Ezekiel 27:22

22 Merchants of Sheba and Raamah -- they [are] thy merchants, For the chief of all spices, And for every precious stone, and gold, They have given out thy remnants.

Ezekiel 27:22 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 27:22

The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants,
&c.] This Sheba was the son of Raamah, ( Genesis 10:7 ) who settled in Arabia Felix; where, according to Ptolemy F24, is a city called Rhegma; and so Raamah is pronounced in the Septuagint version of ( Genesis 10:7 ) : they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices;
as with myrrh and frankincense, with which they abounded: Pliny F25 says that the Arabians paid annually to the kings of Persia a thousand talents of frankincense; and that the Sabaeans F26 boiled their food, some with wood of frankincense, and others with wood of myrrh: and with all precious stones, and gold;
as jaspers, emeralds, carbuncles, and others, which Pliny F1 says are found in Arabia; and mention is made of the gold of Sheba, ( Psalms 72:15 ) and Bochart thinks that Ophir, from whence the famous gold of that name was fetched, was in Arabia Felix; and it may be observed, that the queen of Sheba gave great quantities of gold, of spices, and of precious stones, to Solomon; and that he had much of these kinds yearly from the spice merchants, and kings of Arabia, ( 1 Kings 10:10 1 Kings 10:14 1 Kings 10:15 ) , (See Gill on Isaiah 60:6).


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Geograph. l. 6. c. 7.
F25 Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 17.
F26 "----Solis est thurea virga Sabaeis". Virgil. Georgic. l. 2.
F1 Nat. Hist. l. 37.

Ezekiel 27:22 In-Context

20 Dedan [is] thy merchant, For clothes of freedom for riding.
21 Arabia, and all princes of Kedar, They [are] the traders of thy hand, For lambs, and rams, and he-goats, In these thy merchants.
22 Merchants of Sheba and Raamah -- they [are] thy merchants, For the chief of all spices, And for every precious stone, and gold, They have given out thy remnants.
23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, merchants of Sheba, Asshur -- Chilmad -- [are] thy merchants,
24 They [are] thy merchants for perfect things, For wrappings of blue, and embroidery, And for treasuries of rich apparel, With cords bound and girded, for thy merchandise,
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.