Ezekiel 26:9

9 and he shall temper engines like vineries, and engines that be called wethers against thy walls; and he shall destroy thy towers by his arms. (and he shall use battering-rams against thy walls; and he shall destroy thy towers with his weapons.)

Ezekiel 26:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 26:9

And he shall set engines of war against thy walls
Which some Jewish writers understand of crossbows, out of which stones or arrows were cast; but rather, according to Kimchi and Jarchi, they were warlike machines, invented to throw large stones against the walls of a place, to beat them down. Some think they were the same with the battering rams, used in sieges for the demolishing of walls; which was a late invention of those times, Ezekiel being the first writer, it is said, that makes mention of them: and with his axes he shall break down thy towers;
the word here used signifies anything made of iron, as swords, spears, hammers, and axes; the latter, being more proper to demolish towers, is here pitched on by our translators. The Targum renders it, "with stones of iron"; that is, with iron balls cast out of their engines.

Ezekiel 26:9 In-Context

7 For why the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall bring to Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the north, the king of kings, with horses, and chariots, and knights, and with a company, and great people. (For the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the king of kings, from the north, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and with a great company of people.)
8 He shall slay by sword thy daughters that be in the field, and he shall (en)compass thee with strongholds, and he shall bear together [the heap of] earth in compass. And he shall raise a shield against thee, (He shall kill by the sword thy daughters who be in the fields, and he shall surround thee with strongholds, and he shall bear together heaps of earth all around thee. And he shall raise up a shield against thee,)
9 and he shall temper engines like vineries, and engines that be called wethers against thy walls; and he shall destroy thy towers by his arms. (and he shall use battering-rams against thy walls; and he shall destroy thy towers with his weapons.)
10 By (the) flowing (by) of his horses, the dust of those shall cover thee; thy walls shall be moved of the sound of knights, and of wheels, and of chariots (thy walls shall be shaken at the sound of the horsemen, and the wheels, and the chariots); when he shall enter by the gates, as by enterings of a city destroyed,
11 with the claws of his horses he shall defoul all thy streets. He shall slay by sword thy people, and thy noble images shall fall down into earth. (with the hoofs of his horses he shall defile all thy streets. He shall kill thy people by the sword, and thy mighty pillars shall fall down to the ground.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.