Ezekiel 27 commentary

Those who live at ease are to be lamented, if they are not prepared for trouble. Let none reckon themselves beautified, any further than they are sanctified. The account of the trade of Tyre intimates, that God's eye is upon men when employed in worldly business. Not only when at church, praying and hearing, but when in markets and fairs, buying and selling. In all our dealings we should keep a conscience void of offence. God, as the common Father of mankind, makes one country abound in one commodity, and another in another, serviceable to the necessity or to the comfort and ornament of human life. See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, when followed in the fear of God. Besides necessaries, an abundance of things are made valuable only by custom; yet God allows us to use them. But when riches increase, men are apt to set their hearts upon them, and forget the Lord, who gives power to get wealth.

The most mighty and magnificent kingdoms and states, sooner or later, come down. Those who make creatures their confidence, and rest their hopes upon them, will fall with them: happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their Help, and whose hope is in the Lord their God, who lives for ever. Those who engage in trade should learn to conduct their business according to God's word. Those who possess wealth should remember they are the Lord's stewards, and should use his goods in doing good to all. Let us seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

CHAPTER 27

Eze 27:1-36. Tyre's Former Greatness, Suggesting a Lamentation over Her Sad Downfall.

2. lamentation--a funeral dirge, eulogizing her great attributes, to make the contrast the greater between her former and her latter state.

3. situate at the entry of the sea--literally, plural, "entrances," that is, ports or havens; referring to the double port of Tyre, at which vessels entered round the north and south ends of the island, so that ships could find a ready entrance from whatever point the wind might blow (compare Eze 28:2).

merchant of ... people for many isles--that is, a mercantile emporium of the peoples of many seacoasts, both from the east and from the west (Is 23:3), "a mart of nations."

of perfect beauty--(Eze 28:12).

4. Tyre, in consonance with her seagirt position, separated by a strait of half a mile from the mainland, is described as a ship built of the best material, and manned with the best mariners and skilful pilots, but at last wrecked in tempestuous seas (Eze 27:26).

5. Senir--the Amorite name of Hermon, or the southern height of Anti-libanus (De 3:9); the Sidonian name was Sirion. "All thy ... boards"; dual in Hebrew, "double-boards," namely, placed in a double order on the two sides of which the ship consisted [Vatablus]. Or, referring to the two sides or the two ends, the prow and the stern, which every ship has [Munster].

cedars--most suited for "masts," from their height and durability.

6. Bashan--celebrated for its oaks, as Lebanon was for its cedars.

the company of ... Ashurites--the most skilful workmen summoned from Assyria. Rather, as the Hebrew orthography requires, "They have made thy (rowing) benches of ivory inlaid in the daughter of cedars" [Maurer], or, the best boxwood. Fairbairn, with Bochart, reads the Hebrew two words as one: "Thy plankwork (deck: instead of 'benches,' as the Hebrew is singular) they made ivory with boxes." English Version, with Maurer's correction, is simpler.

Chittim--Cyprus and Macedonia, from which, Pliny tells us, the best boxwood came [Grotius].

7. broidered ... sail--The ancients embroidered their sails often at great expense, especially the Egyptians, whose linen, still preserved in mummies, is of the finest texture.

Elishah--Greece; so called from Elis, a large and ancient division of Peloponnesus. Pausanias says that the best of linen was produced in it, and in no other part of Greece; called by Homer, Alisium.

that which covered thee--thy awning.

8. Arvad--a small island and city near Phoenicia, now Ruad: its inhabitants are still noted for seafaring habits.

thy wise men, O Tyrus ... thy pilots--While the men of Arvad, once thy equals (Ge 10:18), and the Sidonians, once thy superiors, were employed by thee in subordinate positions as "mariners," thou madest thine own skilled men alone to be commanders and pilots. Implying the political and mercantile superiority of Tyre.

9. Gebal--a Phoenician city and region between Beirut and Tripolis, famed for skilled workmen (1Ki 5:18, Margin; Psa 83:7).

calkers--stoppers of chinks in a vessel: carrying on the metaphor as to Tyre.

occupy thy merchandise--that is, to exchange merchandise with thee.

10. Persia ... Phut--warriors from the extreme east and west.

Lud--the Lydians of Asia Minor, near the Meander, famed for archery (Is 66:19); rather than those of Ethiopia, as the Lydians of Asia Minor form a kind of intermediate step between Persia and Phut (the Libyans about Cyrene, shielded warriors, Jr 46:9, descended from Phut, son of Ham).

hanged ... shield ... comeliness--Warriors hanged their accoutrements on the walls for ornament. Divested of the metaphor, it means that it was an honor to thee to have so many nations supplying thee with hired soldiers.

11. Gammadims--rather, as the Tyrians were Syro-Phoenicians, from a Syriac root, meaning daring, "men of daring" [Ludovicus De Dieu]. It is not likely the keeping of watch "in the towers" would have been entrusted to foreigners. Others take it from a Hebrew root, "a dagger," or short sword (Jud 3:16), "short-swordsmen."

12. Tarshish--Tartessus in Spain, a country famed for various metals, which were exported to Tyre. Much of the "tin" probably was conveyed by the Phoenicians from Cornwall to Tarshish.

traded in thy fairs--"did barter with thee" [Fairbairn]; from a root, "to leave," something left in barter for something else.

13. Javan--the Ionians or Greeks: for the Ionians of Asia Minor were the first Greeks with whom the Asiatics came in contact.

Tubal ... Meshech--the Tibareni and Moschi, in the mountain region between the Black and Caspian Seas.

persons of men--that is, as slaves. So the Turkish harems are supplied with female slaves from Circassia and Georgia.

vessels--all kinds of articles. Superior weapons are still manufactured in the Caucasus region.

14. Togarmah--Armenia: descended from Gomer (Ge 10:3). Their mountainous region south of the Caucasus was celebrated for horses.

horsemen--rather, "riding-horses," as distinct from "horses" for chariots [Fairbairn].

15. Dedan--near the Persian Sea: thus an avenue to the commerce of India. Not the Dedan in Arabia (Eze 27:20), as the names in the context here prove, but the Dedan sprung from Cush [Bochart], (Ge 10:7).

merchandise of thine hand--that is, were dependent on thee for trade [Fairbairn]; came to buy the produce of thy hands [Grotius].

a present--literally, "a reward in return"; a price paid for merchandise.

horns of ivory--Ivory is so termed from its resemblance to horns. The Hebrew word for "ivory" means "tooth"; so that they cannot have mistaken ivory as if coming from the horns of certain animals, instead of from the tusks of the elephant.

16. "Syria was thy mart for the multitude," &c. For "Syria" the Septuagint reads "Edom." But the Syrians were famed as merchants.

occupied--old English for "traded"; so in Lu 19:13.

agate--Others translate, "ruby," "chalcedony," or "pearls."

17. Minnith ... Pannag--names of places in Israel famed for good wheat, wherewith Tyre was supplied (1Ki 5:9, 11; Ezr 3:7; Ac 12:20); Minnith was formerly an Ammonite city (Jud 11:33). "Pannag" is identified by Grotius with "Phenice," the Greek name for "Canaan." "They traded ... wheat," that is, they supplied thy market with wheat.

balm--or, "balsam."

18. Helbon--or Chalybon, in Syria, now Aleppo; famed for its wines; the Persian monarchs would drink no other.

19. Dan also--None of the other places enumerated commence with the copula ("also"; Hebrew, ve). Moreover, the products specified, "cassia, calamus," apply rather to places in Arabia. Therefore, Fairbairn translates, "Vedan"; perhaps the modern Aden, near the straits of Bab-el-man-deb. Grotius refers it to Dana, mentioned by Ptolemy.

Javan--not the Greeks of Europe or Asia Minor, but of a Greek settlement in Arabia.

going to and fro--rather, as Hebrew admits, "from Uzal." This is added to "Javan," to mark which Javan is meant (Ge 10:27). The metropolis of Arabia Felix, or Yemen; called also Sanaa [Bochart]. English Version gives a good sense, thus: All peoples, whether near as the Israelite "Dan," or far as the Greeks or "Javan," who were wont to "go to and fro" from their love of traffic, frequented thy marts, bringing bright iron, &c., these products not being necessarily represented as those of Dan or Javan.

bright iron--Yemen is still famed for its sword blades.

calamus--aromatic cane.

20. Dedan--in Arabia; distinct from the Dedan in Eze 27:15 (see on Eze 27:15). Descended from Abraham and Keturah (Ge 25:3) [Bochart].

precious clothes--splendid coverlets.

21. Arabia--the nomadic tribes of Arabia, among which Kedar was pre-eminent.

occupied with thee--literally, "of thy hand," that is, they traded with thee for wares, the product of thy hand (see on Eze 27:15, 16).

22. Sheba ... Raamah--in Arabia.

chief of ... spices--that is, best spices (De 33:15). Obtained from India and conveyed in caravans to Tyre.

23. Haran--the dwelling-place of Abraham in Mesopotamia, after he moved from Ur (Ge 11:31).

Canneh--Calneh, an Assyrian city on the Tigris; the Ctesiphon of the Greeks (Ge 10:10).

Eden--probably a region in Babylonia (see Ge 2:8).

Chilmad--a compound; the place designated by Ptolemy "Gaala of Media." The Chaldee version interprets it of Media. Henderson refers it to Carmanda, which Xenophon describes as a large city beyond the Euphrates.

24. all sorts of things--Hebrew, "perfections"; exquisite articles of finery [Grotius].

clothes--rather, "mantles" or "cloaks"; literally, "wrappings." For "blue," Henderson translates, "purple."

chests of rich apparel, bound with cords--treasures or repositories of damask stuffs, consisting of variegated threads woven together in figures [Henderson].

cedar--The "chests" were made of cedar, in order to last the longer; and it also keeps off decay and has a sweet odor.

25. sing of thee--personification; thy great merchant ships were palpable proofs of thy greatness. Others translate from a different Hebrew root, "were thy (mercantile) travellers." Fairbairn translates, "Were thy walls." But the parallelism to "thou wast glorious" favors English Version, "sing of thee."

26. In contrast to her previous greatness, her downfall is here, by a sudden transition, depicted under the image of a vessel foundering at sea.

east wind--blowing from Lebanon, the most violent wind in the Mediterranean (Psa 48:7). A Levanter, as it is called. Nebuchadnezzar is meant. The "sea" is the war with him which the "rowers," or rulers of the state vessel, had "brought" it into, to its ruin.

27. The detailed enumeration implies the utter completeness of the ruin.

and in all thy company--"even with all thy collected multitude" [Henderson].

28. The suburbs--the buildings of Tyre on the adjoining continent.

29. So on the downfall of spiritual Babylon (Re 18:17, &c.).

shall stand upon ... land--being cast out of their ships in which heretofore they prided themselves.

30. against thee--rather, "concerning thee."

31. utterly bald--literally, "bald with baldness." The Phoenician custom in mourning; which, as being connected with heathenish superstitions, was forbidden to Israel (De 14:1).

32. take up--lift up.

the destroyed--a destroyed one. Literally, (as opposed to its previous bustle of thronging merchants and mariners, Eze 27:27), "one brought to death's stillness."

in ... midst of ... sea--insular Tyre.

33. out of the seas--brought on shore out of the ships.

filledst--didst supply plentifully with wares.

enrich ... kings--with the custom dues levied on the wares.

34. In the time when ... shall ... shall--Now that thou art broken (wrecked) ... thy merchandise ... are fallen [Maurer].

35. isles--seacoasts.

36. hiss--with astonishment; as in 1Ki 9:8.

Take up a lamentation for Tyrus - This is a singular and curious chapter. It gives a very circumstantial account of the trade of Tyre with different parts of the world, and the different sorts of merchandise in which she trafficked. The places and the imports are as regularly entered here as they could have been in a European custom-house.

The entry of the sea - Tyre was a small island, or rather rock, in the sea, at a short distance from the main land. We have already seen that there was another Tyre on the main land; but they are both considered as one city.

Thy builders have perfected thy beauty - Under the allegory of a beautiful ship, the prophet, here and in the following verses, paints the glory of this ancient city. Horace describes the commonwealth of Rome by the same allegory, and is as minute in his description, Carm. lib. 1. Od. xiv: -

O navis, referent in mare te novi

Fluctus? O quid agis? Fortiter occupa

Portum. Nonne video, ut

Nudum remigio latus,

Et malus celeri saucius Africo,

Antennaeque gemant? ac sine funibus

Vix durare carinae Possint imperiosius

Aequor! non tibi sunt integra lintea;

Non Di, quos iterum pressa votes malo:

Quamvis Pontica pinus,

Sylvae filia nobilis,

Jactes et genus, et nomen inutile

Nil pictis timidus navita puppibus

Fidit. Tu, nisi, ventis

Debes ludibrium, cave.

Unhappy vessel, shall the waves again

Tumultuous bear thee to the faithless main?

What, would thy madness thus with storms to sport?

Cast firm your anchor in the friendly port.

Behold thy naked decks, the wounded mast,

And sail-yards groan beneath the southern blast.

Nor, without ropes, thy keel can longer brave

The rushing fury of the imperious wave:

Torn are thy sails; thy guardian gods are lost,

Whom you might call, in future tempests tost.

What, though majestic in your pride you stood,

A noble daughter of the Pontic wood,

You now may vainly boast an empty name,

Of birth conspicuous in the rolls of fame.

The mariner, when storms around him rise,

No longer on a painted stern relies.

Ah! yet take heed, lest these new tempests sweep,

In sportive rage, thy glories to the deep.

Francis.

I give this as a striking parallel to many passages in this chapter.

Fir trees of Senir - Senir is a mountain which the Sidonians called Sirion, and the Hebrews Hermon, Deu 3:9. It was beyond Jordan, and extended from Libanus to the mountains of Gilead.

Of the oaks of Bashan - Some translate alder, others the pine.

The company of the Ashurites - The word אשרים asherim is by several translated boxwood. The seats or benches being made of this wood inlaid with ivory.

Isles of Chittim - The Italian islands; the islands of Greece; Cyprus. Calmet says Macedonia is meant.

Fine linen - שש shesh, cotton cloth. In this sense the word is generally to be understood.

To be thy sail - Probably the flag - ensign or pennant, is meant.

Blue and purple from the isles of Elishah - Elis, a part of the Peloponnesus.

Zidon and Arvad - Or Arad. Two powerful cities on the Phoenician coast, in the neighborhood of Tyre, from which Tyre had her sailors; and the best instructed of her own inhabitants were her pilots or steersmen.

The ancients of Gebal - This was a city of Phoenicia, near Mount Libanus, Jos 13:5. It was called Biblos by the Greeks.

Thy calkers - Those who repaired their vessels; paying, as it is termed, pitched hemp into the seams, to prevent the water from oozing through.

To occupy thy merchandise - That is, to be thy agents or factors.

They of Persia - Lud, the Lydians; Phut, a people of Africa, see Gen 10:6. From these places they had auxiliary troops; for as they traded with the then known world, were rich, and could afford to give good pay, they no doubt had soldiers and sailors from every part. Skilful and desperate men will go any where after their price.

The Gammadims were in thy towers - Some think these were a people of Phoenicia; others, that tutelar images are meant; others, that the word expresses strong men, Who acted as guards. The Vulgate reads Pygmaei, the pygmies, who were fabled to be a little people of a cubit in height, from גמד gomed. a cubit; and are told that this little people were celebrated for their wars with the cranes; but nothing of this kind can enter into this description. Probably a people inhabiting the promontories of Phoenicia are here intended; and their hanging their shields upon the walls is a proof that soldiers are meant, and persons of skill and prowess too.

