Ezekiel 26

Judgment on Tyre

1 Now in the eleventh * year, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,

2 "Son of man, because * ¹Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, 'Aha, the ²gateway of the peoples is broken; it has ³opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,'

3 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up ⁴many nations against you, as the ⁵sea brings up its waves.

4 'They will ⁶destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock.

5 'She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,' declares the Lord GOD, 'and she will become ⁷spoil for the nations.

6 'Also her ⁸daughters who are on the mainland will be slain by the sword, and they will know that I am the LORD.' "

7 For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ⁹king of kings, with horses, ¹⁰chariots, cavalry and a great army *.

8 "He will slay your daughters on the mainland with the sword; and he will make ¹¹siege walls against you, cast up a ¹²ramp against you and raise up a large shield against you.

9 "The blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.

10 "Because of the multitude of his ¹³horses, the dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will ¹⁴shake at the noise of cavalry and wagons and chariots when he ¹⁵enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

11 "With the hoofs of his ¹⁶horses he will trample all your streets. He will slay your people with the sword; and your strong pillars will ¹⁷come down to the ground.

12 "Also they will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your ¹⁸merchandise, ¹⁹break down your walls and destroy your ²⁰pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your debris ²¹into the water.

13 "So I will silence the sound of your ²²songs, and the sound of your ²³harps will be heard no more.

14 "I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be ²⁴built no more, for I the ²⁵LORD have spoken," declares the Lord GOD.

15 Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre, "Shall not the ²⁶coastlands ²⁷shake at the sound of your fall when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst?

16 "Then all the princes of the sea will ²⁸go down from their thrones, remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will ²⁹clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, ³⁰tremble every moment and be appalled at you.

17 "They will take up a ³¹lamentation over you and say to you, '³²How you have perished, O inhabited one, From the seas, O renowned city, Which was ³³mighty on the sea, She and her inhabitants, Who imposed her terror On all her inhabitants!

18 'Now the ³⁴coastlands will tremble On the day of your fall; Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea Will be terrified at your ³⁵passing.' "

19 For thus says the Lord GOD, "When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I ³⁶bring up the deep over you and the great waters cover you,

20 then I will bring you down with those who ³⁷go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the ³⁸lower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set ³⁹glory in the land of the living.

21 "I will bring ⁴⁰terrors on you and you will be no more; though you will be sought, ⁴¹you will never * be found again," declares the Lord GOD.

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Ezekiel 26 Commentary

Chapter 26

A prophecy against Tyre.

Verses 1-14 To be secretly pleased with the death or decay of others, when we are likely to get by it; or with their fall, when we may thrive upon it, is a sin that easily besets us, yet is not thought so bad as really it is. But it comes from a selfish, covetous principle, and from that love of the world as our happiness, which the love of God expressly forbids. He often blasts the projects of those who would raise themselves on the ruin of others. The maxims most current in the trading world, are directly opposed to the law of God. But he will show himself against the money-loving, selfish traders, whose hearts, like those of Tyre, are hardened by the love of riches. Men have little cause to glory in things which stir up the envy and rapacity of others, and which are continually shifting from one to another; and in getting, keeping, and spending which, men provoke that God whose wrath turns joyous cities into ruinous heaps.

Verses 15-21 See how high, how great Tyre had been. See how low Tyre is made. The fall of others should awaken us out of security. Every discovery of the fulfilment of a Scripture prophecy, is like a miracle to confirm our faith. All that is earthly is vanity and vexation. Those who now have the most established prosperity, will soon be out of sight and forgotten.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 41

1. 2 Samuel 5:11; Isaiah 23:1; Jeremiah 25:22
2. Isaiah 62:10
3. Ezekiel 25:8; Ezekiel 35:10
4. Micah 4:11
5. Isaiah 5:30; Jeremiah 50:42; Jeremiah 51:42
6. Isaiah 23:11; Ezekiel 26:9; Amos 1:10
7. Ezekiel 25:7; Ezekiel 29:19
8. Ezekiel 16:46, 53; Ezekiel 26:8
9. Ezra 7:12; Isaiah 10:8; Jeremiah 52:32; Daniel 2:37, 47
10. Ezekiel 23:24; Nahum 2:3, 4
11. Jeremiah 52:4; Ezekiel 21:22
12. Jeremiah 32:24
13. Jeremiah 4:13; Jeremiah 47:3
14. Ezekiel 26:15; Ezekiel 27:28
15. Jeremiah 39:3
16. Isaiah 5:28; Habakkuk 1:8
17. Isaiah 26:5; Jeremiah 43:13
18. Isaiah 23:8, 18; Ezekiel 27:3-27; Zechariah 9:3
19. Jeremiah 52:14
20. 2 Chronicles 32:27; Amos 5:11
21. Ezek 27:27, 32, 34; Ezekiel 28:8
22. Isaiah 23:16; Isaiah 24:8, 9; Amos 6:5
23. Isaiah 5:12; Revelation 18:22
24. Deuteronomy 13:16; Job 12:14; Malachi 1:4
25. Isaiah 14:27
26. Ezekiel 26:18; Ezekiel 27:35
27. Jeremiah 49:21; Ezekiel 31:16
28. Jonah 3:6
29. Job 8:22; Psalms 35:26; Ezekiel 7:27; 1 Peter 5:5
30. Ezekiel 32:10; Hosea 11:10
31. Ezekiel 19:1, 14; Ezekiel 27:2, 32; Ezekiel 32:2, 16
32. Isaiah 14:12; Jeremiah 48:39; Jeremiah 50:23
33. Ezek 27:3, 10, 11; Ezekiel 28:2
34. Isaiah 41:5; Ezekiel 26:15; Ezekiel 27:35
35. Is 23:5-7, 10, 11
36. Isaiah 8:7, 8; Ezekiel 26:3
37. Isaiah 14:9, 10; Ezekiel 32:30
38. Psalms 88:6; Amos 9:2; Jonah 2:2, 6
39. Jeremiah 33:9; Zechariah 2:8
40. Ezekiel 26:15, 16; Ezekiel 27:36
41. Revelation 18:21

Footnotes 14

[a]. Lit "turned"
[b]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
[c]. Lit "in the field"
[d]. Lit "an assembly, even many people"
[e]. Lit "in the field"
[f]. Lit "swords"
[g]. Lit "wheels"
[h]. Lit "put"
[i]. Lit "cause to cease"
[j]. Lit "tremblings"
[k]. Lit "put"
[l]. Lit "their"
[m]. Or "return"
[n]. Lit "give you terrors"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 26

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Tyre. The time of the prophecy, Eze 26:1, the cause of the destruction of it, rejoicing at the ruin of Jerusalem, Eze 26:2, the instruments of it, many nations, particularly the king of Babylon, Eze 26:3-7, the manner in which it shall be done, Eze 26:8-14, the lamentation of other isles, and the princes of them, on account of it, Eze 26:15-18, the utter destruction of it, so as never to be found any more, Eze 26:19-21.