Ezekiel 26:14

14 I'll reduce you to an island of bare rock, good for nothing but drying fishnets. You'll never be rebuilt. I, God, have said so. Decree of God, the Master. Introduced to the Terrors of Death

Ezekiel 26:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 26:14

And I will make thee like the top of a rock
Smooth and bare; (See Gill on Ezekiel 26:4): and thou shall be a place to spread nets upon;
(See Gill on Ezekiel 26:5): thou shalt be built no more:
this must be understood with some restriction and limitation; as that it should not be built any more in the same stately manner; or be raised to royal dignity, and be governed in the grand manner it had been; or be built upon the same spot; or after its last destruction, to which the prophecy may have respect; it being usual in Scripture for prophecies to regard what is more remote as well as more near; for, upon the destruction of it by Nebuchadnezzar, it was to be restored after seventy years, according to Isaiah's prophecy, ( Isaiah 23:15 Isaiah 23:17 ) and, many years after this, new Tyre was besieged, taken, and destroyed by Alexander; and after this it was rebuilt; we read of it in the New Testament; (See Gill on Acts 21:3), and in Jerom's time it was a most noble and beautiful city, as he on this passage observes; indeed, as Kimchi says, who lived near a thousand years after Jerom, the city then built in his time called Tyre was built upon the continent near the seashore; whereas Tyre destroyed by Alexander was built in the midst of the sea, and was as the top of a rock. It has since been destroyed by Saladine, in the year 1291; and now quite uninhabited, unless by fishermen, who wash, dry, and mend their nets here: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith, the Lord God;
and therefore it shall be accomplished, as it has been; no more of his returning void, and becoming of no effect. The Targum is,

``because I the Lord have decreed by my word, saith the Lord God;''

it is a determination and resolution of his, and none can disannul it. Abendana thinks that hitherto the prophecy is concerning the first destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, and what follows is concerning the destruction of it by Alexander.

Ezekiel 26:14 In-Context

12 The invaders will steal and loot - all that wealth, all that stuff! They'll knock down your fine houses and dump the stone and timber rubble into the sea.

13 And your parties, your famous good-time parties, will be no more. No more songs, no more lutes.

14 I'll reduce you to an island of bare rock, good for nothing but drying fishnets. You'll never be rebuilt. I, God, have said so. Decree of God, the Master. Introduced to the Terrors of Death

15 "This is the Message of God, the Master, to Tyre: Won't the ocean islands shake at the crash of your collapse, at the groans of your wounded, at your mayhem and massacre?

16 "All up and down the coast, the princes will come down from their thrones, take off their royal robes and fancy clothes, and wrap themselves in sheer terror. They'll sit on the ground, shaken to the core, horrified at you.