Tarshish was thy merchant - After having given an account of the naval and military equipment of this city, he now speaks of the various places and peoples with whom the Tyrians traded, and the different kinds of merchandise imported from those places.

By Tarshish some understand the Carthaginians; some think Tartessus, near the straits of Gibraltar, is meant; others, Tharsis in Cilicia. The place was famous for all the useful metals, silver, iron, tin, and lead. All these they might have had from Britain.

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech - The Ionians, the Tybarenians, and the Cappadocians, or Muscovites.

They traded the persons of men - That is, they trafficked in slaves. The bodies and souls of men were bought and sold in those days, as in our degenerate age. With these also they traded in brazen vessels.

Togarmah - The Sarmatians. Some think Cappadocia. With these they dealt in horses, mules, and horsemen; or probably draught horses and war horses are intended.

The men of Dedan - Dedan was one of the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, and dwelt in Arabia, Gen 25:3. Ivory and ebony might come from that quarter. By way of distinction ivory is called both in Hebrew ש shen, and in Arabic shen, the Tooth, as that beautiful substance is the tooth of the elephant.

Syria - These were always a mercantile people. For the precious stones mentioned here see the notes on Exo 28:17 (note).

Judah, and the land of Israel - traded in thy market wheat - The words have been understood as articles of merchandise, not names of places. So the Jews traded with the Tyrians in wheat, stacte, balsam, honey, oil, and resin.

Damascus wine of Helbon - Now called by the Turks Haleb, and by us Aleppo.

White wool - Very fine wool: wool of a fine quality. Some think Milesian wool is meant.

Dan also and Javan - It is probable that both these words mean some of the Grecian islands.

Going to and fro - They both took and brought - imported and exported: but מאוזל meuzal, from uzal, may be a proper name. What place is signified I cannot tell, unless it be Azal, a name, according to Kamoos, of the capital of Arabia Felix.

Dedan - Possibly the descendants of Dedan, son of Raamah, see Gen 10:7.

In precious clothes for chariots - Either fine carpets, or rich housings for horses, camels, etc., used for riding.

Arabia, and all the princes of Cedar - Arabia Deserta, on the confines of the Dead Sea. The Kedarenes inhabited the same country.

These brought lambs, rams, and goats for the consumption of the city.

Sheba and Raamah - Inhabitants of Arabia Felix, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, who were famous for their riches and spices.

Haran - In Mesopotamia; well known in Scripture.

Canneh - Or Chalane, see Gen 10:10. It is supposed to be a cape or port of Arabia Felix, on the Indian Sea.

Eden - Equally famous: supposed to have been situated near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Sheba - Different from that in Gen 10:22. This was probably near the country of the Edomites.

Asshur - Perhaps the Assyrians.

Chilmad - Possibly Cholmadora, on the Euphrates. Ptol. lib. v.. cap. 15. For several of these places, and the persons from whom they derived their names, see Genesis 10 (note), and the notes there; and see Calmet.

These were thy merchants in all sorts of things - The above people traded with the Tyrians in a great variety of the most valuable merchandise: blue or purple cloth, boxes of cedar, covered with skins, and bound with silken cords, and sealed with an engraved seal, finely cut, etc. See the Chaldee.

The ships of Tarshish - The ships of Tharsis, in Cilicia, were the chief of those which traded with thee.

Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters - Tyre is still considered under the allegory of a ship; and all the vessels of different nations trading with her are represented as towing her into deep waters - bringing her into great affluence. But while in this state, a stormy east wind, or a destructive wind, meaning the Chaldeans, arises, and dashes her to pieces! See the ode from Horace, already quoted on Eze 27:4 (note).

Thy riches - This vast ship, laden with all kinds of valuable wares, and manned in the best manner, being wrecked, all her valuables, sailors, officers, etc., went to the bottom.

The cry of thy pilots - When the ship was dashed against the rocks by the violence of the winds and the waves, and all hope of life was taken away, then a universal cry was set up by all on board. I have heard this cry, and nothing more dismal can be imagined, when the ship by a violent tempest is driving among rocks on a lee shore. Then "All lost! cut away the boat!" is more dreadful than the cry of fire at midnight.

Shall cry bitterly - All that were on the land, seeing this dreadful sight, a gallant ship perishing with all her men and goods, are represented as setting up a dismal cry at this heart-rending sight. But what must they have felt who were on board? Reader, wert thou ever shipwrecked? Wert thou ever in a hurricane on a lee rocky shore, where the helm had lost its power, and the sails were rendered useless? Dost thou remember that apparently last moment, when the ship drove up to the tremendous rocks, riding on the back of a mountainous surge? Then what was the universal cry? Hast thou ever heard any thing so terrific? so appalling? so death and judgment-like? No. It is impossible. These are the circumstances, this is the cry, that the prophet describes; disorder, confusion, dismay, and ruin. And this is a scene which the present writer has witnessed, himself a part of the wretched, when all hope of life was taken away, the yawning gulf opened, and nothing presented itself to support body or soul but that God who gave to both their being, and ultimately rescued him and his forlorn companions from one of the worst of deaths, by heaving the ship from the rocks by the agency of a tremendous receding wave. My soul hath these things still in remembrance, and therefore is humbled within me.

What city is like Tyrus - This, to the end of the chapter, is the lamentation.

Shall hiss at thee - שרקו shareku, shall shriek for thee. This powerfully expresses the sensation made on the feelings of the spectators on the shore when they saw the vessel swallowed up.

A lamentation - We ought to mourn for the miseries of other nations, as well as of our own, out of an affection for mankind in general; yea, tho' they have brought them upon themselves.

At the entry - Heb. Entrances. She was about four furlongs, or half an English mile from the continent, as it were in the very door of the sea.

They - The shipwrights. Shipboards - The planks and benches, or transoms for their ships. Fir - trees - Of the best and finest fir - trees. Lebanon - Whose cedars excelled others.

With box - From the isles, and parts about the Ionian, Aegean, and other seas of the Mediterranean, where box - tree is a native, and of great growth and firmness, fit to saw into boards for benches; they were conveyed to Tyre, where their artists inlaid these box boards with ivory, and made them beautiful seats in their ships.

The isles of Elishah - Probably the sea - coast of Aeolis in the lesser Asia, the inhabitants whereof were excellent in the skill of dying wool. Which covered - He speaks of the coverings they used in their ships or galleys: their tilts, as our boat - men call them.

Zidon - An ancient town and haven of Phoenicia, not far from Tyre. Arvad - Or Aradus, an island belonging to Phoenicia, twenty furlongs from the continent. Mariners - Rowers in thy galleys; the rich Tyrians would not employ their own in such servile works, they hired strangers. Wise men - Thy learned men: for navigation was the great study of the Tyrians.

The ancients - Old experienced workmen. Gebal - A town of Phoenicia near the sea. The wise men - Skilful in their trades. Were in thee - Who dwelt in Tyre for gain. All the ships - Ships from all parts of the sea, full of mariners, not only to manage the ships at sea, but to offer their service to the Tyrians for bringing in, or carrying out their wares.

Lud - Lydians, not those Cresus was king over, but those that dwelt in Egypt about the lake Maraeolis. Phut - Lybians, a people of Africa; these were their hired soldiers. Hanged the shield - In time of peace. They set forth - These stout, expert, well armed guards, were an honour to thee.

With - Mixed with other hired soldiers. The Gammadim - Probably men of Gammade, a town of Phoenicia.

Javan - The Grecians, particularly the Ionians. Tubal - The Asiatic Iberians, and the Albanians toward the Caspian sea. Meshech - The Cappadocians. They traded - Brought men to sell for slaves.

Of the house - Of the country. Togarmah - Armenia the lesser, Phrygia, Galatia, or Cappadocia. Horsemen - It is likely they might sell grooms, as best able to manage, and keep those horses.

Isles - In the Indian seas, and in the Red - sea traded with thee. Horns - Elk's horns, or wild goats. Ebony - Is a very solid, heavy, shining, black wood, fit for many choice works.

The multitude - The abundance of the Tyrian manufactures.

Minnith - The name of an excellent wheat country. Pannag - Some obscure place, which now is forgotten.

Javan - In the isle of Meroe, in Egypt.

Dedan - The posterity of Abraham by Keturah, who dwelt in Arabia, and were sheep - masters. Clothes - With which they lined their chariots.

Sheba - A country in Arabia Felix. Raamah - Another people of the same Arabia.

Haran - In Mesopotamia, where Abraham dwelt. Canneh - This is supposed to be the same with Calneh, Gen 10:10, afterwards Ctesiphon, a pleasant city on Tigris. Ashur - Assyria. Chilmad - A country between Assyria and Parthia.

The ships - The ships from all parts of the sea. Did sing - Had their songs to commend thy state.

Thy rowers - Thy governors and counsellors. Great waters - Dangers and difficulties. The east wind - The king of Babylon with his army. Hath broken - As surely will, as if he had already done it. In the midst - Where thou thoughtest thyself impregnable.

All thy company - All that are men fit for war, in the multitudes of people that are in thee. Shall fall - These all shall fall together.

The suburbs - The suburbs, which are nearest the sea, shall first hear the out - cries of pilots, and mariners.

Shall come down - ln the allegory of a miserable shipwreck, the prophet sets forth the fall of Tyre; and in this verse he represents them all shifting out of the sinking ship, in great confusion.

Wallow themselves in ashes - As men use to do in their greatest mournings.

In the sea - Alas! what was once her safeguard, is now her grave.

Went forth - Were landed. Thou filledst - There was enough to supply to the full.

By the seas - The Babylonians, that like seas shall swell, roar, and break in upon thee.

Troubled - They shall not be able to conceal the discomposure of their mind, but will shew it in their countenance.

Shall hiss - Will mock at thy fall.

2 Now thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus .

Pen a mournful Narrative of Tyrus fall, tell the World what she was, and what she is come to.

Both City, and Citizens too.

3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said , I am of perfect beauty.

Personate Tyrus as near thee, and hearing what thou say'st unto, or of her, describe her, that she may know thou speakest to her.

That dwellest, so Heb.

Entrances Heb. she was but four Furlongs, or five hundred Paces, or half our English mile from the Continent, as 'twere in the very door of the Sea, far enough off to have convenient Harbours between her, and the Continent, and to be out of danger of sudden, or easie surprises.

A rich and populous Emporie, or Mart for all Commodities, either to vend or buy to Islanders, or those that dwell on firm Land.

In thy Riches, Strength, Alliances, and Trade, thou art grown proud, thou hast thought, and said too, a great deal more, than becomes a changeable State,

Thou hast boasted of the excellency of thy Government, the strength of thy City, the inaccessibleness of thy scituation, nearness, strength, and obligations of thy Allies, and as if nothing were wanting to perpetuate thy Glory, and Happiness, poor self-flattering Tyre! But let's view particulars.

Marginal references: chap. 28.12.; Heb. perfect of beauty.

4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

Weak Borders, which an Enemy easily breaks through, are a great defect in a state; well Tyre, thou art well secured here, thine are in the Sea that surrounds and secureth thee.

Thy first founders, whoever they were; Agenor King of Phaenice chose wisely to build a City in safety; or by Builders may be meant such, who in after times did add to the first Foundation: These were Masters of their Art, and added this to the Natural strength, and beauty of the place, thus thou art perfected at home.

Marginal references: Heb. heart.

5 They have made all thy ship-boards of fir-trees of Senir : they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

Thy Shipwrights.

The Planks and Benches, or Transomes for their Ships.

Of the best, and finest firr-trees.

Senir, i. e. Hermon, Deut. 3.9.

For height, strength, durableness, and pleasing smell, beside smoothness of grain, and fitness for curious carvings, best of Tre[illegible: 1 letter]s.

whose Cedars excelled others.

Marginal references: Heb. built.

6 Of the oaks of Bashan they made thine oares: the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.

Of Pines, say some of Chestnut-tre[illegible: 2 letters], say others; but, since Oakes, and those of Bashan, are famous in Sacred Dendrology, I know not why we should not keep to our own version, since the primary notation of the Heb. leads us to it.

As we read these words, there arise many difficulties in the expounding them, if the conjecture of the Learned Bochart be well considered, 'twill seem very probable, the words would be better rendred thus; Thy benches they have made of Ivory with box brought out, &c. For the Isles of Chi[illegible: 1 letter]tim afforded much and large box trees, whereas Ivory, or the Elephants tooth, we know, is the Merchandize of other Countreys, and the Elephant a Forreigner to all the parts of Europe; nor are the Teeth of Elephants of that largeness to afford breadth for s[illegible: 1 letter]ats, and benches, nor shall we find any such company of As[illegible: 1 letter]hurites, if we inquire for them. I shall therefore subscribe to that Learned Man in the opinion, That here are two words read divided, and by mistake Translated as divided words, which ought to have been read in one word, [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 span] 46. [illegible: 1 span] [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 span] and so translated as 'tis in Isa. 41.19. where we translate [non-Latin text not transcribed] box, then all is plain, and the sense this, That from the Isles, and parts about the Ionean, Aegean, and other Seas of the Mediterrane, where this Box Tree is a Native, as in Corsica, Apulia, &c. and of great growth, and firmness, fit to saw into boards for benches, they were conveyed to Tyrus, where their artists inlaid these box boards with Ivory, and made them beautiful seats in their Gallies, and Ships.

Marginal references: Or, they have made thy hatches of ivory well troden.; [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 span] 46. [illegible: 1 span] [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 span]; Heb. the daughter.

7 Fine linnen with broidered work from Egypt was that thou spreadest forth to be thy sail, blue and purple from the Isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

Whereas Thrift teaches us to use the course Linnen for like purposes, these prodigal Tyrians used the finest silken sails, as we may render the words.

Divers Figures, curiously drawn with the needle in this fine Linnen, which made exceeding costly sailes, yet pride, and wantonness in some of them went to the charges of it.

Where was much of this fine linnen, and many of these neat embroiderers.

Or violet colour, and purple both rich, and noble colours: The Garments of Great Men and Princes were made hereof, Gen. 41.42. Pr. 31.22. see chap. 16.10. let. i.

Either from the Sea Coast of Aeolis in the lesser Asia, the Inhabitants whereof were excellent in the skil of dying wool, or from Peloponnesus, in which is one Country called Elis, famous for fine Linnen, and about the mouth of the River Eurotas. The fishing for the purple fish was famously known, so that it might be this place beside the Isles of the Aegean and Cretian Seas, as Coa, Nysirus, (called from its purples Porphyris) Cythera, and the Cyclades, which are many; some 12 of better note we might name, as now called Andro, Pario, Zea, Sdi[illegible: 1 letter]li, Micoli, &c.

He speaks not here of Garments, but of the Coverings they used in their Ships, or Gallies; Their Tilts, as our Boatmen call them, the clothes they spread over their heads on Ship-board, to keep them from Sun and Weather, were such as befitted Kings, and Princes for costliness, and beauty.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 span].

8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners : thy wise men O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.

An antient Town, and Haven of Phaenicia, not far from Tyre.

Better known by its other name Aradus an Island belonging to Phaenicia, some say 20. other say seven furlongs from the Continent.

Rowers in thy Gallies, the Rich Tyrians would not employ their own in such servile works, they hired Strangers, these Zidonians and Arvadaeans, or Aradins once thy equals, thou hast now outstript, and makest thy servants, with pride enough.

Thy learned men; for Navigation was the great Study of the Tyrians, and who were best skilled in this were the learned, or wise men among them, whom they had of their own, and trusted to be Pilots, which employment carryed honour in it to suit the proud humor of the Tyrians.

9 The antients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers : all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

Old experienced workmen.

Skilful in their Trades.

Hired and dwelt in Tyrus for gain sake, that they might be still imployed.

Shipwrights to build no doubt, as well as repair, and strengthen their Ships.

