Ezekiel 27:15

15 Islanders from Rhodes were your agents. By contract they procured ebony and ivory for you from many coastlands.

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 were your agents in human trafficking. They gave you bronze vessels for these wares of yours.
14 Beth-togarmah traded horses, warhorses, and mules for your wares.
15 Islanders from Rhodes were your agents. By contract they procured ebony and ivory for you from many coastlands.
16 Aram was your agent for many products. They traded turquoise, purple cloth, colorful brocades, linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.
17 Judah and the land of Israel were your agents, trading the finest wheat, millet, honey, oil, and balm for your wares.

Footnotes 1

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