Ezekiel 27:1-9

A Lament Over Tyre

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre.
3 Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “ ‘You say, Tyre, “I am perfect in beauty.”
4 Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection.
5 They made all your timbers of juniper from Senir[a] ; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6 Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars; of cypress wood[b] from the coasts of Cyprus they made your deck, adorned with ivory.
7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner; your awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.
8 Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen; your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.
9 Veteran craftsmen of Byblos were on board as shipwrights to caulk your seams. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for your wares.

Ezekiel 27:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 27

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, Eze 27:1,2, observing her situation and magnificence, of which she boasted, Eze 27:3,4, describing the excellency of her shipping and naval stores, Eze 27:5-7, declaring who were her mariners, pilots, and caulkers, Eze 27:8,9, her military men, Eze 27:10,11 her several merchants, and the things they traded in with her in her fairs and markets, Eze 27:12-25, then follows an account of her destruction, Eze 27:26,27, the lamentation of pilots and mariners because of it, Eze 27:28-32, and of the kings and inhabitants of the isles, and merchants of the people, Eze 27:33-36.

Cross References 16

  • 1. S Ezekiel 19:1
  • 2. S Psalms 83:7
  • 3. ver 33; Hosea 9:13
  • 4. S Isaiah 23:9; S Ezekiel 16:15; Ezekiel 28:2
  • 5. Ezekiel 28:12
  • 6. S Deuteronomy 3:9
  • 7. S Isaiah 2:13
  • 8. Numbers 21:33; S Psalms 29:9; Jeremiah 22:20; Zechariah 11:2
  • 9. S Genesis 10:4; Isaiah 23:12
  • 10. S Exodus 26:36; S Isaiah 19:9
  • 11. Exodus 25:4; Jeremiah 10:9
  • 12. Genesis 10:4
  • 13. Genesis 10:18
  • 14. 1 Kings 9:27
  • 15. S Joshua 13:5; 1 Kings 5:18
  • 16. S Psalms 104:26

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. That is, Mount Hermon
  • [b]. Targum; the Masoretic Text has a different division of the consonants.
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