Ships from all parts of the Sea, full of Mariners, not only to manage the Ships at Sea, but to offer their service to the Tyrians for bringing in, or carrying out of their wares, so that they might reap the profit, whilest others did undergo trouble and danger of trafficking by Sea. Factors, and Warehouse-Keepers, and brokers.

Marginal references: A Town of Phaenicia near the Sea, one of the four principal Towns, to which belonged a jurisdiction over a fourth part of Phaenicia mentioned Psal. 83.7. among the Conspirators against Israel and the Giblites, 1 Kings 5.18. Natives of Gebal are called stone squarers, people fitted for hard, and servile works.; Or, [illegible: 1 word] chi[illegible: 1 letter]ks.; Heb. [illegible: 1 span].

10 They of Persia , and of Lud , and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee, they set forth thy comeliness.

Persians excellent Archers.

Lydians, not those Croesus was King over, but those, that dwelt in Egypt about the Lake Marcotis, or higher towards Aethiopia, if they were not of that Countrey, Aethiopians themselves.

Libyans a People of Africa, these were their hired Souldiers, and ever served in their army under Tyrian Commanders.

Stationary Souldiers in time of Peace, and who were sent out by Sea, or Land as occasion required in a time of War.

In time of Peace, or might they not so often as they came off the Guards bring each man his Armour, and hang it up in the publick Armory?

Which defended the body.

Which covered the head.

These stout expert, well armed Guards were an honour to the State they served, and their Arsenal especially did prove the gallantry of this Tyrian State.

11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about , and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about ; they have made thy beauty perfect.

See verse 8. let. c.

Mixt with other hired Souldiers made up this Military Forces.

Kept Guard upon the Walls.

Some say Pigmies or Dwarfs, because the word Heb. is a Cubit, but the whole story of such Cubit-men is fabulous. Others think it is men bold, and couragious, and the word of Syriac origine, and sense, and so fitly expressing the temper of Syrian or Syrophenician Souldiers. Or else the men who came from Gammade, a Town of Ph[illegible: 1 letter]nicia. Or possibly such as came from Ancon another Town of Phonice, and this Town had its name from its situation on a piece of Land, that resembles the Cubit, Greek, [non-Latin text not transcribed], and in the Hebrew, [non-Latin text not transcribed].

Which were many, erected for strength, and defence.

By this it appears these Towers were also publick Armories, whence they fetched Armes, when needful, and where they laid them up, when no farther use of them.

Added much to her beauty, a well Armed State being among states as beautiful, as a proper well armed Souldier among men.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant, by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver , iron , tin and lead , they traded in thy fairs.

The City or Countrey for the Inhabitants, some say Car[illegible: 1 letter]thaginians; others Tarsus in Cilicia; others with more probability say it is Tartessus, an antient Town on the mouth of the River B[illegible: 1 letter]tis, or rather, over against it, in an Island, (where Gades now Cadiz) a convenient Port to Export the rich Mettals, that were brought down Baetis from the Countrey abounding with them, and through which their Baetis ran, and the inhabitants of this Tartessus furnisht the Tyrians with them.

Spain was full of.

Iron they had, Spanish Iron is well known these were the product of the Countrey.

It is probable, they fetcht this from some Islands over against the Spanish Coast called Cassiterides, [illegible: 1 word]. Iacobus [illegible: 2 letters]mannus in [illegible: 1 word]. univ. in [illegible: 1 word] Cassite [illegible: 2 letters]s. one of which a late Geographer names Zigarga.

Lead they had from the same place, and carried all to Tyrus and sold it to them; for they kept Market, and Traded in the Fairs of Tyrus, at this day our own Countrey is most noted for Tin, and Lead, which some say, was fetcht by the Phenicians if so, for ought I see to the contrary, the Tartessians who were a People before ever the Tyrians came into those parts, might first Trade here, and fetch it hence, and carry it to Tyre, the Voyage being neither long, or dangerous enough between that Island, and our Cornwall, to render the thing difficult, or the conjecture improbable.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. Iacobus [illegible: 2 letters]mannus in [illegible: 1 word]. univ. in [illegible: 1 word] Cassite [illegible: 2 letters]s.

13 Javan , Tubal , and Meshech they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.

The Graecians, particularly the Ionians.

The Asiatick Iberians, &c. The Albanians toward the Caspian Sea.

The Cappadocians, with the Moschi, who dwelt about Cholcis, the Countrey now called Mengrelia.

Brought men to sell for slaves, so the Greeks did the ([illegible: 1 letter]Mancipia Ionica) Ionian Slaves were known, and valued in the East, especially the handsome Girles to wait on great Ladies, the too great desire hereof in Atossa, Darius his Queen, is said to be the chief cause of his War on Greece, and as to the other, beside their servile inclinations, they were so barbarous, and inhuman, and had opportunities to sieze Men, Women, and Children to sell them, that no doubt the Market at Tyre was full of them.

Of which Mettal there was great store, they say, in Cappadocia, and Iberia, which they brought with them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]r, in the Soul [illegible: 1 word].; Or, merchan [illegible: 2 letters].

14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy faires with horses , and horsemen , and mules .

Of the Countrey.

Armenia the lesser, or Phrygia, Galatiae, or Cappadocia, or Paphlagonia.

All which Countreys, as they are Neighbours to each other, so they abounded in Horses, and as they had many for number, so they had good for quality, and furnisht their Neighbours; tis reported the Cappadocians paid 2000 Horses yearly Tribute to the Persians. And as they bordered on each other, 'tis likely, they might be reckoned thus together.

It is like with either many Horses, or some choice ones, which they sold, they might sell their Grooms, as best able to manage, and keep those Horses.

The Countreys above mentioned, especially Cappadocia, had many Mules, which they sold to their Neighbours, Mules, which are a mixt Creature of a Mare, and He-Asse.

15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants, many Isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present , horns of ivory , and ebeny.

Vid. chap. 25. ver. 13 let. f. This Dedan was in Ara[illegible: 1 letter]ia, built by Dedan the Son of Regma, not far from the Persi[illegible: 2 letters] Gulf, and now called Daden, whence through the Red Sea they might convey their own Merchandise.

In the Indian Seas, and in the Red Sea Traded with thee.

Knowing how acceptable they were to get thy favour, they either made p[illegible: 2 letters]sents, and gave these things, or brought them to sell.

Elkes horns, or Wild Goats, some think tis meant of the Unicorn, but the first is likest.

Ivory, not of, the Heb. is not in Regimi[illegible: 1 letter]e, but in apposition, and should be read they brought thee Presents, Horns, Ivory, and Ebeny, which is a very solid, heavy, shining and black wood, [illegible: 1 letter]it for many choice workes.

16 Syria was thy merchant, by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple , and broidered work , and fine linnen , and coral and agate .

Well known to all.

The abundance of the Tyrian Manufacture for all uses, which the Syrians could have no where else.

Rather for Emraulds, a rich, and lovely stone, or carbuncles, as others have it.

Or violet coloured c[illegible: 1 letter]othes.

Vid. ver. 7. let. u.

See ver. 7. let. t.

Men [illegible: 1 word] this may be Rubies, Carbuncles, or chalcedonies, or chrystal with which they made Looking Glasses.

A stone well k[illegible: 2 letters]wn to us, but not so well known, whether it exactly translate the Hebr. [non-Latin text not transcribed] here used; some say 'tis the chrysoprase, a stone mixt with gold colour, and green, and some such mixture may be seen in some Agates.

Marginal references: Heb. thy works.; Heb. Chrysoprase.

17 Judah , and the land of Israel , they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith , and Pannag , and honey , and oyl , and Balm .

The Two Tribes, or Kingdom of Iudah.

The Kingdom of Israel, or the Ten Tribes until their dispersion.

The name of some rich, and excellent wheat Country, 'tis mentioned in Iudg. 11.33. on occasion of I[illegible: 1 letter]phthah's slaying the Ammonites, as lying on their borders, and 'tis said there is a Town of that name still in being about four miles from Esbus (or Sabasant as now called) in the way toward Philadelphia, formerly Rabbath.

Some doubt, whether this be a proper name of any Country, or Region, but if 'tis, they conclude it must be Phaenicia, but do not tell us how Iudah and Israel should trade their Wheat in Tyre Market. It may be 'twas some more obscure place, which now is forgotten.

With which Canaan flowed.

In making and selling, whereof the labour, care▪ and profit of that Country did lie.

The choicest balms were those of Gilead, whence 'tis probable 'twas carried to Tyre; or it may be 'twas Rosin, of which they had great use. The Chaldee paraphrast interprets it by the word, that denotes wax, and so it may possibly be a good Commodity in Tyre.

Marginal references: Or, rosin.

18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches: in the wine of Helbon , and white wool.

A very antient and wealthy City of Syria, and the Royal City.

See the phrase, ver. 16. let. b.

Though the Tyrians had many rich and lovely Commodities, yet it pleased the Damascens to bring chiefly two of their Commodities in exchange richest Wines to please the Palat of the luxurious Tyrians, and finest Wool, to cloth their pride.

This place I meet no where else; Ptolom. hath Chalibonis in Syria, perhaps that may be it. Others to save travel, make it a common name sweet, or smooth, or fat Wine; for Helbon comes from a word that signifies fat.

19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy faires: bright iron , cassia, and calamus were in thy market.

If twere the Tribe of Dan it must be understood of a time before the Captivity of the ten Tribes, but there is a learned man tells us of Dana a City of Taprobana, or the Island Zeilan mentioned by Ptolomy, and this learned man will have this meant.

Not Iavan or Greece, saith that learned man, but an other Iavan in the Isle Mer[illegible: 1 letter]e in remote parts of Egypt where is a principal Town Vzal, or Asel, from whence these Merchants came, and therefore stiled Iavan of Vzal, or Iavan Meuzal, and if the Cassia or Calamus mentioned in the verse, were the Wares brought in by the Danites, and Iavanites, I should go as far as Meroe and Taprobana to send them, but if the Cassia and Calamus were brought up at Tyre, I would believe they lived nearer, that they were Graecian Pedlars, or in a Northern dialect Merchants, that bought them, and were meant in the Text.

Polished, as we see now an art, which so much betters the common sort of Iron, and refines it, that 'tis of great value. Cassia and Calamus are sweet Druggs.

Marginal references: Or, Meuza[illegible: 1 letter].

20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots .

The posterity of Abraham by Keturah, who dwelt in Arabia, and were Sheep-Masters, and no doubt knew how to make fine Clothes of their Wool.

With which they lined their Chariots, and covered them, also they used them for Saddle Clothes, &c.

Marginal references: Heb. clothes of freedom.

21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

A large Countrey, and distinguisht into Desert, or Sandy, which cannot keep an honest man, it affords Thieves enough; next is the Stony or Petraea, which afforded good pasturage for Sheep and Goats, and the third Faelix, or happy, most remote from T[illegible: 1 letter]re.

For there were many such among those Kedarens, or Scenites, who dwelt in Tents, bred, and [illegible: 1 letter]ed Cattel, and carried them to Tyre Market, furnisht the Shambles at Tyre, and their Altars too for Sacrifices.

Marginal references: Heb they were the merchants of thy hand.

22 The merchant of Sheba and Raamah , they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs, with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones , and gold.

A Countrey in Arabia Faelix, whence the Queen came that visited Solomon.

'Tis read Rhegma by change of [non-Latin text not transcribed] into g as in Gomorrah, another people of the same Arabia. This Rhegma Brother to Sheba, settled near him in that fruitful Land, and built Towns there, and grew to fame.

This Countrey a[illegible: 2 letters]ords all sort of the best Aromaticks, or Spices, which were carried to Tyre.

Rich Jewels of all sorts, and Gold too.

23 Haran and Canneh , and Eden , the merchants of Sheba , Ashur , and Chilmad were thy merchants.

Haran or Charran in Mesopotamia, where Abraham dwelt.

No where else mentioned, supposed to be the same with Calneh, Gen. 10.10. afterwards C[illegible: 2 letters]s[illegible: 1 letter]phon, a pleasant City on Tigris, some three miles from S[illegible: 1 letter]l[illegible: 2 letters]cia, 'twas built by the Parthians, whose King resided there in the Winter, because of the mildness of the Air.

A pleasant Countrey, part of Babylonia, the Chaldee Paraphr[illegible: 2 letters] calls it Hadiah, and leads us to Adiabene, which Trajan conquered in his expedition against Babylon.

Whether the same mentioned ver. 22. which see, or some other, is not certain, perhaps it may be Saba, whence Sabaeans.

Ashur, the name of the Father of the Nation, for Assyria.

A Countrey or part of Media, between Assyria and Parthia, most likely to be Gaala of Media.

24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things , in blue clothes , and broidered work , and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar among thy merchandise.

Either last named, or all that have been mentioned, though I conjecture the first is the true meaning, those rich, stately, and sumptuous Nations traded with Tyre.

Of rich precious things.

Which those Nations delighted in, especially the Chaldaeans and Assyrians, chap. 23.6.

Bought of Egyptians, sold to Assyrians, &c.

Chests of Cedar curious, yet strong made on purpose to carry sumptuous Apparel, bought up at Tyre and in those Chests conveyed to all parts of the Assyrian Empire, and to the Northern Nations.

It may refer to the Chests mentioned, or to other sort of rich Wares neatly made up, and bound for security with Cords.

By this it should seem, these Chests were not like our ordinary Boxes, but as choice Cabinets, and good Merchandise.

Marginal references: Or, excellent things.; Heb. foldings.

25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market ; and thou wast replenished , and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

The Ships from all parts of the Sea, which came to thee, and traded with thee, praised thee, boasted of thee.

Had their songs of praise, which were made to commend thy state.

As Mariners in the Ports, where they arrive usually do with Mirth, and Songs entertain one another, so at Tyre.

All Trading came to thee, none like thee in thy Warehouses, or publick Stores.

And to do thee right, thou wert very glorious, magnificent, and beautiful, none like thee: Hitherto the Prophet hath recounted Tyrus greatness, now cometh her fall, foretold, as if already come.

26 ¶ Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters : the east-wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas .

Thy Governours and Counsellors.

Unadvisedly.

Dangers and difficulties, in which thou art like to be shipwrackt, in which thou wilt perish.

Which is very tempestuous, and dangerous to Ships in those Seas; by this is meant the King of Babylon with his Army, whose march was somewhat by East to Tyre.

As surely will, as if he had already done it, he hath broken, it is the Prophetick stile.

Where thou art far from shoar, and must therefore sink and drown, or where thou thoughtest thy self impregnable.

Where many Seas meer, 'tis impossible for a half starved Creature to swim out, so shall Tyrus perish in the violent currents of many Seas, many Nations fierce, and cruel under Nebuchadnezzar shall swallow thee up.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

27 Thy riches , and thy fairs , thy merchandise , thy mariners , and thy pilots , thy calkers , and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war that are in thee, and in all thy company that is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruine .

The vast Treasures of the publick, nor the great wealth of private Citizens shall purchase Tyrus a continued prosperity.

These shall be interrupted by the Siege, and none, that frequented them, shall prevail for access to them.

The stock of goods of all sorts now in thy Warehouses, and what thou hast trusted out.

Verse 8. let. d.

Vid. ver. 8. let. e.

Vid. ver. 9. let. k.

See ver. 9. let. l.

Vid. ver. 10. and 11. tot

All that are men fit for War in the multitudes of People, that are in thee, or all thy own Citizens, that are thy Militia, Trained Bands, or Artillery Company.

'Tis plural, these all shall at once fall together.

See ver. 26. let. g.

The time indeed was long preparing for the fall, but a day finisht it.

Utter desolation.

