Ezekiel 27:15

15 The men of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they brought thee in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.

Ezekiel 27:15 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 27:15

The men of Dedan were thy merchants
Not Dedan in Idumea or Edom, but in Arabia, from Dedan the son of Raamah, ( Genesis 10:7 ) : many isles were the merchandise of thine hands;
that is, many isles took off their manufactures from them, in lieu of what they brought them, which were as follow: they brought thee for a present;
that they might have the liberty of trading in their fairs and markets; or rather for a reward, or as a price, for the goods they had of them: horns of ivory and ebony;
Kimchi reads them as separate things; and which the Targum confirms, "horns, ivory, and ebony"; elks' horns, or horns of goats, as the Targum; and "ivory", or the teeth of elephants; and "ebony", which is a wood of a very black colour, hard and heavy, and of which many things are made. The Targum takes it for the name of a fowl, and renders it peacocks; so Jarchi; see ( 2 Chronicles 9:21 ) , but Ben Melech much better interprets it of a tree, called in Arabia "ebenus". Solinus makes it peculiar to India F4; and so Virgil F5.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Polyhistor. c. 65.
F5 "----Sola India nigrum fert ebenum.----" Virgil. Georgic. 1. 2.

Ezekiel 27:15 In-Context

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise.
14 They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with horses and war-horses and mules.
15 The men of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they brought thee in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.
16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of thy handiworks: they traded for thy wares with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.
17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy merchandise wheat of Minnith, and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.