiel 27:13
Javan, Tubal, aud Meshech, were thy merchants. By Javan is to be understood Greece, in which sense Alexander is styled king of Javan or Greece, (Dan. viii. 21.) So the LXX. translate it here, and in that place of Daniel. And all Greece, except Peloponnesus, was anciently called Jonia. Tubal and Meshech are names usually joined together in Scripture. Bochart supposes them to be the same with those people afterward called Moschi and Tibareni, whose habitation was near the Euxine Sea. They traded in the persons of men.] In buying and selling slaves in the markets. The Hebrew reads, Jn the souls of men; the word nephesh, soul, sometimes signifies a slave. (Compare Numb. xxx. 35. 1 Chron. v. 21. Rev. xviii. 13.) In which sense some understand the word, Gen. xii. 15. And vessels of brass in thy markets.]‘Critics observe that the word nehosheth, commonly translated brass, does likewise signify steel; and so it is rendered by our interpreters, Psal. xviii. 34. a bow of steel is broken by my arms. And we may very well understand it so here; for the Chalybes, a people so called from their steel manufactures, lived near Pontus, in the neighbourhood of the Moschi and TibaTeni; for which reasons steel is called the northern iron, Jer. xv. 12.
Ezekiel 27:14
-Tliey of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs. By Togarmah, Bochart understands Cappadocia; the LXX. read the word Oopyafia, (Gen. x. 14.) which comes near in sound to Trogma, or Trocma, a part of Cappadocia.
Ezekiel 27:15
The men of Dedan were thy merchants. The same learned person distinguisheth this Dedan from that mentioned ver. 20. This latter was of Abraham’s posterity, whereas Dedan here spoken of was derived iYorri that Dedan mentioned Gen. x. 7. the son of Raamah, or Rhegma. The posterity of this Dedan is probably placed near the Persian Gulf, where there was a city called afterward Ithegma; and so is fitly joined with many islands or countries lying upon the sea-coast, which are usually called islands, in the Hebrew phrase. (See the note on Isa. xi! 11.) Many isles were the merchandise of thy hands, &c] Those countries exported thy manufactures, the ivares of thy making, as they are called in the following verse; and, by w’ay of return for thein, brought thee in ivory, and other rarities from India, whither they traded. They brought ihese for a present, says our translation, or rather byway of price or return for the commodities exported. The noun eshear commonly signifies a present or gift, but it is near in sound to the word sacar, that signifies a price or reward; and words of such near affinity are often used in a promiscuous sense. (See the note upon Jer. xxiii. 39. xx*. 37. xxix. 7. and xxxvi. 15. of this prophecy.)
Ezekiel 27:17
They traded in thy market wheat of Minith, &c. These were the commodities which the Jews imported to Tyre, chiefly the necessary provisions for food; the Tyrians having none of their own growth, the Jews supplied them therewith from their own, or the neighbouring countries. (See 1 Kings v. 9. 11. Ezra iii. 7. Acts xii, 20.) Wheat of Minith.] This was a place belonging to the Ammonites, (see Judg. xi. 33.) noted for excellent wheat, great quantities of which the. Jews brought to Tyre. • With Pannag.] A word never elsewhere to be found; supposed by some to be the name of a place; by others more probably taken for some rich ointment or gum. And balm.] For which Gilead w f as famous. (See Jer. viii., 22.) There were balsam-trees about Jericho too, which Josephus describes, Antiq. lib. iv. cap. 6V aud do Bello Jud. lib. v. cap. 4. though some doubt whether that balsam were the same with the balm of Gilead.
Ezekiel 27:18
In the wine ofHelbon. Helbon is supposed the same part of Syria which is called Chalybonitis by Ptolemy. The same place which is now called Aleppo. And white wool.] The word tsachar is never met with but here, and Judg. v. 10. where our translation reads white asses. Bochart explains the word here to signify wool of a bright purple colour, from the Arabic use of it. So purpureus in Latin is used for a bright colour in Virgil, iEn. i. “Lumenque juventoe purpureum.” The LXX. and Chaldee render it wool from Miletus, a place famous for that commodity. The wool was died purple at Tyre, as appears from Virgil, Georg. lib. iii. Quamvis Milesia magno Vellera mutentur, Tyrios incoctarubores/’
Ezekiel 27:19
Dan also and Javan, going to and fro, &c. By Dan St. Jerome understands the town which w r as afterward, called Caesarea Philippi, belonging to the tribe of Dan, which was near Tyre; whereas Javan, which likewise traded with Tyre, lay farther off. This is the sense of the words, if we.follow the common translation; but Bochart thinks the words might be better translated, Dan also and Javan coming from XJzal occupied in thy fairs; to distinguish this Javan, which he supposes to be in the southern part of Arabia, from Greece, more commonly called by that name. (See ver. 13.) In conformity to this interpretation, the copies of the LXX. which we have now, read fromAsel; though St. Jerome informs us, that the former part of the verse was wanting in the Septuagint, and supplied from Theodotion’s translation.,. Bright iron [i. e. steel] and calamus were in thy market.] Bochart confirms the foregoing interpretation from hence, that those of Javan are said to deal in aromatic gums, which are known not to grow in Greece, but in Arabia…
Ezekiel 27:20
Dedan was thy merchant. This is probably to be understood of the posterity of that Dedan, who w: as. Abraham’s grandson. (See ver. 15. and xxv. 13.),.,,
Ezekiel 27:21
Arabia, and all the princes ofKedar, they occti-. pied with thee. The Hebrew reads, They were the merchants of thy hands; i. e. they took ofF thy manufactures (see ver. 15.) in exchange for cattle, in which their substance did chiefly consist, (See Isa. lx. 7.) Kcdar is a
Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Slieba and Raamah. These were people of Arabia Felix, dwelling near the Persian Gulf. (See ver. 15. and xxiii. 42.) They traded in the rich products of their own country, which were spices, precious stones, and gold. (Compare 1 Kings x. 2. 11. Psal. lxxii. 15. Isa. lx. 6.) Bochart places Ophir, so famous for gold, in Arabia Felix. (See his Phaleg. lib. xi. cap. 27.),
Ezekiel 27:23
Haran, and Canneh, and Eden. Haran is the place where Abraham dwelt when he came out from Ur of the Chaldees;(Gen. xi. 31.) called Charrae by the Romans, and noted for the defeat of Crassus. Canneh some suppose to be the same place that is called Calneh, Amos vi. 2. or Calno, Isa. x. 9. a city near Euphrates. Others take it for Ctesiphon, a noted city situate upon the river Tigris. Eden is joined -with Haran, 2 Kings xix. 12. as it is here. Huetius supposes Paradise was called the garden of Eden, from the name, of the country, where it was placed, which was where the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates meet. (See his tract dc situ Paradisi, cap. 2. n.7.) The merchants of Sheba.] There were two Shebas, as* there. were two Dedans; one descended from Raamah, (Gen. x. 7.) the other from Jockshan, Abraham’s son^ (Gen. xxv. 3.) As the twenty-second verse is explained of the former, so the latter may be.understood here: they were both inhabitants of Arabia… - Chilmad.] Both* the Chaldee and LXX. explain this by Carraania.