Marginal references: Rev. [illegible: 1 span]; Or, [illegible: 1 span] all.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word].

28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

The lesser Cities on Terra Firma, alarmed with summons of their Governours to put themselves in a posture of defence. Or, the Waves, an elegant Hyperbole thus read, the very Waves which roar, and terrifie shall hear, and tremble at a stranger, and more doleful cry, then their own. Or, as our Version, the Suburbs, which are nearest the Sea shall first hear the outcries of Pilots, and Mariners despairing of escape, when, their Ship broken to pieces, all at once shreik out. So shall thy Citizens cry and fall.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word].

29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea; shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land.

In the Allegory of a miserable shipwrack, the Prophet sets forth Tyrus fall, and in this verse he represents them all shifting out of the shattered sinking Ship, in great confusion, and greater fear, the Slaves quit the Oars, the mariners throw up the Tacklings, Pilots leave the Helm, a[illegible: 1 letter]l make for the long Boat, and the Land, where they bewail their undone condition. Or, it may be more literally understood thus, all Seafaring men, who got their living by service done for Tyrus at Sea, seeing her utterly broken, shall leave the Ships, get to Land, that elsewhere they may get employment, or by a timely flight save themselves, and bewail their old Masters fall.

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly , and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in ashes.

With greatest cries they shall make the Countrey eccho forth their sorrows.

Either standing on higher ground over-against the shipwrackt City, Or rather, for thee, those Eastern People did use to lift up their voice in mourning, Iob 2.12. Ier. 2.18, 19. and 31.15. Zech. 11.3.

Their weeping shall be from a deep sense of the misery of t[illegible: 2 letters]ir Friends, and this exprest by bitter cryes, so such sorrow is exprest, Zeph. 1.14. Isaiah 22.4. and 33.7.

Another expression of great distress, and sorrow proper to those Countreys, Iosh. 7.6. Iob. 2.12. Lam. 2.10. and Ier. 6.26.

Rowl themselves in ashes, which they used to do in their greatest mournings, as Mic. 1.10. and Ier. 6.26. as every Countrey hath its peculiar manners, and customs in mourning, so had these customs, that exprest most vehement sorrows in gestures, which we are not accustomed unto.

31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth , and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart , and bitter wailing.

It was the custom of the Heathen, to either pull off with their hands, or cut off the hair of their heads in great mournings, which God forbad to his people, Lev. 18.28. Deut. 14.1.1. thus do Tyrus mourners in baldness express their sorrow, and despair.

Another usual Ceremony of mourners well known to all.

It shall be a hearty mourning, not a counterfeit one, this referring to the inward grief, the next bitter wailing refers to the outward expressing it.

32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea ?

In their sorrowful speeches of Tyrus.

Into their mouths, or with a composed, significant, and comprehensive form of speech to shew much grief in few words.

A few years since no city like her in beauty, riches, glory, and joy, now none like her in all the contraries.

Now no more Tyrus the flourishing, the renowned, the Mart of Nations, and the stately built; but now the destroyed, the silent overwhelmed with grief, which was full of Songs.

Alas! what was once her safeguard, is now her grave, what enricht her once hath now swallowed all up at once.

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas thou filledst many people ; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches , and of thy merchandise.

Brought home from all Coasts.

Were Landed, brought on shoar for the Mart.

There was enough to supply to the full.

Numerous, stately, sumptuous Nations, though their prodigality was great, thou furnishedst them, hadst wares rich, and stately enough for all of them.

Such influence had thy vast Trade, that not only meaner men and subjects, but Kings themselves were made more wealthy by it.

i. e. All Kings of the known World, or Kings of Nations far off, as well as neighbouring Kings.

Marginal references: The greatness of thy Trade, the variety of thy wares brought from all parts, were thy own riches, and enricht all thou didst Trade with; Kings were enricht by Customs, and Tolls paid to them by the enriching their subjects, who thereby were fitter to pay Taxes, or by furnishing their treasuries with all the peculiar Treasures of Kings, the rare, and precious Jewels, which they esteem; and since we know some Kings did Trade too, by this Tyrus increast their Wealth.

34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters , thy merchandise , and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

So soon as, or ever after the unhappy day.

Shattered to pieces.

The Powers of the Babylonians that like Seas shall swell, roar, and break in upon thee.

In the deepest afflictions, and by sorest oppressions, and violence.

All thy Trade.

The multitude of thy Citizens, of thy hired Souldiers, of thy Allies abroad, and of those, that came into thy Markets for Trade shall cease, wither, and perish too.

35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid , they shall be troubled in their countenance.

Strictly and in a larger sense the Sea-Coasts.

Wondering, it ever should be effected, that Tyrus should fall.

Knowing how they are much less able to resist, and defend themselves▪ and not knowing where that mighty Conqueror would next trie his Arms, and Fortune.

They shall not be able to conceal the discomposure of their mind, but in their countenance a trouble made up of grief, fear, and indignation, grief for their Friends, fear for themselves, against that cruelty, and inhumanity, which without respect to any thing dear to mankind, ruined the glory of the World, destroyed, what could not be repaired by all the riches, and wisdom, and bounty of the Babylonish Kingdom.

36 The merchants among the people shall hisse at thee: thou shalt be a terrour, and never shalt be any more .

This usually is an expression of scorn, and contempt poured forth on the Person hist at, if thus understood the meaning is there should be some among Tyrus Customers that would rejoice at her fall, and flout at her, either, perhaps wronged by her in their Trade, chap. 28.16. or else with envy, and expectation of her Trade to turn to them, return to her the wicked carriage she shewed to Ierusalem fallen, and sacked; if it be a sign of ought else, 'tis of wonder as, 1 King. 9.8.

Matter of many fears, and to many People, who do, or shall hear how terribly thine Enemies have raged against thee and prevailed.

Vid. c. 26.14, let. o.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]hap. 26.21.; [illegible: 1 letter]eb. terrors.; [illegible: 1 letter]eb. shall not for ever.

Eze 27:1-11

The lamentation commences with a picture of the glory of the city of Tyre, its situation, its architectural beauty, its military strength and defences (Eze 27:3-11), and its wide-spread commercial relations (Eze 27:12-25); and then passes into mournful lamentation over the ruin of all this glory (Eze 27:26-36).

Introduction and description of the glory and might of Tyre. - Eze 27:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 27:2. And do thou, O son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, Eze 27:3. And say to Tyre, Thou who dwellest at the approaches of the sea, merchant of the nations to many islands, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Tyre, thou sayest, I am perfect in beauty. Eze 27:4. In the heart of the seas is thy territory; thy builders have made thy beauty perfect. Eze 27:5. Out of cypresses of Senir they built all double-plank-work for thee; they took cedars of Lebanon to make a mast upon thee. Eze 27:6. They made thine oars of oaks of Bashan, thy benches they made of ivory set in box from the islands of the Chittaeans. Eze 27:7. Byssus in embroidery from Egypt was thy sail, to serve thee for a banner; blue and red purple from the islands of Elishah was thine awning. Eze 27:8. The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers; thy skilful men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy sailors. Eze 27:9. The elders of Gebal and its skilful men were with thee to repair thy leaks; all the ships of the sea and their mariners were in thee to barter thy goods. Eze 27:10. Persian and Lydian and Libyan were in thine army, thy men of war; shield and helmet they hung up in thee; they gave brilliancy to thee. Eze 27:11. The sons of Arvad and thine army were upon thy walls round about, and brave men were upon they towers; they hung up their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect. - The lamentation commences with an address to Tyre, in which its favourable situation for purposes of trade, and the perfect beauty of which she was conscious, are placed in the foreground (Eze 27:3). Tyre is sitting, or dwelling, at the approaches of the sea. מבואת ים, approaches or entrances of the sea, are harbours into which ships sail and from which they depart, just as מבוא העיר sa t, the gate of the city, it both entrance and exit. This description does not point to the city on the mainland, or Old Tyre, but answers exactly to Insular Tyre with its two harbours.Insular Tyre possessed two harbours, a northern one called the Sidonian, because it was on the Sidonian side, and one on the opposite or south-eastern side, which was called the Egyptian harbour from the direction in which it pointed. The Sidonian was the more celebrated of the two, and consisted of an inner harbour, situated within the wall of the city, and an outer one, formed by a row of rocks, which lay at a distance of about three hundred paces to the north-west of the island, and ran parallel to the opposite coast of the mainland, so as to form a roadstead in which ships could anchor (vid., Arrian, ii. 20; Strabo, xvi. 2. 23). This northern harbour is still held by the city of Sur, whereas the Egyptian harbour with the south-eastern portion of the island has been buried by the sand driven against the coasts by the south winds, so that even the writers of the Middle Ages make no allusion to it. (See Movers, Phönizier, II. 1, pp. 214ff.). ישׁבתי, with the connecting i, which is apparently confounded here after the Aramaean fashion with the i of the feminine pronoun, and has therefore been marked by the Masora as superfluous (vid., Ewald, §211 b). The combination of רכלת with 'אל איּים ר may be accounted for from the primary meaning of רכל, to travel about as a merchant: thou who didst go to the nations on many shores to carry on thy trade. Tyre itself considers that she is perfect in her beauty, partly on account of her strong position in the sea, and partly because of her splendid edifices.Curtius, iv. 2: Tyrus et claritate et magnitudine ante omnes urbes Syriae Phoenicesque memorabilis. (Cf. Strabo, xvi. 2. 22.)

In the description which follows of this beauty and glory, from Eze 27:4 onwards, Tyre is depicted allegorically as a beautiful ship, splendidly built and equipped throughout, and its destruction is afterwards represented as a shipwreck occasioned by the east wind (Eze 27:26.).Jerome recognised this allegory, and has explained it correctly as follows: “He (the prophet) speaks τροπικῶς, as though addressing a ship, and points out its beauty and the abundance of everything. Then, after having depicted all its supplies, he announces that a storm will rise, and the south wind (auster) will blow, by which great waves will be gathered up, and the vessel will be wrecked. In all this he is referring to the overthrow of the city by King Nabuchodonosor,” etc. Rashi and others give the same explanation.

The words, “in the heart of the seas is thy territory” (Eze 27:4), are equally applicable to the city of Tyre and to a ship, the building of which is described in what follows. The comparison of Tyre to a ship was very naturally suggested by the situation of the city in the midst of the sea, completely surrounded by water. As a ship, it must of necessity be built of wood. The shipbuilders selected the finest kinds of wood for the purpose; cypresses of Antilibanus for double planks, which formed the sides of the vessel, and cedar of Lebanon for the mast. Senir, according to Deu 3:9, was the Amoritish name of Hermon or Antilibanus, whereas the Sidonians called it Sirion. On the other hand, Senir occurs in 1Ch 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, where they are used to denote separate portions of Antilibanus. Ezekiel evidently uses Senir as a foreign name, which had been retained to his own time, whereas Sirion had possibly become obsolete, as the names had both the same meaning (see the comm. on Deu 3:9). The naming of the places from which the several materials were obtained for the fitting out of the ship, serve to heighten the glory of its construction and give an ideal character to the picture. All lands have contributed their productions to complete the glory and might of Tyre. Cypress-wood was frequently used by the ancients for buildings and (according to Virgil, Georg. ii. 443) also for ships, because it was exempt from the attacks of worms, and was almost imperishable, and yet very light (Theophr. Hist. plant. v. 8; Plinii Hist. nat. xvi. 79). לחתים, a dual form, like חמתים in 2Ki 25:4; Isa 22:11, double-planks, used for the two side-walls of the ship. For oars they chose oaks of Bashan (משּׁוט as well as משׁוט in Eze 27:29 from שׁוּט, to row), and the rowing benches (or deck) were of ivory inlaid in box. קרשׁ is used in Exo 26:15. for the boards or planks of the wooden walls of the tabernacle; here it is employed in a collective sense, either for the rowing benches, of which there were at least two, and sometimes three rows in a vessel, one above another, or more properly, for the deck of the vessel (Hitzig). This was made of she4n, or ivory, inlaid in wood. The ivory is mentioned first as the most valuable material of the קרשׁ, the object being to picture the ship as possessing all possible splendour. The expression בּתּ־אשּׁרים, occasions some difficulty, partly on account of the use of the word בּת, and partly in connection with the meaning of  אשּׁרים , although so much may be inferred from the context, that the allusion is to some kind of wood inlaid with ivory, and the custom of inlaying wood with ivory for the purpose of decoration is attested by Virgil, Aen. x. 137:“Vel quale per artem Inclusum buxo, aut Oricia terebintho Lucet ebur.”

But the use of בּת does not harmonize with the relation of the wood to the ivory inserted in wood; nor can it be defended by the fact that in Lam 3:3 an arrow is designated “the son of the quiver.” According to this analogy, the ivory ought to have been called the son of the Ashurim, because the ivory is inserted in the wood, and not the wood in the ivory.The Targum has paraphrased it in this way: דפּין דאשׁכרעין מכבשׁין בשׁן דפיל, i.e., planks of box or pine inlaid with ivory.

We must therefore adopt the solution proposed by R. Salomo and others - namely, that the Masoretic division of בת־אשּׁרים into two words is founded upon a mistake, and that it should be read as one word בּתאשּׁרים, ivory in תּאשּׁרים, i.e., either sherbin-cedar (according to more recent expositors), or box-wood, for which Bochart (Phal. III 5) has decided. The fact that in Isa 60:13 the תּאשּׁוּר is mentioned among the trees growing upon Lebanon, whereas here the תּאשּׁרים are described as coming from the islands of the כּתּיּם, does not furnish a decisive argument to the contrary. We cannot determine with certainty what species of tree is referred to, and therefore it cannot be affirmed that the tree grew upon Lebanon alone, and not upon the islands of the Mediterranean. כּתּיּם are the Κιτιεῖς, the inhabitants of the port of Κίτιον in Cyprus; then the Cyprians generally; and here, as in Jer 2:10, where איּים of the כּתּיּם are mentioned, in a still broader sense, inhabitants of Cyprus and other islands and coast-lands of the Mediterranean. In 1 Macc. 1:1 and 8:5, even Macedonia is reckoned as belonging to the γὴ Χεττειεῖμ or Κιτίεων. Consequently the place from which the תּאשּׁרים were brought does not furnish any conclusive proof that the Cyprian pine is referred to, although this was frequently used for ship-building. There is just as much ground for thinking of the box, as Bochart does, and we may appeal in support of this to the fact that, according to Theophrastus, there is no place in which it grows more vigorously than on the island of Corsica. In any case, Ezekiel mentions it as a very valuable kind of wood; though we cannot determine with certainty to what wood he refers, either from the place where it grew or from the accounts of the ancients concerning the kinds of wood that ship-builders used. The reason for this, however, is a very simple one - namely, that the whole description has an ideal character, and, as Hitzig has correctly observed, “the application of the several kinds of wood to the different parts of the ship is evidently only poetical.”

