Ezekiel 27:5

5 they builded thee with fir trees of Senir, with all works of boards of the sea; they took a cedar of the Lebanon, to make a mast to thee (they took a cedar from Lebanon, to make a mast for thee).

Ezekiel 27:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 27:5

They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir
The same with Sion and Hermon, which the Sidonians called Sirion, and the Amorites Shenir, ( Deuteronomy 3:9 ) ( 4:48 ) here, it seems, grew the best of fir trees, of which the Tyrians made boards and planks for shipping; of these the two sides of the ship, as the word ^F18 here used in the dual number is thought to signify, or the fore and hind decks, were made. The Targum is,

``with fir trees of Senir they built for thee all thy bridges;''

the planks from which they went from one ship to another; but these are of too small consequence to be mentioned; rather the main of the ship is intended, which was built of fir planks; but ours made of oak are much preferable: they have taken cedars from Lebanon, to make masts for thee;
large poles for the yards and sails to be fastened to, for receiving the wind necessary in navigation; called the main mast, the foremast, the mizzenmast, and the boltsprit; all these are only in large vessels; whether the Tyrians had all of these is not certain; some they had, and which were made of the cedars of Lebanon; which, being large tall trees, were fit for this purpose. The Tyrians ^F19 are said to be the first inventors of navigation.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (Mytwxl) "tabulata duplicia", Munster; "duas tabulas", Vatablus.
F19 "Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyros." Catullus.

Ezekiel 27:5 In-Context

3 And thou shalt say to Tyre, that dwelleth in the entering of the sea, to the (selling of) merchandise of peoples to many isles, The Lord God saith these things, O! Tyre, thou saidest, I am of perfect fairness, (And thou shalt say to Tyre, that dwelleth at the entrance to the sea, for the selling of the merchandise of the nations to many islands, The Lord God saith these things, O! Tyre, thou saidest, I am of great beauty,)

4 and I am set in the heart of the sea. They that be in thy coasts that builded thee, [ful]filled thy fairness;

5 they builded thee with fir trees of Senir, with all works of boards of the sea; they took a cedar of the Lebanon, to make a mast to thee (they took a cedar from Lebanon, to make a mast for thee).

6 They hewed oaks of Bashan into thine oars, they made to thee thy seats of (the) rowers of (the) ivory of India, and (thy) cabins (of the wood) of the isles of Italy. (They cut oaks of Bashan into thy oars, they made the seats for thy rowers out of the ivory of the Ashurites, and thy cabins out of the wood from the islands of Chittim, or of Cyprus.)

7 Diverse bis, either white silk, of Egypt, was woven to thee into a veil, that it should be set in the mast (Diverse bis, or white silk, from Egypt, was woven for thee into a sail, so that it could be set on the mast); jacinth and purple of the isles of Elishah were made thy covering.