Ezekiel26
World English Bible · Public Domain
1In the eleventh year, in the first of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken! She who was the gateway of the peoples has been returned to me. I will be replenished, now that she is laid waste;’
3therefore the Lord Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
4They will destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
5She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the middle of the sea; for I have spoken it,’ says the Lord Yahweh. ‘She will become plunder for the nations.
6Her daughters who are in the field will be slain with the sword. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’
7“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with chariots, with horsemen, and an army with many people.
8He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will make forts against you, cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you.
9He will set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
10By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city which is broken open.
11He will tread down all your streets with the hoofs of his horses. He will kill your people with the sword. The pillars of your strength will go down to the ground.
12They will make a plunder of your riches and make a prey of your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. They will lay your stones, your timber, and your dust in the middle of the waters.
13I will cause the noise of your songs to cease. The sound of your harps won’t be heard any more.
14I will make you a bare rock. You will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more; for I Yahweh have spoken it,’ says the Lord Yahweh.
15“The Lord Yahweh says to Tyre: ‘Won’t the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made within you?
16Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground, and will tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.
17They will take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, “How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!”
18Now the islands will tremble in the day of your fall. Yes, the islands that are in the sea will be dismayed at your departure.’
19“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep on you, and the great waters cover you,
20then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
21I will make you a terror, and you will no more have any being. Though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 26.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: A prophecy against Tyre. (1-21).
vv1-14
To be secretly pleased with the death or decay of others, when we are likely to get by it; or with their fall, when we may thrive upon it, is a sin that easily besets us, yet is not thought so bad as really it is. But it comes from a selfish, covetous principle, and from that love of the world as our happiness, which the love of God expressly forbids. He often blasts the projects of those who would raise themselves on the ruin of others. The maxims most current in the trading world, are directly opposed to the law of God. But he will show himself against the money-loving, selfish traders, whose hearts, like those of Tyre, are hardened by the love of riches. Men have little cause to glory in things which stir up the envy and rapacity of others, and which are continually shifting from one to another; and in getting, keeping, and spending which, men provoke that God whose wrath turns joyous cities into ruinous heaps.
vv15-21
See how high, how great Tyre had been. See how low Tyre is made. The fall of others should awaken us out of security. Every discovery of the fulfilment of a Scripture prophecy, is like a miracle to confirm our faith. All that is earthly is vanity and vexation. Those who now have the most established prosperity, will soon be out of sight and forgotten.
Key Words
שָׁנֶה: a year (as a revolution of time)
אֶחָד: properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first
חֹדֶשׁ: the new moon; by implication, a month
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
צֹר: Tsor, a place in Palestine
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם: Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine
Cross References
Ezekiel 26Nebuchadnezzar's title 'king of kings' reflects the authority delegated to him by God.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Tyre's mocking 'Aha!' against ruined Jerusalem is the typical language of spiteful enemies.
Supported by JFB
Jeremiah's cup of wrath for Tyre parallels Ezekiel's judgment prophecy.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel later details Nebuchadnezzar's actual thirteen-year arduous siege against Tyre.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The fall of mystical Babylon in Revelation draws heavily on Tyre's lost merchandise.
Supported by JFB
The cessation of songs and harps in judged Tyre prefigures Babylon's quietness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The finality of Tyre's destruction is echoed in the violent throwing down of Babylon.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Identifies Tyre historically as the strong, ancient fortified city near Israel's border.
Supported by JFB
Isaiah's burden against Tyre mirrors the same themes of commercial pride and fall.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel's standard imagery of proud nations brought down to the pit of the underworld.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel's expanded lamentation on the same destruction of Tyre in the sea.
Supported by JFB
Historical confirmation of the captive kings held under Nebuchadnezzar's sovereign rule.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeats and emphasizes the decree of Tyre becoming a bare rock for drying nets.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Describes the terrifying swiftness and power of the Chaldean cavalry.
Supported by Matthew Poole