The same may be said of the materials of which, according to Eze 27:7, the sails and awning of the ship were made. Byssus in party-coloured work (רקמה, see comm. on Exo 26:36), i.e., woven in mixed colours, probably not merely in stripes, but woven with figures and flowers.”See Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, III Pl. xvi., where engravings are given of Egyptian state-ships with embroidered sails. On one ship a large square sail is displayed in purple-red and purple-blue checks, surrounded by a gold border. The vessel of Antony and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium had also purple sails; and in this case the purple sails were the sign of the admiral’s ship, just as in Ezekiel they serve as a mark of distinction (נס). See Movers, II 3, p. 165, where the accounts of ancient writers concerning such state-ships are collected together. “From Egypt;” the byssus-weaving of Egypt was celebrated in antiquity, so that byssus-linen formed one of the principal articles of export (vid., Movers, ut supra, pp. 317ff.). מפרשׁ, literally, spreading out, evidently signifies the sail, which we expect to find mentioned here, and with which the following clause, “to serve thee for a banner,” can be reconciled, inasmuch as it may be assumed either that the sails also served for a banner, because the ships had no actual flag, like those in Wilkinson’s engraving, or that the flag (נס) being also extended is included under the term מפרשׁ (Hitzig). The covering of the ship, i.e., the awning which was put up above the deck for protection from the heat of the sun, consisted of purple (תכלת and ארגּמן, see the comm. on Exo 25:4) from the islands of Elishah, i.e., of the Grecian Peloponesus, which naturally suggests the Laconian purple so highly valued in antiquity on account of its splendid colour (Plin. Hist. nat. ix. 36, xxi. 8). The account of the building of the ship is followed by the manning, and the attention paid to its condition. The words of Eze 27:8 may be taken as referring quite as much to the ship as to the city, which was in possession of ships, and is mentioned by name in Eze 27:8. The reference to the Sidonians and Arvad, i.e., to the inhabitants of Aradus, a rocky island to the north of Tripolis, as rowers, is not at variance with the latter; since there is no need to understand by the rowers either slaves or servants employed to row, and the Tyrians certainly drew their rowers from the whole of the Phoenician population, whereas the chief men in command of the ships, the captain and pilot (חבלים), were no doubt as a rule citizens of Tyre. The introduction of the inhabitants of Gebal, i.e., the Byblos of the Greeks, the present Jebail, between Tripolis and Berytus (see the comm. on Jos 13:5), who were noted even in Solomon’s time as skilful architects (1 Kings 5:32), as repairers of the leak, decidedly favours the supposition that the idea of the ship is still kept in the foreground; and by the naming of those who took charge of the piloting and condition of the vessel, the thought is expressed that all the cities of Phoenicia assisted to maintain the might and glory of Tyre, since Tyre was supreme in Phoenicia. It is not till Eze 27:9 that the allegory falls into the background. Tyre now appears no longer as a ship, but as a maritime city, into which all the ships of the sea sail, to carry on and improve her commerce.

Eze 27:10, Eze 27:11. Tyre had also made the best provision for its defence. It maintained an army of mercenary troops from foreign countries to protect its colonies and extend its settlements, and entrusted the guarding of the walls of the city to fighting men of Phoenicia. The hired troops specially named in Eze 27:10 are Pharas, Lud, and Phut. פּוּט is no doubt an African tribe, in Coptic Phaiat, the Libyans of the ancients, who had spread themselves over the whole of North Africa as far as Mauretania (see the comm. on Gen 10:6). לוּד is not the Semitic people of that name, the Lydians (Gen 10:22), but here, as in Eze 30:5; Isa 66:19, and Jer 46:9, the Hamitic people of לוּדים (Gen 10:13), probably a general name for the whole of the Moorish tribes, since לוּד (Eze 30:5) and לוּדים (Jer 44:9) are mentioned in connection with פּוּט as auxiliaries in the Egyptian army. There is something striking in the reference to פּרס, the Persians. Hävernick points to the early intercourse carried on by the Phoenicians with Persia through the Persian Gulf, through which the former would not doubt be able to obtain mercenary soldiers, for which it was a general rule to select tribes as remote as possible. Hitzig objects to this, on the ground that there is no proof that this intercourse with Persian through the Persian Gulf was carried on in Ezekiel’s time, and that even if it were, it does not follow that there were any Persian mercenaries. He therefore proposes to understand by פרס, Persians who had settled in Africa in the olden time. But this settlement cannot be inferred with sufficient certainty either from Sallust, Jug. c. 18, or from the occurrence of the African Μάκαι of Herodotus, iv. 175, along with the Asiatic (Ptol. vi. 7. 14), to take it as an explanation of פּרס. If we compare Eze 38:5, where Pârasis mentioned in connection with Cush and Phut, Gomer and Togarmah, as auxiliaries in the army of Gog, there can be no doubt that Asiatic Persians are intended there. And we have to take the word in the same sense here; for Hitzig’s objections consist of pure conjectures which have no conclusive force. Ezekiel evidently intends to give the names of tribes from the far-off east, west, and south, who were enlisted as mercenaries in the military service of Tyre. Hanging the shields and helmets in the city, to ornament its walls, appears to have been a Phoenician custom, which Solomon also introduced into Judah (1Ki 10:16-17, Sol 4:4), and which is mentioned again in the times of the Maccabees (1 Macc. 4:57). - A distinction is drawn in Eze 27:11 between the mercenary troops on the one hand, and the Aradians, and הילך, thine army, the military corps consisting of Tyrians, on the other. The latter appears upon the walls of Tyre, because native troops were employed to watch and defend the city, whilst the mercenaries had to march into the field. The ἁπ. λεγ. גּמּדים (Gammâdim) signifies brave men, as Roediger has conclusively shown from the Syrian usage, in his Addenda to Gesenius’ Thes. p. 70f. It is therefore an epitheton of the native troops of Tyre. - With the words, “they (the troops) completed thy beauty,” the picture of the glory of Tyre is rounded off, returning to its starting-point in Eze 27:4 and Eze 27:5.

Eze 27:12-25

This is followed by a description of the commerce of Tyre with all nations, who delivered their productions in the market of this metropolis of the commerce of the world, and received the wares and manufactures of this city in return. - Eze 27:12. Tarshish traded with thee for the multitude of goods of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants; with souls of men and brazen vessels they made thy barter. Eze 27:14. From the house of Togarmah they paid horses, riding-horses, and mules for thy sales. Eze 27:15. The sons of Dedan were thy merchants; many islands were at thy hand for commerce; ivory horns and ebony they brought thee in payment. Eze 27:16. Aram traded with thee for the multitude of thy productions; with carbuncle, red purple, and embroidery, and byssus, and corals, and rubies they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:17. Judah and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants; with wheat of Minnith and confectionery, and honey and oil, and balsam they made thy barter. Eze 27:18. Damascus traded with thee in the multitude of thy productions, for the multitude of goods of all kinds, with wine of Chelbon and white wool. Eze 27:19. Vedan and Javan from Uzal gave wrought iron for thy salves; cassia and calamus were for thy barter. Eze 27:20. Vedan was thy merchant in cloths spread for riding. Eze 27:21. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were at thy hand for commerce; lambs and rams and he-goats, in these they traded with thee. Eze 27:22. The merchants of Sheba and Ragmah, they were thy merchants; with all kinds of costly spices and with all kinds of precious stones and gold they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:23. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, Chilmad, were they merchants; Eze 27:24. They were thy merchants in splendid clothes, in purple and embroidered robes, and in treasures of twisted yarn, in wound and strong cords for thy wares. Eze 27:25. The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans, thy trade, and thou wast filled and glorious in the heart of the seas. - The enumeration of the different peoples, lands, and cities, which carried on trade with Tyre, commences with Tarshish (Tartessus) in the extreme west, then turns to the north, passes through the different lands of Anterior Asia and the Mediterranean to the remotest north-east, and ends by mentioning Tarshish again, to round off the list. But the lands and peoples, which are mentioned in Eze 27:5-11 as furnishing produce and manufactures for the building of Tyre, viz., Egypt and the tribes of Northern Africa, are left out. - To avoid wearisome uniformity in the enumeration, Ezekiel has used interchangeably the synonymous words which the language possessed for trade, besides endeavouring to give life to the description by a variety of turns of expression. Thus סחרתך (Eze 27:12, Eze 27:16, Eze 27:18), סחריך (Eze 27:21), and סחרת ידך (Eze 27:15), or סחרי ידך (Eze 27:21), are interchanged with רכליך (Eze 27:13, Eze 27:15, Eze 27:17, Eze 27:22, Eze 27:24), רכלתך (Eze 27:20, Eze 27:23), and מרכּלתּך (Eze 27:24); and, again, נתן עזבוניך (Eze 27:12, Eze 27:14, Eze 27:22), נתן  (Eze 27:16, Eze 27:19), with נתן מערבך (Eze 27:13, Eze 27:17), and בּמערבך היה (Eze 27:19), and השׁיב אשׁכּרך (Eze 27:15). The words סחר, participle of סחר, and רכל, from רכל morf, signify merchants, traders, who travel through different lands for purposes of trade. סחרת, literally, the female trader; and סחרה, literally, trade; then used as abstract for concrete, the tradesman or merchant. רכל, the travelling merchant. -  רכלת, the female trader, a city carrying on trade. מרכלת, trade or a place of trade, a commercial town. עזבונים (pluralet.) does not mean a place of trade, market, and profits (Gesenius and others); but according to its derivation from עזב, to leave, relinquish, literally, leaving or giving up, and as Gusset. has correctly explained it, “that which you leave with another in the place of something else which he has given up to you.” Ewald, in accordance with this explanation, has adopted the very appropriate rendering Absatz, or sale. נתן עזבוניך, with ב, or with a double accusative, literally, to make thy sale with something, i.e., to pay or to give, i.e., pay, something as an equivalent for the sale; 'נתן בּעזב, to give something for the sale, or the goods to be sold. מערב, barter, goods bartered with נתן, to give bartered goods, or carry on trade by barter.

The following are the countries and peoples enumerated: - תּרשׁישׁ, the Tyrian colony of Tarshish or Tartessus, in Hispania Baetica, which was celebrated for its wealth in silver (Jer 10:9), and, according to the passage before us, also supplied iron, tin, and lead (vid., Plin. Hist. nat. iii. 3 4, xxxiii. 6 31, xxiv. 14 41; Diod. Sic. v. 38). Further particulars concerning Tarshish are to be found in Movers, Phoeniz. II 2, pp. 588ff., and II 3, p. 36. - Javan, i.e., Jania, Greece or Greeks. - Tubal and Meshech are the Tibareni and Moschi of the ancients between the Black and Caspian Seas (see the comm. on Gen 10:2). They supplied souls of men, i.e., slaves, and things in brass. The slave trade was carried on most vigorously by the Ionians and Greeks (see Joel 4:6, from which we learn that the Phoenicians sold prisoners of war to them); and both Greeks and Romans drew their largest supplies and the best slaves from the Pontus (for proofs of this, see Movers, II 3, pp. 81f.). It is probable that the principal supplies of brazen articles were furnished by the Tibareni and Moschi, as the Colchian mountains still contain an inexhaustible quantity of copper. In Greece, copper was found and wrought in Euboea alone; and the only other rich mines were in Cyprus (vid., Movers, II 3, pp. 66, 67). - Eze 27:14. “From the house of Togarmah they paid,” i.e., they of the house of Togarmah paid. Togarmah is one of the names of the Armenians (see the comm. on Gen 10:3); and Strabo (XI 14. 9) mentions the wealth of Armenia in horses, whilst that in asses is attested by Herodotus (i. 194), so that we may safely infer that mules were also bred there. - Eze 27:15. The sons of Dedan, or the Dedanites, are, no doubt, the Dedanites mentioned in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Cush, who conducted the carrying trade between the Persian Gulf and Tyre, and whose caravans are mentioned in Isa 21:13. Their relation to the Semitic Dedanites, who are evidently intended in Eze 27:20, and by the inhabitants of Dedan mentioned in connection with Edom in Eze 25:13 and Jer 49:8, is involved in obscurity (see the comm. on Gen 10:7). The combination with איּים רבּים and the articles of commerce which they brought to Tyre, point to a people of southern Arabia settled in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf. The many איּים are the islands and coasts of Arabia on the Persian Gulf and Erythraean Sea.Movers (II 3, pp. 303ff.) adduces still further evidence in addition to that given above, namely, that “unquestionable traces of the ancient name have been preserved in the region in which the ancient Dedanites are represented as living, partly on the coast in the names Attana, Attene, which have been modified according to well-known laws, - the former, a commercial town on the Persian Gulf, visited by Roman merchants (Plin. vi. 32, §147); the latter, a tract of country opposite to the island of Tylos (Plin. l.c. §49), - and partly in the islands of the Persian Gulf” (p. 304). סחרת ידך, the commerce of thy hand, i.e., as abstr. pro concr., those who were ready to thy hand as merchants. קרנות שׁן, ivory horns. This is the term applied to the elephants’ tusks (shçn) on account of their shape and resemblance to horns, just as Pliny (Hist. nat. xviii. 1) also speaks of cornua elephanti, although he says, in viii. 3 (4), that an elephant’s weapons, which Juba calls cornua, are more correctly to be called dentes.The Ethiopians also call ivory Karna nage, i.e., cornu elephanti, and suppose that it is from horns, and not from tusks, that ivory comes (vid., Hiob Ludolph, Hist. Aeth. I c. 10).

The ἁπ. λεγ.. הובנים, Keri הבנים, signifies ἔβενος hebenum, ebony. The ancients obtained both productions partly from India, partly from Ethiopia (Plin. xii. 4 8). According to Dioscor. i. 130, the Ethiopian ebony was preferred to the Indian. השׁיב אשׁכּר to return payment (see the comm. on Psa 72:10).

In Eze 27:16, J. D. Michaelis, Ewald, Hitzig, and others read אדם for  ארם, after the lxx and Pesh., because Aram did not lie in the road from Dedan and the איּים to Israel (Eze 27:17), and it is not till Eze 27:18 that Ezekiel reaches Aram. Moreover, the corruption ארם for אדום could arise all the more readily from the simple fact that the defective form אדם only occurs in Ezekiel (Eze 25:14), and is altogether an extraordinary one. These reasons are undoubtedly worthy of consideration; still they are not conclusive, since the enumeration does not follow a strictly geographical order, inasmuch as Damascus is followed in Eze 27:19. by many of the tribes of Southern Arabia, so that Aram might stand, as Hävernick supposes, for Mesopotamian Aram, for which the articles mentioned in Eze 27:16 would be quite as suitable as for Edom, whose chief city Petra was an important place of commerce and emporium for goods. רב מעשׂיך, the multitude of thy works, thy manufactures. Of the articles of commerce delivered by ארם , the red purple, embroidery, and בּוּץ (the Aramaean name for byssus, which appears, according to Movers, to have originally denoted a species of cotton), favour Aram, particularly Babylonia, rather than Edom. For the woven fabrics of Babylonia were celebrated from the earliest times (vid., Movers, II 3, pp. 260ff.); and Babylon was also the oldest and most important market for precious stones (vid., Movers, p. 266). נפך is the carbuncle (see the comm. on Exo 28:18). כּדכּד, probably the ruby; in any case, a precious stone of brilliant splendour (vid., Isa 54:12). ראמות, corals or pearls (vid., Delitzsch on Job 28:18). - Judah (Eze 27:17) delivered to Tyre wheat of Minnith, i.e., according to Jdg 11:33, an Ammonitish place, situated, according to the Onomast., four Roman miles from Heshbon in the direction of Philadelphia. That Ammonitis abounded in wheat, is evident from 2Ch 27:5, although the land of Israel also supplied the Tyrians with wheat (1Ki 5:11). The meaning of the ἁπ. λεγ. דם̓̀בנ̓̀ב cannot be definitely ascertained. The rendering confectionery is founded upon the Aramaean פּנק, deliciari, and the Chaldee translation, קוליא, i.e., κολία, according to Hesychius, τὰ ἐκ μέλιτος τρωγάλια, or sweetmeats made from honey. Jerome renders it balsamum, after the μύρων of the lxx; and in Hitzig’s opinion, Pannaga (literally, a snake) is a name used in Sanscrit for a sweet-scented wood, which was employed in medicine as a cooling and strengthening drug (?). Honey (from bees) and oil are well-known productions of Palestine. צרי is balsam; whether resina or the true balsam grown in gardens about Jericho (opobalsamum), it is impossible to decide (see my Bibl. Archäol. I p. 38, and Movers, II 3, pp. 220ff.). Damascus supplied Tyre with wine of Chelbon. חלבּון still exists in the village of Helbôn, a place with many ruins, three hours and a half to the north of Damascus, in the midst of a valley of the same name, which is planted with vines wherever it is practicable, from whose grapes the best and most costly wine of the country is made (vid., Robinson, Biblical Researches). Even in ancient times this wine was so celebrated, that, according to Posidonius (in Athen. Deipnos. i. 22), the kings of Persia drank only Chalybonian wine from Damascus (vid., Strabo, XV 3. 22). צמר צחר, wool of dazzling whiteness; or, according to others, wool of Zachar, for which the Septuagint has ἔρια ἐκ Μιλήτου, Milesian wool.According to Movers (II 3, p. 269), צחר is the Sicharia of Aethicus (Cosm. §108): Sicharia regio, quae postea Nabathaea, nuncupatur, silvestris valde, ubi Ismaelitae eminus, - an earlier name for the land of the Nabathaeans, who dwelt in olden time between Palestine and the Euphrates, and were celebrated for their wealth in flocks of sheep.

