Ezekiel 27:1-11

A. The Ship Prepared for Sailing 27:1-11

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) NOW as for you, son of man, take Up a lamentation over Tyre, (3) and say to Tyre, who dwells beside the entrances of the sea, merchant of the peoples unto many coastlands, Thus says the Lord GOD: O Tyre, you have said, I am perfect in beauty. (4) Your borders are in the heart of the sea, your builders have perfected your beauty. (5) With fir trees from Senir they have constructed all the planks; cedars from Lebanon they have taken to make the most for you. (6) With oaks of Bashan they have fashioned your oars; your deck they made of ivory inlaid in boxwood from the coastlands of Cypress. (7) Of exquisitely embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, which served as your ensign; purple and blue from the coastlands of Elishah was your awning. (8) The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were on board as pilots. (9) The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were on board as repairmen;[393] all the ships of the sea with their sailors were on board in order to barter for your merchandise. (10) Persia, Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war; shield and helmet they hung on you, they enhanced[394] your splendor. (11) The sons of Arvad and your army were upon your walls round about, and the Gammadim were in your towers. They hung their shields upon your walls round about; they perfected your beauty.

[393] Lit., the strengtheners of your breach.

[394] Lit., gave forth.

COMMENTS

In Ezekiel 26:16 f. the princes of the sea take up a lament over the fall of Tyre. Here Ezekiel is told to join them by lifting up[395] a lament. Two phrases describe Tyre, the object of this lament. Tyre is addressed first as she who dwells beside the entrances of the sea. The plural entrances probably refers to the two sections of the harbor which were known respectively as the Sidonian and the Egyptian because of the directions which they faced. The second address to Tyre refers to her as the merchant of the people unto many isles. The far-flung trading colonies of the Phoenician city-states are one of the marvels of ancient history.

[395] This verb is always used in connection with a lamentation because it was uttered in a loud voice.

Tyre was a proud city. She boasted of her perfect beauty (Ezekiel 27:3). The boast was not without foundation. However, such national arrogance was the root of her downfall.

Because of her situation on a Mediterranean island, and because of her sea-faring enterprises, Tyre is likened to a ship which roams the seas. Her borders were in the midst of the sea.[396] The builders had spared nothing to make that ship of state a magnificent vessel (Ezekiel 27:4).

[396] The Assyrians referred to the Tyrians as those who dwelt in the midst of the sea. Prichard, ANET. pp. 296f.

The construction was sound. Planks of fir from Senir (Mt. Hermon, Deuteronomy 3:9), masts of Lebanon Cedar, oars of Bashan[397] oak, the decking material was made of boxwood (from Cyprus) inlaid with ivory (Ezekiel 27:5-6). The sails were of the most costly Egyptian linen embroidered with distinctive colors so as to serve as an ensign for the ship. Her deck awning was of two shades of purple from Elishah.[398]

[397] Bashan was east of Jordan. The region was famous for its oaks (Isaiah 2:13; Zechariah 11:2).

[398] Opinions differ on the location of Elishah. Some argue for a site on Cyprus; others for a Syrian location.

The crew on board the good ship Tyre were also the finest in the world. The rowers hailed from Sidon and the island Arvad a hundred miles north of Sidon; the wisest men of Tyre[399] were at the helm[400] (Ezekiel 27:8); skilled craftsmen from Geba1[401] served as ship-carpenters (KJV, talkers; lit., repairers of the seams). Furthermore, all the navies of the world assisted her in the transference of her cargo (Ezekiel 27:9). The marines on board the ship were mercenaries from distant lands attracted, no doubt, by the handsome wages offered by the wealthy merchants of Tyre. They came from Persia[402] to the east, Lud (Lydia) in Asia Minor, and Put (Punt) on the western coast of the Red Sea, The colorful shields and helmets of these soldiers were hung in awesome array along the sides of the good ship Tyre (Ezekiel 27:10). Add to this the presence of yet other armed personnel the men of Arvad (see on Ezekiel 27:8), and the Gammadim, a people not elsewhere mentioned in the Bible. These soldiers, as well as the army[403] of Tyre itself, would hang their shields on the ship's sides to further enhance the splendor of the vessel.

[399] RSV has corrected the Hebrew text to read Zemer, a city associated with Arvad. Such arbitrary alterations of the text are unnecessary, and unwarranted.
[400] Pilots, lit., rope pullers or sailors.

[401] Gebal (modern Byblos) supplied skilled craftsmen for work on Solomon's Temple (cf. 1 Kings 5:18).

[402] Persia is mentioned here for the first time in the Bible.
[403] Your army (NASB; KJV) is made a proper name in the RSV, Helech which is thought to be Cilicia. Such a rendering involves a change in the vowel points of the word in question.