The riches and commerce of Tyre, 1-25. The great and irrecoverable fall thereof, 26-36.
1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "Now, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre,
3 And say to Tyre, who is situated at the entry of the sea, who is a merchant of the people for many coastlands, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"O Tyre, you have said,/
'I am of perfect beauty.'
4 Your borders are in the midst of the seas./
Your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They have made all your ship-boards/
of fir-trees of Senir./
They have taken cedars from Lebanon/
to make masts for you.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan/
they have made your oars./
The company of the Ashurites have made your benches of ivory,/
brought out of the coastlands of Chittim.
7 Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt/
was that which you spread forth/
to be your sail./
Blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah/
was that which covered you.
8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad/
were your mariners./
Your wise men, O Tyre, who were in you,/
were your pilots.
9 The ancients of Gebal and its wise men/
were in you as your caulkers./
All the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you/
to occupy your merchandise.
10 "They of Persia, of Lud, and of Phut were in your army, your military men. They hung the shield and helmet in you. They set forth your splendor. 11 The men of Arvad with your army were upon your walls on all sides, and the Gammadims were in your towers. They hung their shields upon your walls on every side. They have made your beauty perfect.
12 "Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches. With silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in your fairs. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your merchants. They traded in the persons of men and vessels of brass in your market. 14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in your fairs with horses, horsemen, and mules. 15 The men of Dedan were your merchants. Many coastlands were the merchandise of your hand. They brought you in exchange horns of ivory and ebony. 16 Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of your making. They occupied in your fairs with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate. 17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were your merchants. They traded in your market in wheat of Minnith, Pannag, honey, oil, and balm. 18 Damascus was your merchant in the multitude of the wares of your making, for the multitude of all riches, in the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19 Dan and also Javan going to and fro occupied in your fairs. Bright iron, cassia, and calamus were in your market. 20 Dedan was your merchant in precious clothes for chariots. 21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with you in lambs, rams, and goats. In these they were your merchants. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were your merchants. They occupied in your fairs with chief of all spices, with all precious stones and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad were your merchants. 24 These were your merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, embroidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise.
25 "The ships of Tarshish sang of you in your market./
And you were replenished and made very glorious/
in the midst of the seas.
26 Your rowers have brought you/
into great waters./
The east wind has broken you/
in the midst of the seas.
27 Your riches, your fairs, your merchandise,/
your mariners, your pilots,/
your caulkers, the occupiers of your merchandise,/
and all your military men, who are in you/
and in all your company which is in the midst of you,/
shall fall into the midst of the seas/
in the day of your ruin.
28 The suburbs shall shake/
at the sound of the cry of your pilots.
29 And all who handle the oar,/
the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea/
shall come down from their ships./
They shall stand upon the land,
30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against you/
and shall cry bitterly,/
and shall cast up dust upon their heads./
They shall wallow themselves in the ashes.
31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for you/
and gird themselves with sackcloth,/
and they shall weep for you with bitterness of heart/
and bitter wailing.
32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for you/
and lament over you, saying,/
'What city is like Tyre, like the destroyed one/
in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares went forth out of the seas,/
you filled many people./
You enriched the kings of the earth/
with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise.
34 In the time when you are broken by the seas/
in the depths of the waters,/
your merchandise and all your company/
in the midst of you shall fall.
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands/
shall be astonished at you,/
and their kings shall be terribly afraid./
They shall be troubled in their countenance.
36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at you./
You shall be a terror,/
and never shall be anymore.'"'"
Matthew Henry Commentary - Ezekiel, Chapter 27[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
This chapter contains a lamentation on Tyre; setting forth her former grandeur, riches, and commerce; her ruin and destruction; and the concern of others on that account. The prophet is bid to take up his lamentation concerning it (Ezekiel 27:1-2); observing her situation and magnificence, of which she boasted (Ezekiel 27:3-4); describing the excellency of her shipping and naval stores (Ezekiel 27:5-7); declaring who were her mariners, pilots, and caulkers (Ezekiel 27:8-9); her military men (Ezekiel 27:10-11); her several merchants and the things they traded in with her in her fairs and markets (Ezekiel 27:12-25); then follows an account of her destruction (Ezekiel 27:26-27); the lamentation of pilots and mariners because of it (Ezekiel 27:28-32); and of the kings and inhabitants of the coastlands, and merchants of the people (Ezekiel 27:33-36).