Eze 27:19. Various explanations have been given of the first three words. ודן is not to be altered into דּדן, as it has been by Ewald, both arbitrarily and unsuitably with Eze 27:20 immediately following; nor is it to be rendered “and Dan.” It is a decisive objection to this, that throughout the whole enumeration not a single land or people is introduced with the copula w. Vedan, which may be compared with the Vaheb of Num 21:14, a place also mentioned only once, is the name of a tribe and tract of land not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. Movers (p. 302) conjectures that it is the celebrated city of Aden (Arab. 'dn). Javan is also the name of an Arabian place or tribe; and, according to a notice in the Kamus, it is a place in Yemen. Tuch (Genesis, p. 210) supposes it to be a Greek (Ionian) settlement, the founders of which had been led by their enterprising spirit to cross the land of Egypt into Southern Arabia. For the purpose of distinguishing this Arabian Javan from Greece itself, or in order to define it more precisely, מעוּזל is appended, which all the older translators have taken to be a proper name. According to the Masoretic pointing מאוּזּה, the word is, no doubt, to be regarded as a participle Pual of אזל, in the sense of spun, from אזל, to spin. But apart from the fact that it would be a surprising thing to find spun goods mentioned in connection with the trade of the Arabian tribes, the explanation itself could not be sustained from the usage of the language; for there is nothing in the dialects to confirm the idea that  אזל is a softened form of עזל, inasmuch as they have all עזל (Aram.) and gzl (Arab.), and the Talmudic אזל, texere, occurs first of all in the Gemara, and may possibly have been derived in the first instance from the Rabbinical rendering of our מאוזל by “spun.” Even the fact that the word is written with Shurek is against this explanation rather than in its favour; and in all probability its origin is to be traced to the simple circumstance, that in Eze 27:12, Eze 27:14, Eze 27:16 the articles of commerce are always mentioned before נתנוּ עזבוניך, and in this verse they would appear to be omitted altogether, unless they are covered by the word מאוזל. But we can very properly take the following words בּרזל עשׁות as the object of the first hemistich, since the Masoretic accentuation is founded upon the idea that מאוזל is to be taken as the object here. We therefore regard מאוּזל as the only admissible pointing, and take אוּזל as a proper name, as in Gen 10:27 : “from Uzal,” the ancient name of Sanaa, the subsequent capital of Yemen. The productions mentioned bear this out. Forged or wrought iron, by which Tuch (l.c. p. 260) supposes that sword-blades from Yemen are chiefly intended, which were celebrated among the Arabs as much as the Indian. Cassia and calamus (see the comm. on Exo 30:23 and Exo 30:24), two Indian productions, as Yemen traded with India from the very earliest times. - Dedan (Eze 27:20) is the inland people of that name, living in the neighbourhood of Edom (cf. Eze 25:13; see the comm. on Eze 27:15). They furnished בּגדי, tapetes straguli, cloths for spreading out, most likely costly riding-cloths, like the middim of Jdg 5:10. ערב and קדר represent the nomad tribes of central Arabia, the Bedouins. For ערב is never used in the Old Testament for the whole of Arabia; but, according to its derivation from ערבה, a steppe or desert, simply for the tribes living as nomads in the desert (as in Isa 13:20; Jer 3:2; cf. Ewald, Grammat. Arab. I p. 5). Kedar, descended from Ishmael, an Arabian nomad tribe, living in the desert between Arabia Petraea and Babylonia, the Cedrei of Pliny (see the comm. on Gen 25:13). They supplied lambs, rams, and he-goats, from the abundance of their flocks, in return for the goods obtained from Tyre.

Jdg 5:22. Next to these the merchants of Sheba and Ragmah (רעמה) are mentioned. They were Arabs of Cushite descent (Gen 10:7) in south-eastern Arabia (Oman); for   ,רעמה̔Ρεγμα, was in the modern province of Oman in the bay of the same name in the Persian Gulf. Their goods were all kinds of spices, precious stones, and gold, in which southern Arabia abounded. ראשׁ כּל־בּשׂם, the chief or best of all perfumes (on this use of ראשׁ, see the comm. on Exo 30:23; Sol 4:14), is most likely the genuine balsam, which grew in Yemen (Arabia felix), according to Diod. Sic. iii. 45, along with other costly spices, and grows there still; for Forskal found a shrub between Mecca and Medina, called Abu sham, which he believed to be the true balsam, and of which he has given a botanical account in his Flora Aeg. pp. 79, 80 (as Amyris opobalsamum), as well as of two other kinds. Precious stones, viz., onyx-stones, rubies, agates, and cornelians, are still found in the mountains of Hadramaut; and in Yemen also jaspers, crystals, and many good rubies (vid., Niebuhr, Descript. p. 125, and Seetzen in Zach’s Monatl. Corresp. xix. p. 339). And, lastly, the wealth of Yemen in gold is too strongly attested by ancient writers to be called in question (cf. Bochart, Phal. II 28), although this precious metal is no found there now.

In Eze 27:23, Eze 27:24 the trade with Mesopotamia is mentioned. חרן, the Carrhae of the Romans in north-western Mesopotamia (see the comm. on Gen 11:31), was situated at the crossing of the caravan-roads which intersect Mesopotamia; for it was at this point that the two caravan routes from Babylonia and the Delta of the Persian Gulf joined the old military and commercial road to Canaan (Movers, p. 247). The eastern route ran along the Tigris, where Calneh, the later Ktesiphon, and the most important commercial city. It is here called כּנּה (Canneh), contracted from כּלנה (see the comm. on Gen 10:10; Amo 6:2). The western route ran along the Euphrates, past the cities mentioned in Eze 27:23. עדן is not the Syrian, but the Mesopotamian Eden (2Ki 19:12; Isa 37:12), the situation of which has not yet been determined, though Movers (p. 257) has sought for it in the Delta of the Euphrates and Tigris. The singular circumstance that the merchants of Sheba should be mentioned in connection with localities in Mesopotamia, which has given rise both to arbitrary alterations of the text and to various forced explanations, has been explained by Movers (p. 247 compared with p. 139) from a notice of Juba in Pliny’s Hist. nat. xii. 17 (40), namely, that the Sabaeans, the inhabitants of the spice country, came with their goods from the Persian Gulf to Carrhae, where they held their yearly markets, and from which they were accustomed to proceed to Gabba (Gabala in Phoenicia) and Palestinian Syria. Consequently the merchants of Sabaea are mentioned as those who carried on the trade between Mesopotamia and Tyre, and are not unsuitably placed in the centre of those localities which formed the most important seats of trade on the two great commercial roads of Mesopotamia.Asshur and Chilmad, as we have already observed, were on the western road which ran along the Euphrates. כּלמד has already been discovered by Bochart (Phal. I 18) in the Charmande of Xenophon (Anab. i. 5. 10), and Sophaenetus (see Steph. Byz. s.v. Χαρμάνδη), a large and wealthy city in a desert region “beyond the river Euphrates.” The Asshur mentioned along with Chilmad, in the midst of purely commercial cities, cannot be the land of Assyria, but must be the emporium Sura (Movers, p. 252), the present Essurieh, which stands upon the bank on this side of the Euphrates above Thapsacus and on the caravan route, which runs from Palmyra past Rusapha (Rezeph, Isa 37:12; 2Ki 19:12) to Nicephorium or Rakka, then in a northerly direction to Haran, and bending southwards, runs along the bank of the river in the direction of Chilmad or Charmande (Ritter, Erdk. XI pp. 1081ff.). The articles of commerce from these emporia, which were brought to Tyre by Sabaean caravans, consisted of מּכללים, literally, articles of perfect beauty, either state-dresses (cf. מכלל, Eze 23:12 and Eze 34:4), or more generally, costly works of art (Hävernick). The omission of the copula ו before בּגלומי is decisive is favour of the former, as we may infer from this that 'בגל is intended as an explanatory apposition to מּכללים. גּלומי תכלת ורקמה, cloaks (גּלום connected with χλαμύς) of hyacinth-purple and embroidery, for which Babylonia was celebrated (for proofs of this, see Movers, pp. 258ff.). The words which follow cannot be explained with certainty. All that is evident is, that 'ואר 'בּחבלים חב is appended to בּגנזי בּרומים without a copula, as 'בּגלומי וגו is to בּמּכללים in the first hemistich, and therefore, like the latter, is intended as an explanatory apposition. חבלים does not mean either cloths or threads, but lines or cords. חבשׁים signifies literally bound or would up; probably twisted, i.e., formed of several threads wound together or spun; and ארזים, firm, compact, from Arab. arz, to be drawn together. Consequently 'גּנזי בּרומים וגו can hardly have any other meaning than treasures of spun yarns, i.e., the most valuable yarns formed of different threads. For “treasures” is the only meaning which can be assigned to גּנזים with any certainty on philological grounds, and בּרומים, from בּרם, Arab. brm , contorsit, is either yarn spun from several or various threads, or cloth woven from such threads. But the latter would not harmonize with חבלים. Movers (II 3, pp. 263ff.) adopts a similar conclusion, and adduces evidence that silk yarn, bombyx, and cotton came to Tyre through the Mesopotamian trade, and were there dyed in the splendid Tyrian purples, and woven into cloths, or brought for sale with the dyeing complete. All the other explanations which have been given of these difficult words are arbitrary and untenable; not only the Rabbinical rendering of גּנזי בּרומים, viz., chests of damask, but that of Ewald, “pockets of damask,” and that proposed by Hartmann, Hävernick, and others, viz., girdles of various colours, ζῶναι σκιωταί. In Eze 27:25 the description is rounded off with a notice of the lever of this world-wide trade. שׁרות cannot mean “walls” in this instance, as in Jer 5:10, and like שׁוּרות in Job 24:11, because the ships, through which Tyre became so rich, could not be called walls. The word signifies “caravans,” after שׁוּר = Arab. sâr (Isa 57:9), corresponding to the Aramaean שׁירא. מערבך might be regarded as an accusative of more precise definition: caravans, with regard to (for) thy bartering trade. At the same time it is more rhetorical to take מערבך as a second predicate: they were thy trade, i.e., the carriers of thy trade. What the caravans were for the emporia of trade on the mainland, the ships of Tarshish were for Tyre, and these on the largest sea-going ships are mentioned instar omnium. By means of these vessels Tyre was filled with goods, and rendered weighty (נכבּד), i.e., rich and glorious. - But a tempest from the east would destroy Tyre with all its glory.

Eze 27:26-36

Destruction of Tyre

Eze 27:26. Thy rowers brought thee into great waters: the east wind broke thee up in the heart of the seas. Eze 27:27. Thy riches and thy sales, thy bartering wares, thy seamen and thy sailors, the repairers of thy leaks and the treaders in thy wares, and all thy fighting men in thee, together with all the multitude of people in thee, fell into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall. Eze 27:28. At the noise of the cry of thy sailors the places tremble. Eze 27:29. And out of their ships come all the oarsmen, seamen, all the sailors of the sea; they come upon the land, Eze 27:20. And make their voice heard over thee, and cry bitterly, and put dust upon their heads, and cover themselves with ashes; Eze 27:31. And shave themselves bald on thy account, and gird on sackcloth, and weep for thee in anguish of soul a bitter wailing. Eze 27:32. They raise over thee in their grief a lamentation, and lament over thee: Who is like Tyre! like the destroyed one in the midst of the sea!. Eze 27:33. When thy sales came forth out of the seas, thou didst satisfy many nations; with the abundance of thy goods and thy wares thou didst enrich kings of the earth. Eze 27:34. Now that thou art wrecked away from the seas in the depths of the water, thy wares and all thy company are fallen in thee. Eze 27:35. All the inhabitants of the islands are amazed at thee, and their kings shudder greatly; their faces quiver. Eze 27:36. The traders among the nations hiss over thee; thou hast become a terror, and art gone for ever. - The allusion to the ships of Tarshish, to which Tyre was indebted for its glory, serves as an introduction to a renewal in Eze 27:26 of the allegory of Eze 27:5-9; Tyre is a ship, which is wrecked by the east wind (cf. Psa 48:8). In Palestine (Arabia and Syria) the east wind is characterized by continued gusts; and if it rises into a tempest, it generally causes great damage on account of the violence of the gusts (see Wetzstein in Delitzsch’s commentary on Job 27:1). Like a ship broken in pieces by the storm, Tyre with all its glory sinks into the depths of the sea. The repetition of בּלב in Eze 27:26 and Eze 27:27 forms an effective contrast to Eze 27:25; just as the enumeration of all the possessions of Tyre, which fall with the ship into the heart of the sea, does to the wealth and glory in Eze 27:25. They who manned the ship also perish with the cargo, - ”the seamen,” i.e., sailors, rowers, repairers of leaks (calkers), also the merchants on board, and the fighting men who defended the ship and its goods against pirates, - the whole qâhâl, or gathering of people, in the ship. The difficult expression בּכל־קהלך can only be taken as an explanatory apposition to אשׁר בּך: all the men who are in thee, namely, in the multitude of people in thee. Eze 27:28. When the vessel is wrecked, the managers of the ship raise such a cry that the migreshōth tremble. מגרשׁ is used in Num 35:2 for the precincts around the Levitical cities, which were set apart as pasture ground for the flocks; and in Eze 45:2; Eze 48:17, for the ground surrounding the holy city. Consequently מגרשׁות cannot mean the suburbs of Tyre in the passage before us, but must signify the open places on the mainland belonging to Tyre, i.e., the whole of its territory, with the fields and villages contained therein. The rendering “fleet,” which Ewald follows the Vulgate in adopting, has nothing to support it.