Ezekiel 27:24
In chests of rich apparel. The word, in the original translated chests, is ginge, which is elsewhere rendered treasuries. (See 1 Chron. xxviii. 11. Esther iii. 0.) From which word the Latin gaza is derived. « Bound with cords, and made of cedar.] Carefully packed up in chests of cedar, to give these clothes a fine scent, and preserve them from putrefaction. i.
Ezekiel 27:25
Tlie ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market. Ships of Tarshish signify sometimes in Scripture any trading or merchant ships. (See the note on Isa. ii. 1G.) And here I take it in this general sense: the prophet having already reckoned up the principal, countries which traded with Tyre, now adds, in comprehensive terms, that all merchant-adventurers sung or spake great things of her riches, or as the word sharpth may be rendered, They ruled or governed in thy markets. * <. * ■ * In the midst of the seas.] See ver. 4. *’.
Ezekiel 27:26
Tliy rowers have brought thee into great waters. The prophet compares the condition of Tyre besieged by the enemy, to’a ship overset by the wipds, and just ready to sink under water. (See the like comparison, Isa. xxxiii. 23.) Great numbers are sometimes signified by great waters. (See Psal. xviii. 16. cxiiv. 7. Jer. Ii. 42.)’.;’.’, The east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.] As the violence of the east wind occasions many shipwrecks in the sea; (see Psal. xlviii. 7.) so the Chaldean array, compared elsewhere to an east wind, shall ruin thy strength and glory, and leave thee like a wreck cast upon the shore. (Compare xvii. 10. xix. 12.); •. j i
Ezekiel 27:27
Shall fall into the midst of the seas. Shall be as utterly ruined and destroyed, as if they were sunk in a shipwreck: (sec xxvi. 5. 14. 21.) or shall be killed in a sea-fight, while they defend the city/ (See the following verse, and xxix. 8.) * * Ver. 281 Thesubnrbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.’] The cry of thy wounded seamen shall make the inhabitants of the suburbs shake for fear, (xxvi. 15.)
Ezekiel 27:29
All that handle the oar — shall come down from their ships, &c. Seafaring men finding no encouragement to follow their employment, now thy traffic is* destroyed,- shall lay aside their trade, and mourn over thee. (Compare xxvi. 16.) ■Ver. 30. TJiey shall cause their voice to be heard against thee.] Or rather, over thee, as the LXX. and Vulgar Latin’ translate it: in which sense the preposition nal is taken where persons are said to mourn over the dead, or the calamitous. (See xxviii. 12. 1 Kings xiii. 30. Hos. x. 5;)” • And shall cast dust upon their heads, they shall wallotv themselves in the ashes.] Expressions of the deepest mourn-’ ihg and lamentation. (See 1 Sam. iv. 12. Job ii. 12. Jer, vi. 26. llev. xviii. 19.) •.
Ezekiel 27:31
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee. Another expression of public sorrow. (See Jer. xlvii. 5. Micah i. 16.) Ver’. 32. And in their wailing they shall takeup a lamentationfor thee, Sic.] The words allude to the public lament-’ ationsjnade at funerals. (See the notes upon Jer. ix. 17, 18. xxii. 18. and compare Rev. xviii. 18.)
Ezekiel 27:34
JVJien thou shall be broken by the seas, in the depth of the vjaters. See ver. 26, 27. xxvi. 19. xxix. 8.
Ezekiel 27:35
All the merchants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, &c. Sec xxvi. 15, 16., — •';
Ezekiel 27:36
Tliy merchants among the people shall hiss at * thee.* By way of insulting and derision: (see 1 Kings ix. 8.)’ as men are apt to despise those in adversity, whom they * courted and respected in. prosperity. But the Chaldee. paraphrase renders it, They shall be astonished: and this * sense. agrees better with the lamentations of the seafaring men mentioned in the foregoing verses. 1# TJiou shall be a terror, &c] See xxvi. 21. chap; xxviii. ARGUMENT.. In this chapter the prophet denounces God’s judgments against the king of Tyre, for-his pride and insolence: he likewise foretells the destruction of Zidon, and that the -judgments threatened upon those and other heathen countries, Ammon, Moab, &c. shall in the end turn’to the benefit of God’s people.