Ezekiel 26:20

20 then I will bring you down [to be] with those who descend to the Pit,[a] to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the underworld[b] like[c] the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or display [your] splendor[d] in the land of the living.

Ezekiel 26:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 26:20

When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the
pit
The grave, and make thee like to them: with the people of old time;
either the people of the old world, or, however, who have been dead long ago: and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth;
where the dead are laid: in places desolate of old:
long ago unfrequented by men; as such places be as are for the burial of the dead: with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited;
all the inhabitants being free among the dead; a heap of words made use of to express the same thing, for the confirmation of it; namely, that the condition of Tyre should be like that of dead men, who have been of old dead, and are remembered no more. Jarchi interprets the "pit", of hell; as if this respected their everlasting perdition, as well as temporal ruin; it may be applied to the beast which goeth into perdition, ( Revelation 17:8 ) : and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
in the land of Israel; so the Targum; and it is interpreted by the Jewish expositors and others the same way; and which may be called "the land of the living"; because the living God was worshipped in it; living men in a spiritual sense dwelt there, who offered up living sacrifices unto God, and who had the promise and pledge of eternal life; and which was the "glory" of all lands, as it is sometimes called, where the same word is used as here, ( Ezekiel 20:6 ) , which had its accomplishment in some respects at the Jews' return from Babylon; but, as Tyre here is a type of antichrist, it may be observed, that, at the time of his fall and destruction, God will put a glory upon his church and people, upon which there shall be a defence; see ( Isaiah 4:5 ) ( 60:1 ) . This is interpreted by the Talmudists F16 of the resurrection of the dead, when they that die in the land of Israel shall live.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Vid. Kimchi in loc. & T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 111. 1.

Ezekiel 26:20 In-Context

18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your downfall; the islands in the sea are alarmed by your demise."
19 For this is what the Lord God says: "When I make you a ruined city like [other] deserted cities, when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you,
20 then I will bring you down [to be] with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the underworld like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or display [your] splendor in the land of the living.
21 I will make you an object of horror, and you will no longer exist. You will be sought but will never be found again." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Ezk 28:8; Isa 14:15
  • [b]. Lit the lower parts of the earth
  • [c]. Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss, Syr read in
  • [d]. LXX reads or appear
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.