Eze 27:29. The ruin of this wealthy and powerful metropolis of the commerce of the world produces the greatest consternation among all who sail upon the sea, so that they forsake their ships, as if they were no longer safe in them, and leaving them for the land, bewail the fall of Tyre with deepest lamentation. השׁמיע with בּקול, as in Psa 26:7; 1Ch 15:19, etc. For the purpose of depicting the lamentation as great and bitter in the extreme, Ezekiel groups together all the things that were generally done under such circumstances, viz., covering the head with dust (cf. Jos 7:6; 1Sa 4:12; and Job 2:12) and ashes (התפּלּשׁ, to strew, or cover oneself, not to roll oneself: see the comm. on Mic 1:10); shaving a bald place (see Eze 7:18 and the comm. on Mic 1:16); putting on sackcloth; loud, bitter weeping (בּמר, as in Job 7:11 and Job 10:1); and singing an mournful dirge (Eze 27:32.). בּניהם, in lamento eorum; ני contracted from נהי (Jer 9:17-18; cf. הי, Eze 2:10). The reading adopted by the lxx, Theodot., Syr., and eleven Codd. (בּניהם) is unsuitable, as there is no allusion to sons, but the seamen themselves raise the lamentation. The correction proposed by Hitzig, בּפיהם, is altogether inappropriate. The exclamation, Who is like Tyre! is more precisely defined by כּדמּה, like the destroyed one in the midst of the sea. דּמּה, participle Pual, with the מ dropt, as in 2Ki 2:10, etc. (vid., Ges. §52. 2, Anm. 6). It is quite superfluous to assume that there was a noun דּמּה signifying destruction. 'בּצאת עזב has been aptly explained by Hitzig; “inasmuch as thy wares sprang out of the sea, like the plants and field-fruits out of the soil” (the selection of the word השׂבּעתּ also suggested this simile); “not as being manufactured at Tyre, and therefore in the sea, but because the sea floated the goods to land for the people in the ships, and they satisfied the desire of the purchasers.” Tyre satisfied peoples and enriched kings with its wares, not only by purchasing from them and paying for their productions with money or barter, but also by the fact that the Tyrians gave a still higher value to the raw material by the labour which they bestowed upon them. הוניך in the plural is only met with here. - Eze 27:34. But now Tyre with its treasures and its inhabitants has sunk in the depths of the sea. The antithesis in which Eze 27:34 really stands to Eze 27:33 does not warrant our altering עת into עתּ נשׁבּרתּ, as Ewald and Hitzig propose, or adopting a different division of the second hemistich. עת is an adverbial accusative, as in Eze 16:57 : “at the time of the broken one away from the seas into the depth of the waters, thy wares and thy people have fallen, i.e., perished.” עת נשׁבּרת, tempore quo fracta es. נשׁבּרת מימּים is intentionally selected as an antithesis to נושׁבת מימּים in Eze 26:17. - Eze 27:35. All the inhabitants of the islands and their kings, i.e., the inhabitants of the (coast of the) Mediterranean and its islands, will be thrown into consternation at the fall of Tyre; and (Eze 27:36) the merchants among the nations, i.e., the foreign nations, the rivals of Tyre in trade, will hiss thereat; in other words, give utterance to malicious joy. שׁמם, to be laid waste, or thrown into perturbation with terror and amazement. רעם פנים .tnemezama dna, to tremble or quiver in the face, i.e., to tremble so much that the terror shows itself in the countenance. - In Eze 27:36 Ezekiel brings the lamentation to a close in a similar manner to the threat contained in Ezekiel 26 (vid., Eze 26:21).

The Prosperity of Tyre. (b. c. 588.)

1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; 3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God ; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. 5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. 6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. 7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. 8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. 9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. 10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. 11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect. 12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. 14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. 15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony. 16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. 17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. 18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. 19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. 20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. 21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. 23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. 24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

Here, I. The prophet is ordered to take up a lamentation for Tyrus, v. 2. It was yet in the height of its prosperity, and there appeared not the least symptom of its decay; yet the prophet must lament it, because its prosperity is its snare, is the cause of its pride and security, which will make its fall the more grievous. Even those that live at ease are to be lamented if they be not preparing for trouble. He must lament it because its ruin is hastening on apace; it is sure, it is near; and though the prophet foretel it, and justify God in it, yet he must lament it. Note, We ought to mourn for the miseries of other nations, as well as for our own, out of an affection for mankind in general; it is a part of the honour we owe to all men to bewail their calamities, even those which they have brought upon themselves by their own folly.

II. He is directed what to say, and to say it in the name of the Lord Jehovah, a name not unknown in Tyre, and which shall be better known, ch. xxvi. 6.

1. He must upbraid Tyre with her pride: O Tyrus! thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty (v. 3), of universal beauty (so the word is), every way accomplished, and therefore every where admired. Zion, that had the beauty of holiness, is called indeed the perfection of beauty (Ps. l. 2); that is the beauty of the Lord. But Tyre, because well-built and well-filled with money and trade, will set up for a perfect beauty. Note, It is the folly of the children of this world to value themselves on the pomp and pleasure they live in, to call themselves beauties for the sake of them, and, if in these they excel others, to think themselves perfect. But God takes notice of the vain conceits men have of themselves in their prosperity when the mind is lifted up with the condition, and often, for the humbling of the spirit, finds a way to bring down the estate. Let none reckon themselves beautified any further than they are sanctified, nor say that they are of perfect beauty till they come to heaven.

2. He must upbraid Tyre with her prosperity, which was the matter of her pride. In elegies it is usual to insert encomiums of those whose fall we lament; the prophet, accordingly, praises Tyre for all that she had that was praiseworthy. He has nothing to say of her religion, her piety, her charity, her being a refuge to the distressed or using her interest to do good offices among her neighbours; but she lived great, and had a great trade, and all the trading part of mankind made court to her. The prophet must describe her height and magnificence, that God may be the more glorified in her fall, as the God who looks upon every one that is proud and abases him, hides the proud in the dust together, and binds their faces in secret, Job xl. 12.

(1.) The city of Tyre was advantageously situated, at the entry of the sea (v. 3), having many commodious harbours each way, not as cities seated on rivers, which the shipping can come but one way to. It stood at the east end of the Mediterranean, very convenient for trade by land into all the Levant parts; so that she became a merchant of the people for many isles. Lying between Greece and Asia, it became the great emporium, or mart-town, the rendezvous of merchants from all parts: They borders are in the heart of the seas, v. 4. It was surrounded with water, which was a great advantage to its trade; it was the darling of the sea, laid in its bosom, in its heart. Note, It is a great convenience, upon many accounts, to live in an island: seas are the most ancient land-mark, not which our fathers have set, but the God of our fathers, and which cannot be removed as other land-marks may, nor so easily got over. The people so situated may the more easily dwell alone, if they please, as not reckoned among the nations, and yet, if they please, may the more easily traffic abroad and keep a correspondence with the nations. We therefore of this island must own that he who determines the bounds of men's habitations has determined well for us.

(2.) It was curiously built, according as the fashion then was; and, being a city on a hill, it made a glorious show and tempted the ships that sailed by into her ports (v. 4): Thy builders have perfected thy beauty; they have so improved in architecture that nothing appears in the buildings of Tyre that can be found fault with; and yet it wants that perfection of beauty into which the Lord does and will build up his Jerusalem.

(3.) It had its haven replenished with abundance of gallant ships, Isa. xxxiii. 21. The ship-carpenters did their part, as well as the house-carpenters theirs. The Tyrians are thought to be the first that invented the art of navigation; at least they improved it, and brought it to as great a perfection perhaps as it could be without the loadstone. [1.] They made the boards, or planks, for the hulk of the ship, of fir-trees fetched from Senir, a mount in the land of Israel, joined with Hermon, Cant. iv. 8. Planks of fir were smooth and light, but not so lasting as our English oak. [2.] They had cedars from Lebanon, another mountain of Israel, for their masts, v. 5. [3.] They had oaks from Bashan (Isa. ii. 13), to make oars of; for it is probable that their ships were mostly galleys, that go with oars. The people of Israel built few ships for themselves, but they furnished the Tyrians with timber for shipping. Thus one country uses what another produced, and so they are serviceable one to another, and cannot say to each other, I have no need of thee. [4.] Such magnificence did they affect in building their ships that they made the very benches of ivory, which they fetched from the isles of Chittim, from Italy or Greece, and had workmen from the Ashurites or Assyrians to make them, so rich would they have their state-rooms in their ships to be. [5.] So very prodigal were they that they made their sails of fine linen fetched from Egypt, and that embroidered too, v. 7. Or it may be meant of their flags (which they hoisted to notify what city they belonged to), which were very costly. The word signifies a banner as well as a sail. [6.] They hung those rooms on ship-board with blue and purple, the richest cloths and richest colours they could get from the isles they traded with. For though Tyre was itself famous for purple, which is therefore called the Tyrian dye, yet they must have that which was far-fetched.

(4.) These gallant ships were well-manned, by men of great ingenuity and industry. The pilots and masters of the ships, that had command in their fleets, were of their own city, such as they could put a confidence in (v. 8): Thy wise men, O Tyrus! that were in thee, were thy pilots. But, for common sailors, they had men from other countries; The inhabitants of Arvad and Zidon were thy mariners. These came from cities hear them; Zidon was sister to Tyre, not two leagues off, to the northward; there they bred able seamen, which it is the interest of the maritime powers to support and give all the countenance they can to. They sent to Gebal in Syria for calkers, or strengtheners of the clefts or chinks, to stop them when the ships come home, after long voyages, to be repaired. To do this they had the ancients and wise men (v. 9); for there is more need of wisdom and prudence to repair what has gone to decay than to build anew. In public matters there is occasion for the ancients and wise men to be the repairers of the breaches and the restorers of paths to dwell in. Nay, all the countries they traded with were at their service, and were willing to send men into their pay, to put their youths apprentice in Tyre, or to put them on board their fleets; so that all the ships in the sea with their mariners were ready to occupy thy merchandise. Those that give good wages shall have hands at command.

(5.) Their city was guarded by a military force that was very considerable, v. 10, 11. The Tyrians were themselves wholly given to trade; but it was necessary that they should have a good army on foot, and therefore they took those of other states into their pay, such as were fittest for service, though they had them from afar (which perhaps was their policy), from Persia, Lud, and Phut. These bore their arms when there was occasion, and in time of peace hung up the shield and buckler in the armoury, as it were to proclaim peace, and let the world know that they had at present no need of them, but they were ready to be taken down whenever there was occasion for them. Their walls were guarded by the man of Arvad; their towers were garrisoned by the Gammadim, robust men, that had a great deal of strength in their arms; yet the vulgar Latin renders it pygmies, men no longer than one's arm. They hung their shields upon the walls in their magazines or places of arms; or hung them out upon the walls of the city, that none might dare to approach them, seeing how well provided they were with all things necessary for their own defence. "Thus they set forth thy comeliness (v. 10), and made they beauty perfect," v. 11. It contributed as much as any thing to the glory of Tyre that it had those of all the surrounding nations in its service, except the land of Israel (though it lay next them), which furnished them with timber, but we do not find that it furnished them with men; that would have trenched upon the liberty and dignity of the Jewish nation, 2 Chron. ii. 17, 18. It was also the glory of Tyre that it had such a militia, so fit for service, and in constant pay, and such an armoury, like that in the tower of David, where hung the shields of mighty men, Cant. iv. 4. It is observable that there and here the armouries are said to be furnished with shields and helmets, defensive arms, not with swords and spears, offensive, though it is probable that there were such, to intimate that the military force of a people must be intended only for their own protection and not to invade and annoy their neighbours, to secure their own right, not to encroach upon the rights of others.

(6.) They had a vast trade and a correspondence with all parts of the known world. Some nations they dealt with in one commodity and some in another, according as either its products or its manufactures were, and the fruits of nature or art were, with which it was blessed. This is very much enlarged upon here, as that which was the principal glory of Tyre, and which supported all the rest. We do not find any where in scripture so many nations named together as are here; so that this chapter, some think, gives much light to the first account we have of the settlement of the nations after the flood, Gen. x. The critics have abundance of work here to find out the several places and nations spoken of. Concerning many of them their conjectures are different and they leave us in the dark and at much uncertainty; it is well that it is not material. Modern surveys come short of explaining the ancient geography. And therefore we will not amuse ourselves here with a particular enquiry either concerning the traders or the goods they traded in. We leave it to the critical expositors, and observe that only which is improvable. [1.] We have reason to think that Ezekiel knew little, of his own knowledge, concerning the trade of Tyre. He was a priest, carried away captive far enough from the neighbourhood of Tyre, we may suppose when he was young, and there he had been eleven years. And yet he speaks of the particular merchandises of Tyre as nicely as if he had been comptroller of the custom-house there, by which it appears that he was divinely inspired in what he spoke and wrote. It is God that saith this, v. 3. [2.] This account of the trade of Tyre intimates to us that God's eye is upon men, and that he takes cognizance of what they do when they are employed in their worldly business, not only when they are at church, praying and hearing, but when they are in their markets and fairs, and upon the exchange, buying and selling, which is a good reason why we should in all our dealings keep a conscience void of offence, and have our eye always upon him whose eye is always upon us. [3.] We may here observe the wisdom of God, and his goodness, as the common Father of mankind, in making one country to abound in one commodity and another in another, and all more or less serviceable either to the necessity or to the comfort or ornament of human life. Non omis fert omnia tellus—One land does not supply all the varieties of produce. Providence dispenses its gifts variously, some to each, and all to none, that there may be a mutual commerce among those whom God has made of one blood, though they are made to dwell on all the face of the earth, Acts xvii. 26. Let every nations therefore thank God for the productions of its country; though they be not so rich as those of others, yet there is use for them in the public service of the world. [4.] See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, especially when followed in the fear of God, and with a regard not only to private advantage, but to a common benefit. The earth is full of God's riches, Ps. civ. 24. There is a multitude of all kinds of riches in it (as it is here, v. 12), gathered off its surface and dug out of its bowels. The earth is also full of the fruits of men's ingenuity and industry, according as their genius leads them. Now by exchange and barter these are made more extensively useful; thus what can be spared is helped off, and what is wanted is fetched in, in lieu of it, from the most distant countries. Those that are not tradesmen themselves have reason to thank God for tradesmen and merchants, by whom the productions of other countries are brought to our hands, as those of our own are by our husbandmen. [5.] Besides the necessaries that are here traded in, see what abundance of things are here mentioned that only serve to please fancy, and are made valuable only by men's humour and custom; and yet God allows us to use them, and trade in them, and part with those things for them which we can spare that are of an intrinsic worth much beyond them. Here are horns of ivory and ebony (v. 15), that are brought for a present, exposed to sale, and offered in exchange, or (as some think) presented to the city, or the great men of it, to obtain their favour. Here are emeralds, coral, and agate (v. 16), all precious stones, and gold (v. 22), which the world could better be without than iron and common stones. Here are, to please the taste and smell, the chief of all spices (v. 22), cassia and calamus (v. 19), and, for ornament, purple, broidered work, and fine linen (v. 16), precious clothes for chariots (v. 20), blue clothes (which Tyre was famous for), broidered work, and chests of rich apparel, bound with rich cords, and made of cedar, a sweet wood to perfume the garments kept in them, v. 24. Upon the review of this invoice, or bill of parcels, we may justly say, What a great many things are here that we have no need of, and can live very comfortably without! [6.] It is observable that Judah and the land of Israel were merchants in Tyre too; in a way of trade they were allowed to converse with the heathen. But they traded mostly in wheat, a substantial commodity, and necessary, wheat of Minnith and Pannag, two countries in Canaan famous for the best wheat, as some think. The whole land indeed was a land of wheat (Deut. viii. 8); it had the fat of kidneys of wheat, Deut. xxxii. 14. Tyre was maintained by corn fetched from the land of Israel. They traded likewise in honey, and oil, and balm, or rosin; all useful things, and not serving to pride or luxury. And the land which these were the staple commodities of was that which was the glory of all lands, which God reserved for his peculiar people, not those that traded in spices and precious stones; and the Israel of God must reckon themselves well provided for if they have food convenient; for those that are acquainted with the delights of the children of God will not set their hearts on the delights of the sons and daughters of men, or the treasures of kings and provinces. We find indeed that the New-Testament Babylon trades in such things as Tyre traded in, Rev. xviii. 12, 13. For, notwithstanding its pretensions to sanctity, it is a mere worldly interest. [7.] Though Tyre was a city of great merchandise, and they got abundance by buying and selling, importing commodities from one place and exporting them to another, yet manufacture-trades were not neglected. The wares of their own making, and a multitude of such wares, are here spoken of, v. 16, 18. It is the wisdom of a nation to encourage art and industry, and not to bear hard upon the handicraft-tradesmen; for it contributes much to the wealth and honour of a nation to send abroad wares of their own making, which may bring them in the multitude of all riches. [8.] All this made Tyrus very great and very proud: The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in they market (v. 25); thou wast admired and cried up by all the nations that had dealings with thee; for thou wast replenished in wealth and number of people, wast beautified, and made very glorious, in the midst of the seas. Those that grow very rich are cried up as very glorious; for riches are glorious things in the eyes of carnal people, Gen. xxxi. 1.

