Ezekiel 27:26

26 Your rowers have brought you onto the high seas,^[a] but the east wind has shattered you in the heart of the sea.

Ezekiel 27:26 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 27:26

Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters
Here the city of Tyre is compared to a vessel at sea, with great propriety, it being built in the sea, and its trade chiefly there; and its rulers and governors, or the inhabitants of it, to rowers; literally the men of Zidon and Arvad were her rowers, ( Ezekiel 27:8 ) , the straits, difficulties, and distresses these brought Tyre into, are compared to great waters; who, by some unadvised step or another, provoked the king of Babylon to come against them with his army, and lay siege unto them: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas;
a wind very fatal to ships and mariners; see ( Psalms 48:7 ) , by it are meant Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army; so called, because of their great force and fury; and because Babylon, from whence they came, lay somewhat to the east of Tyre. So the Targum,

``a king who is strong as the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.''

Ezekiel 27:26 In-Context

24 They were your merchants in choice garments, cloaks of blue and embroidered materials, and multicolored carpets, which were bound and secured with cords in your marketplace.

25 Ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your goods. So you became full and heavily loaded in the heart of the sea.

26 Your rowers have brought you onto the high seas, but the east wind has shattered you in the heart of the sea.

27 Your wealth, merchandise, and goods, your sailors and helmsmen, those who repair your leaks, those who barter for your goods, and all the warriors within you, with all the other people on board, sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your downfall.

28 The countryside shakes at the sound of your sailors' cries.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ezk 26:19