Ezekiel 27
27
A Funeral Song for Tyre
1Yahweh spoke to me and said, 2“Son of man, sing a funeral song for Tyre. 3Say to Tyre, the city with ports on the Mediterranean Sea, merchant city for many peoples and many islands:
“ ‘Lord Yahweh says to you:
Tyre, you have boasted: # 27:3 See Prov. 16:18; 1 Cor. 10:12.
“I am the most beautiful city in the world!”
4Your frontiers were on the high sea,
and those who built you
made you perfect in beauty.
5As if they were building a ship
they used cypress from Mount Hermon # 27:5 Or “Juniper [fir tree] from Senir.” Senir is the Amorite name for Mount Hermon (see Deut. 3:9). In Ezek. 27:5–7 God uses the metaphor of a ship to describe Tyre. The Grecian juniper tree is known to grow to a height of over sixty feet (eighteen meters).
for all your boards,
and a tall cedar from Lebanon
to make a mast to stand above you.
6They made your oars
from oaks of Bashan,
and made you a fine deck with pines
they took from the coasts of Cyprus,
and they decorated it with ivory.
7Your sails and banners were of colorful
embroidered linen from Egypt.
Your deck awnings were made from
the finest purple and scarlet cloth from Cyprus. # 27:7 Or “the coasts of Elishah,” a city on the island of Cyprus.
8Your oarsmen were rulers # 27:8 As translated from the Septuagint. In vv. 8–11, God lists those who worked on the “ship” of Tyre and describes the crew and those who repaired it. from the cities of Sidon and Arvad,
and your own seasoned men were your sailors.
9The elders and craftsmen of Byblos # 27:9 Or “Gebal,” better known as Byblos, a town about 90 miles (144 kilometers) north of Tyre.
were those who caulked your seams.
“ ‘Ships and sailors the world over came to trade with you. 10Your army was composed of warriors from Persia, # 27:10 This is the first mention of Persia in the Bible. The ancient Persian people lived in the land known today as Iran. Lud, # 27:10 Or “Lydia,” the western part of modern-day Turkey. and Libya. # 27:10 Or “Put,” identified as modern-day Libya. By hanging their weapons on your deck, # 27:10 Soldiers who traveled by ship in that day would hang their helmets and shields on the sides of the ship. In the sunlight the dozens of shiny shields and helmets would have looked impressive. they displayed your splendor. 11Soldiers from Arvad # 27:11 Arvad means “den of thieves.” Arvad was an island renowned for its seamen. and Helech manned your walls all around. Brave warriors # 27:11 Or “men of Gamad.” Although many scholars see this as a reference to a town in Syria, the Hebrew word gamad means “brave warrior.” manned your watchtowers, hanging their shields all around your walls to make your beauty complete.’ ”
Tyre’s Former Influence
12“ ‘The people of Tarshish # 27:12 Tarshish was a trading colony on the west coast of Spain. The influence of Tyre was great, for Tarshish was almost twenty-five hundred miles (four thousand kilometers) from Tyre. Tarshish at that time was considered at the edge of the known world (see Jonah 1:3). There are about twenty countries and lands mentioned in Ezek. 27:12–25 that traded with Tyre. The countries range from the western end of the Mediterranean Sea to the northern tip of Mesopotamia and the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. This impressive list demonstrates how important and influential Tyre and her worldwide trade were. traded with you because of your abundant resources of every kind. They imported your products and exported silver, iron, tin, and lead. 13The Greeks # 27:13 Or “Javan,” the word for “Ionia” or “Greece.” It is the ancestral branch of the Greek people. along with nations of Tubal # 27:13 Tubal means “brought forth.” In contemporary scholarship Tubal is considered to be Tabal, an Anatolian state and region north of the Black Sea, identified in Assyrian sources. There is a city in Russia named “Tubolsk.” and Meshech # 27:13 Meshech means “drawing out.” Meshech was the ancestor of a people identified by Assyrian records as the “Muscu” and by Josephus as the Cappadocian “Mosocheni” (or “Mushki,” possibly Moscow). traded with you. They sold you slaves # 27:13 Or “They traded with the soul of man.” They were human traffickers. and metal utensils. 14The people of Beth Togarmah # 27:14 Beth Togarmah likely refers to the people of Turkey, although some scholars identify Beth Togarmah with Armenia, which is known for horse breeding. traded for your goods, your war horses and work horses and mules. 15The people of Rhodes # 27:15 Or “Dedan,” an oasis in the Arabian desert. Rhodes is a Greek island and more easily fits as a sea trading partner with Tyre. The Septuagint is “Rhodes.” traded with you; many coastal lands were your special customers and paid you in ivory tusks and ebony wood. # 27:15 The Targum and the Jewish sage Rashi interpret the Hebrew word used here as “peacocks.” 16Edom # 27:16 Or “Aram [Syria].” traded with you emeralds, purple cloth, embroidered work and fine linen, coral and rubies for your many fine manufactured goods. 