The Fall of Tyre. (b. c. 588.)

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. 27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. 28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. 29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land; 30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: 31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. 32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea? 33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. 34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. 35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. 36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.

We have seen Tyre flourishing; here we have Tyre falling, and great is the fall of it, so much the greater for its having made such a figure in the world. Note, The most mighty and magnificent kingdoms and states, sooner or later, have their day to come down. They have their period; and, when they are in their zenith, they will begin to decline. But the destruction of Tyre was sudden. Her sun went down at noon. And all her wealth and grandeur, pomp and power, did but aggravate her ruin, and make it the more grievous to herself and astonishing to all about her. Now observe here, 1. How the ruin of Tyrus will be brought about, v. 26. She is as a great ship richly laden, that is split or sunk by the indiscretion of her steersmen: Thy rowers have themselves brought thee into great and dangerous waters; the governors of the city, and those that had the management of their public affairs, by some mismanagement or other involved them in that war with the Chaldeans which was the ruin of their state. By their insolence, by some affront given to the Chaldeans or some attempt made upon them, in confidence of their own ability to contend with them, they provoked Nebuchadnezzar to make a descent upon them, and, by their obstinacy in standing it out to the last, enraged him to such a degree that he determined on the ruin of their state, and, like an east wind, broke them in the midst of the seas. Note, It is ill with a people when those that sit at the stern, instead of putting them into the harbour, run them aground. 2. How great and general the ruin will be. All her wealth shall be buried with her, her riches, her fairs, and her merchandise (v. 27); all that had any dependence upon her, and dealings with her, in trade, in war, in conversation, shall ball with her into the midst of the seas, in the day of her ruin. Note, Those who make creatures their confidence, place their happiness in their interest in them and rest their hopes upon them, will of course fall with them; happy therefore are those that have the God of Jacob for their help, and whose hope is in the Lord their God, who lives for ever. 3. What sad lamentation would be made for the destruction of Tyre. The pilots, her princes and governors, when they see how wretchedly they have mismanaged and how much they have contributed to their own ruin, shall cry out so loud as to make even the suburbs shake (v. 28), such a vexation shall it be to them to reflect upon their own bad conduct. The inferior officers, that were as the mariners of the state, shall be forced to come down from their respective posts (v. 29), and they shall cry out against thee, as having deceived them, in not proving so well able to hold out as they thought thou hadst been; they shall cry bitterly for the common ruin, and their own share in it. They shall use all the most solemn expressions of grief; they shall cast dust on their heads, in indignation against themselves, shall wallow themselves in ashes, as having bid a final farewell to all ease and pleasure; they shall make themselves bald (v. 31), with tearing their hair; and, according to the custom of great mourners, those shall gird themselves with sackcloth who used to wear fine linen, and, instead of merry songs, they shall weep with bitterness of heart. Note, Losses and crosses are very grievous, and hard to be borne, to those that have long been wallowing in pleasure and sleeping in carnal security. 4. How Tyre should be upbraided with her former honour and prosperity (v. 32, 33); she that was Tyrus the renowned shall now be called Tyrus the destroyed in the midst of the sea. "What city is like Tyre? Did ever any city come down from such a height of prosperity to such a depth of adversity? Time was when thy wares, those of thy own making and those that passed through thy hands, went forth out of the seas, and were exported to all parts of the world; then thou filledst many people, and didst enrich the kings of the earth and their kingdoms." The Tyrians, though they bore such a sway in trade, were yet, it seems, fair merchants, and let their neighbours not only live, but thrive by them. All that dealt with them were gainers; they did not cheat or oppress the people, but did enrich them with the multitude of their merchandise. "But now those that used to be enriched by thee shall be ruined with thee" (as is usual in trade); "when thou shalt be broken, and all thou hast is seized on, all thy company shall fall too," v. 34. There is an end of Tyre, that made such a noise and bustle in the world. This great blaze goes out in a snuff. 5. How the fall of Tyre should be matter of terror to some and laughter to others, according as they were differently interested and affected. Some shall be sorely afraid, and shall be troubled (v. 35), concluding it will be their own turn to fall next. Others shall hiss at her (v. 36), shall ridicule her pride, and vanity, and bad management, and think her ruin just. She triumphed in Jerusalem's fall, and there are those that will triumph in hers. When God casts his judgments on the sinner men also shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place, Job xxvii. 22, 23. Is this the city which men called the perfection of beauty?

CHAP. XXVII.

Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord] See on chap. 18.1.

Ver. 2. Take up a lamentation for Tyrus] Fitly here compared to a goodly ſhip:Apud Horat. Reſp. navis nomine ſ[illegible: 1 letter]gnificatur. Carm. lib. 1. Od. 14. and her deſolation to a diſmal ſhipwrack. Theodorets note on the text is, that when we correct ſinners or threaten them, it ſhould be done with commiſeration and compaſſion. Here we have Gods own example for it: Ille dolet quoties cogitur eſſe ferex.

Ver. 3. O thou that art ſituate as the entry of the ſea] As now the City of Venice is, —Mediâ inſuperabilis undâ. Environed with her embracing Neptune, to whom (as the ceremony of throwing a ring into the ſea implyeth, ſaith one) ſhe marrieth her ſelf with yearly nuptials. But hath ſhe ſo learned Chriſt? and doth not the Nebuchadnezzar of Conſtantinople now threaten her ſore?

Thou haſt ſaid, I am of perfect beauty] So that nothing can be added to me: I am ocellus orbis. But who made thee to differ? is not all thy beauty borrowed? will not this thy bulging wall down ere long?

Ver. 4. Thy borders are in the midſt of the ſea] Wherewith thou art compaſſed and crowned as it were, Iſa. 23.8. being half a mile diſtant from the continent, till firſt Nebuchadnezzar and then Alexander the Great, by caſting earth, wood and ſtones into the ſea, made it of an Iſland, a Peniland, &c.

Lib. 18. Lib. 8. Ant. cap. 2. Thy builders] The Sidonians, ſaith Juſtin; 240, years before Solomons Temple was built, ſaith Joſephus.

Ver. 5. They have made all thy ſhipboards] Of the moſt precious materials, which with thy rich freight did incite and entice the Archpirate, to ſurprize and make prize of thee.

Ver. 6. Of the oakes of Baſhan] Thoſe very beſt of the beſt. See ver. 5.

Out of the Iſles of Chittim] i. e. Of Greece and the Archipelago, Gen. 10.4. far ſet, and dear-bought. Benches and decks might well have been made of worſe matters: ſed opulentiam fere ſequitur ſuperbia, luxus, libido, &c. wealth breeds ſwelth, which is a dangerous ſymptom (as in the body, ſo) in the mind too.

—Pulcherrima regnaClaudlan. Luxuries vitiis, odiiſque ſuperbia vertit.

Ver. 7. Fine linnen] When courſe Canvas might have ſerved the turn as well.

From Egypt] Which is held to be the fineſt, whiteſt, and coſtlieſt. O this unneceſſary bravery. Luxus eſt anteambulo ruinae: how many hath it utterly undone? When a man ſhall ſee a cloak embroidered over with Woods and Parkes and Lordſhips, and lined with obligations and bonds and ſtatutes, will not the beggar ſoon catch ſuch a Prodigal by the back?

From the Iſles of Eliſha] i. e. Of Italy, ſaith the Chaldee Paraphraſt: of Greece, ſay others: the Fortunate Iſlands, ſay ſome; which are called the Elyſian Iſlands, for their pleaſure and plenty.

Was that which covered thee] The Poop of thy ſhips. Of Cleopatra's ſumptuous ſhip or barge, the Poop whereof was of gold, the oares ſilver, the ſailes purple, &c. See Plutarch in Anton.

Ver. 8. The inhabitants of Zidon] Famous all the world over for their skill at ſea, and otherwiſe.

Thy wiſe-men—were thy Pilots] Wiſe they had need to be, that ſit at the ſtern of a ſtate. Let them not therefore be ignorant, or idle, or otherwiſe faulty, leſt they mar all: let them be active Argonautes. They have their names here in the Hebrew from the ropes of the ſhip, which they as Pilots, muſt skilfully order: ſhifting ſailes according to the wind. Counſel alſo, in that tongue, hath its name from the ſame root. [non-Latin text not transcribed]

Ver, 9. The ancients of Gibael] Great Architects, 1 King. 5.18, but perſecutors of the Church, Pſal. 83.7.

Thy calkers] Or ſtoppers of chinkes, ſtuppa, pice, aliaeque materia, when the ſhip ſpringeth a leak.

Ver. 10. They ſet forth thy comelineſſe] They were to thee both for muniment, and for ornament.

Ver. 11. And the Gammadims] Theſe were not Pygmies, as the Vulgar rendreth it, nor Medes as Symmachus, nor, Cappadocians, as the Chaldee Paraphraſt:Nat. Hiſt. l. 2. c. 91. but Syrians of a City called Gamalla; whereof ſee Pliny.

Ver. 12. Tarſhiſh] i. e. The Carthaginians, ſay ſome: the Citizens of Tarſus another colony of the Tyrians, ſay others.

They traded in thy Faires] Heb. in thy derelictions; becauſe they left their commodities behind them, taking others in exchange: for — Non omnis fert omnia tellus.

Ver. 13. Javan, Tubal, & Meſhec] i. e. Grecians, Spaniards, & Moſcovites or Cappadocians, who were naturally of a ſervile diſpoſition: Lib. 1. cap. 6. they were anciently called Meſchines, ſaith Joſephus, of Meſhech the ſon of Japhet, Gen. 10.2.

They traded the perſons of men] i. e. They bought and ſold ſlaves, as now they do in Turkey.

Ver. 14. They of the houſe of Togarmah] i. e. The Germans, ſaith the Targum, who are ſtill excellent horſemen. The Jews call the Turkes the houſe of Togarmah.

Ver. 15. The men of Dedan] Arabians, Gen. 10.7. The Septuagint render them Rhodians.

Hornes of Ivory] The Elephants two great Tuſhes, crooked as hornes.

And ebeny] Hebenum, which hath affinity with Eben, which ſignifieth a ſtone: for Ebony is a wood hard and heavy as a ſtone. The Chaldee rendreth it, peacocks.

Ver. 16. The wares of thy making] Heb. workes. The Tyrians were ingenious workmen, as Hiram, whom Solomon therefore ſo admired that he called him his Father.

And Agate] Or Chryſopraſe, or Chryſtal, or Carbuncle, or Onyx. Hierom confeſſeth that he knoweth not what to call it.

Deut. 32.14.Ver. 17. Wheat of Minnith] Where the beſt grew, even the kidneyes of wheat, as Moſes hath it. Confer Judg. 11.33. Act. 12.20.

Pannag] Rozin or balſam, whereof Judaea yeelded the beſt in the whole world.

For the wine of Helbon] i. e. Of Aleppe, ſay ſome, famous then for wine, now for milk, whence alſo it hath its name: for the Turkes call milk Alep: and if the Via lactea were on earth, it would be found there, ſaith one.

Graecus vagabundus. Va[illegible: 1 letter]ab. Ver. 19. Dan alſo] Anciently called Laiſh, Judg. 18. Javan or the Grecians were great travellers.

Going to and fro] Diſcurſatory. Horat.Impiger extremos currit mercator ad Indos. See Notes on Pſal. 38.11.

Ver. 20. In precious cloaths] Heb. cloaths of freedom: ſuch as are worn by Gallants and Magnifico's.

Ad vehiculum. For charrets] Or ſaddles, or trappings.

Ver. 21. They occupied with thee in lambs] Heb. they were the merchants of thy hand, or at thy hand: for cattle could not be carried far.

In theſe were they thy Merchants] Merchants are as uſeful in a Common-wealth, as Mechanikes, for exporting and importing commodities. Only they muſt obſerve the Goſpel-ſtandard, Whatever ye would that men ſhould do to you, do ye the ſame to them.

Oecol.Ver. 22. The Merchants of Sheba and Raamah] i. e. Ethiopians and Indians. Erat enim Tyrus emporium propemodum totius mundi.

With chief of all ſpices] All aromatical wares. Pliny reports of cinnamon, that in his time a pound of it was worth a thouſand denarii, that is 150. crowns of our mony. Gallen writeth, that it was hard to be found, except in the ſtorehouſes of great Princes.

The tower of Babel was 9164 paces from the ground.Ver. 23. Haran] In Meſopotamia, or Charra in Parthia; where Craſſus was ſlain.

And Channeh] Or Chalne: where the tower of Babel was built nine miles high.

And Eden] Where Paradiſe once was: ſed periit roſae, manſit ſpina.

Chelmad] i. e. Media, ſaith the Paraphraſt.

Ver. 24. In all ſorts of things] In omnibus perfectiſſimis, in the very beſt commodities; whether for worth, or workmanſhip.

Aggravata es.Ver. 25. Thou waſt repleniſhed and made very glorious] Or very heavy: as a ſhip though not top-full, may yet have freight enough to ſink it: ſo had this Metaphorical ſhip Tyrus, enough to ſink it, though not enough to ſatisfie it.

Ver. 26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters] Narrat Tyri nanfragium. Omnium horū ruinam & rapinam praenunciat. Here beginneth the Prophecy of Tyrus her woful ſhipwrack.

The Eaſt-wind] Called the Mariners miſery. The Chaldees were Eaſt from Tyre, the great wealth whereof ſolicited their poverty to ſet upon them, as the wealth of Cyprus did the Romans.

Ver. 27. Shall fall into the midſt of the ſeas] As a ſhip that ſinketh, and cannot be boyed up again.

Ver. 28. The ſuburbs ſhall ſhake] Or, the waves, or the boats which they throw out of the ſhip. See on chap. 26.10.

Of the cry of thy Pilots] At their Conclamatum eſt: but why did they then ſteer no better? Here we ſee all covet, all looſe.

Ver. 29. And all that handle the [illegible: 1 letter]ar] That have eſcaped to land with their lives.

Ver. 30. To be heard againſt thee] Or for thee, or over thee, ver. 31. Rev. 18. 11, 15, 16.

Ver. 31. And they ſhall make] Maerebunt induti ſaccis, inducto calvitio. If this had been for ſin as it is offenſivum Dei, & averſivum à Deo, then it had been right.

Ver. 32. What City] An elegant Mimeſis.

Like the deſtroyed] Quae obmutuit, like her that loſt her voyce and life together.

Ver. 33. When thy wares] Good things are faireſt on the back-ſide: the worth of them is beſt known by the want of them. Our eye ſeeth not things but at a diſtance.

Ver. 34. In the depths of the waters] i. e. In the overflowing of the wars, ver. 26.

Ver. 35. They ſhall be troubled in their countenance] i. e. Appaled and diſpirited.

Ver. 36. The Merchants ſhall hiſſe at thee] Either as aſtonied at thee,A Lapide. or rather as deriding thee: like as he who ſeeth another fall into the dirt, firſt pittieth him, and then jeareth him. See the like Jer. 19.8. & 49.17.

Thou ſhalt be a terrour] Becauſe God hath hanged thee up in gibbets as it were. Or thou waſt a terrour once, but now a ſcorn.

And never ſhalt be any more] See on chap. 26.14.