Ezekiel 26:1-11

1 On February 3, during the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the LORD :

2 “Son of man, Tyre has rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Ha! She who was the gateway to the rich trade routes to the east has been broken, and I am the heir! Because she has been made desolate, I will become wealthy!’

3 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am your enemy, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the waves of the sea crashing against your shoreline.

4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down its towers. I will scrape away its soil and make it a bare rock!

5 It will be just a rock in the sea, a place for fishermen to spread their nets, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign LORD . Tyre will become the prey of many nations,

6 and its mainland villages will be destroyed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD .

7 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: From the north I will bring King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon against Tyre. He is king of kings and brings his horses, chariots, charioteers, and great army.

8 First he will destroy your mainland villages. Then he will attack you by building a siege wall, constructing a ramp, and raising a roof of shields against you.

9 He will pound your walls with battering rams and demolish your towers with sledgehammers.

10 The hooves of his horses will choke the city with dust, and the noise of the charioteers and chariot wheels will shake your walls as they storm through your broken gates.

11 His horsemen will trample through every street in the city. They will butcher your people, and your strong pillars will topple.

Ezekiel 26:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 26

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Tyre. The time of the prophecy, Eze 26:1, the cause of the destruction of it, rejoicing at the ruin of Jerusalem, Eze 26:2, the instruments of it, many nations, particularly the king of Babylon, Eze 26:3-7, the manner in which it shall be done, Eze 26:8-14, the lamentation of other isles, and the princes of them, on account of it, Eze 26:15-18, the utter destruction of it, so as never to be found any more, Eze 26:19-21.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar year. Since an element is missing in the date formula here, scholars have reconstructed this probable reading: In the eleventh [month of the twelfth] year, on the first day of the month. This reading would put this message on February 3, 585 ; also see note on 1:1 .
• [b]. Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.