17Judah and the land of Israel also paid for your goods with the finest millet, # 27:17 Or “wheat from Minnith,” a region in Ammon recognized for its strain of wheat. See also Judg. 11:33. spices, # 27:17 The meaning of this Hebrew term panag—a hapax legomenon—is unknown. But the context suggests it is some kind of food, possibly a general term for “spices.” honey, olive oil, and balm. 18Damascus traded with you, for quantities of your abundant resources of every kind, furnishing you with wine from Helbon # 27:18 Helbon is a Syrian town (present day Chalbum) located about ten miles (sixteen kilometers) north of Damascus, famous for high-quality wine. and unbleached wool, # 27:18 Or “wool from Zahar.” Since the location of Zahar is unknown, some etymologists believe it is a reference to the color of light yellow, thus “unbleached wool.” 19casks of wine from Izalla, # 27:19 The Hebrew text is uncertain. It reads literally “Vedan [or Dan] and Javan from Uzal.” It is somewhat strange to link Dan in northern Israel and Javan (Greece) with Uzal, a region in southern Arabia. The Hebrew word vedan is related to an Akkadian word for “barrel” or “cask” for storing wine. Izalla is a city in northeast Syria, near the upper Tigris River. polished iron, cassia and calamus # 27:19 Cassia and calamus (or “cane”) are spice plants found in northern India and China. in exchange for your goods. 20Dedan # 27:20 Dedan may be identified as the modern-day oasis of Al-’Ula in northern Arabia or possibly Kuwait. traded with you in saddle blankets. # 27:20 Or literally “clothes of freedom.” 21Arabia and all the sheikhs of Kedar # 27:21 Kedar was one of the sons of Ishmael (see Gen. 25:13), whose descendants lived as nomadic tribes in the northern Arabian Desert. were your clients, # 27:21 Or literally “traders of your hand,” a possible phrase to describe them as Tyre’s agents who acted on their behalf. selling sheep and goats to you. 22Businessmen of Sheba # 27:22 Sheba was a kingdom in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula. See 1 Kings 10:1. and Raamah # 27:22 Raamah was possibly the capital city of Sheba. traded with you the finest spices, precious stones, and gold. 23Haran, # 27:23 Haran was an Assyrian city about 310 miles (498 kilometers) from Tyre. Haran was the place from which Abraham migrated to Canaan (see Gen. 12:4). Canneh, # 27:23 Canneh was an Assyrian trade center of uncertain location. and Eden, # 27:23 This is not the “garden of Eden” but a Syrian city-state called Beth Eden located west of Haran. the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, # 27:23 Asshur was the capital city of Assyria on the Tigris River almost five hundred miles (over eight hundred kilometers) from Tyre. and Chilmad # 27:23 Chilmad was an Assyrian city of unknown location. This chapter lists thirty-six nations or people groups that traded with Tyre. were your trading partners. 24In your marketplace they sold you gorgeous embroidered clothing, purple cloaks, multi-colored carpets, and well-made cords for your merchandise.’ ”
Tyre, the Mistress of the Mediterranean
25“ ‘Heavily loaded Spanish ships # 27:25 Or “Ships of Tarshish [from Spain],” a phrase that came to mean large, seagoing cargo vessels.
carried your wares in the heart of the seas.
26Your oarsmen rowed you
out to the open sea.
Stormy east winds wrecked you
and sent you to the bottom of the sea.
27On the day of your shipwreck,
your riches, your goods, your cargo,
your seamen, your sailors,
your caulkers, your dealers,
all the warriors you carry,
and all the passengers who are aboard
will sink into the heart of the sea!
28When they hear the shouts of your drowning sailors,
the people on shore will tremble with fear. # 27:28 Or “the waves will surge.” The Hebrew is uncertain.
29All the oarsmen will abandon ship;
the seamen and sailors will come ashore.
30They will wail aloud over you
and weep bitterly.
They will throw dust on their heads in mourning
and lie in ashes.
31They will shave their heads in sorrow for you
and dress themselves in sackcloth.
They will weep bitterly for you, Tyre,
with heartfelt sorrow over your fall.
32Grieving, they will chant a funeral song for you,
and wail with lament over you, saying:
“Who is like Tyre,
like a tower surrounded by the sea?” # 27:32 Or “now silent in the midst of the sea.” The Hebrew is uncertain.
33When you exported your goods
to satisfy so many peoples
with the abundance of your wealth and wares
you enriched the kings of the earth.
34Now you are broken to pieces by the waves;
you lie at the bottom of the sea.
Your cargo and all your crew
have foundered with you.
35Those who dwell on the coast and the islands
are stunned at your fate.
Horror is written on the faces of their kings,
and their hair stands on end.
36Your trading partners hiss at you in scorn,
for you have come to a dreadful end.
You are gone forever, never to return!’ ” # 27:36 The kingdom of Tyre can be compared to Babylon, the harlot of Rev. 17–18. Tyre enriched the kingdoms of the world with her wealth and merchandise (see Ezek. 27:33). Those who traded with her bought and sold, exemplifying the ones who will receive the mark of the beast (see Rev. 13:13–18) and reminding us of Jesus, who cleansed God’s temple, throwing out all those who bought and sold.
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Ezekiel 27: TPT
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