Ezekiel 27:15

15 The children of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they rendered in payment horns of ivory, and ebony.

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.

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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, they were thy traffickers: they bartered with thee the persons of men, and vessels of bronze.

14 They of the house of Togarmah furnished thy markets with horses, and horsemen, and mules.

15 The children of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they rendered in payment horns of ivory, and ebony.

16 Syria dealt with thee for the multitude of thy handiworks: they traded in thy markets with carbuncles, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and corals, and rubies.

17 Judah and the land of Israel were thy traffickers: they bartered with thee wheat of Minnith, and sweet cakes, and honey, and oil, and balm.