Commentari biblici

The prophet had soon done with those four nations that he set his face against in the foregoing chapters; for they were not at that time very considerable in the world, nor would their fall make any great noise among the nations nor any figure in history. But the city of Tyre is next set to the bar; this, being a place of vast trade, was known all the world over; and therefore here are three whole chapters, this and the two that follow, spent in the prediction of the destruction of Tyre. We have "the burden of Tyre," Isa 23:1-18 It is but just mentioned in Jeremiah, as sharing with the natives in the common calamity, Jer 25:22,27:3,47:4. But Ezekiel is ordered to be copious upon that head. In this chapter we have, I. The sin charged upon Tyre, which was triumphing in the destruction of Jerusalem, Eze 25:2. II. The destruction of Tyrus itself foretold. 1. The extremity of this destruction: it shall be utterly ruined, Eze 25:4-6,12-14. 2. The instruments of this destruction, many nations (Eze 25:3), and the king of Babylon by name with his vast victorious army, Eze 25:7-11. 3. The great surprise that this should give to the neighbouring nations, who would all wonder at the fall of so great a city and be alarmed at it, Eze 25:15-21.

This prophecy, beginning here and ending in the twentieth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter, is a declaration of the judgments of God against Tyre, a very famous commercial city of antiquity, which was taken by Nebuchadnezzar after an arduous siege of thirteen years. The prophet begins with introducing Tyre insulting Jerusalem, and congratulating herself on the prospect of accession to her commerce now that this city was no more, Ezekiel 26:1, Ezekiel 26:2. Upon which God denounces utter destruction to Tyre, and the cities depending on her, Ezekiel 26:3-6. We have then a particular account of the person raised up in the course of the Divine providence to accomplish this work. We see, as it were, his mighty hosts, (which are likened to the waves of the sea for their multitude), raising the mounds, setting the engines, and shaking the walls; we hear the noise of the horsemen, and the sound of their cars; we see the clouds of smoke and dust; we see the sword bathed in blood, and hear the groans of the dying. Tyre, (whose buildings were very splendid and magnificent, and whose walls were one hundred and fifty feet in height, with a proportionable breadth), immediately disappears; her strong (and as she thought impregnable) towers are thrown down; and her very dust is buried in the sea. Nothing remains but the bare rock, Ezekiel 26:7-14. The scene is then varied. The isles and adjacent regions, by a very strong and beautiful figure, are represented to be shaken, as with a mighty earthquake by violent concussion occasioned by the fall of Tyre. The groans of the dying reach the ears of the people inhabiting these regions. Their princes, alarmed for themselves and grieved for Tyre, descend from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and clothe themselves with - sackcloth? - no, but with trembling! Arrayed in this astonishing attire, the prophet introduces them as a chorus of mourners, lamenting Tyre in a funeral song or dirge, as customary on the death of renowned personages. And pursuing the same image still farther, in the person of God, he performs the last sad office for her. She is brought forth from her place in solemn pomp; the pit is dug for her; and she is buried, to rise no more, Ezekiel 26:15-21. Such is the prophecy concerning Tyre, comprehending both the city on the continent and that on the island, and most punctually fulfilled in regard to both. That on the continent was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, b.c. 572, and that on the island by Alexander the Great, b.c. 332. And at present, and for ages past, this ancient and renowned city, once the emporium of the world, and by her great naval superiority the center of a powerful monarchy, is literally what the prophet has repeatedly foretold it should be, and what in his time was, humanly speaking, so highly improbable - a Bare rock, a place to spread nets on!

INTRODUCTION TO Ezekiel 26

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

XXVI.

Tyre was a great and powerful commercial city, made up of two parts: Old Tyre, situated on a plain on the mainland, and New Tyre, built on a rocky island, or rather two islands joined together, lying about half a mile from the shore. Its territory was insignificant, but it was so strong in its wealth, its ships, and its colonies, that it was able to employ mercenaries (Ezekiel 27:10-11) in numbers, and being strongly fortified, resisted for five years, and with final success, the siege by the whole power of Assyria under Shalmaneser. According to the Assyrian records, however, it was afterwards captured by Assurbanipal. A few years after the fall of Jerusalem it was again besieged by Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years. There is no express mention in the histories of the time of the result of this siege, although it is implied in the statement of the ancient historians (Jos. 100 Apion, i. 20;. Antt. x., 11, §1) that Nebuchadnezzar made himself master of all Phœnicia. It is also asserted by St. Jerome that he captured Tyre, and he describes the method by which it was accomplished; it is also very unlikely that such a monarch as Nebuchadnezzar would have allowed himself to be baffled after such effort. (On the difficulty suggested by Ezekiel 29:18, see the Note there.) In the days of David and Solomon, the king of Tyre was the close friend of Israel; afterwards the two nations became alienated, and the Tyrians sold Hebrew captives to the Greeks and the Edomites (Joel 3:4-8; Amos 1:9-10). Tyre was probably greatly offended when Josiah, in the course of his reformation, defiled the images of their god Baal, and destroyed his sacred vessels, both at Jerusalem and in Samaria. It was subject to the Persian Empire, was captured by Alexander, remained a large city under the Romans, was still flourishing in the time of St. Jerome, was great at the era of the Crusades, but soon afterwards was totally destroyed by the Saracens, and has since remained so utterly desolate that its site might not even be observed by the passing traveller. Besides the prophecies against Tyre just mentioned, that of Isaiah 23 has already been spoken of in the introductory Note to chapter 25.

Ezekiel’s denunciation of Tyre occupies nearly three chapters, and each of these forms a distinct prophecy, the last verses of Ezekiel 28 constituting a separate prophecy against the associated Phoenician city of Sidon. The first of these (Ezekiel 26) is occupied with the threat of the destruction of Tyre; the second (Ezekiel 27) is a lamentation over this destruction; while the third (Ezekiel 28:1-19) is divided into two parts (which may indeed be separate prophecies), of which the former (Ezekiel 26:1-10) is a threat specifically against the king of Tyre, and the latter (Ezekiel 26:11-19) is a lamentation over his fall.

Chapter 26 consists of four sections, each introduced with “Thus saith the Lord,” the whole preceded by the mention of the sin of Tyre in exulting over the fall of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 26:2). The first of these (Ezekiel 26:3-6) describes the ultimate desolation of Tyre by “many nations;” the second (Ezekiel 26:7-14) describes circumstantially its more immediate conquest by Nebuchadnezzar; the third (Ezekiel 26:15-18) the effect upon the islands and coasts, doubtless with especial reference to her colonies and those with whom she was commercially connected; while the fourth (Ezekiel 26:19-21) is an energetic repetition and summary of her doom.

Ch. 26–28 Prophecy against Tyre

The three chapters 26–28 are occupied with Tyre, containing threats of her destruction in various forms.

First, ch. 26. Literal prophecy of Tyre’s destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

Secondly, ch. 27. Dirge over the downfall of Tyre under the figure of a gallant ship steered into dangerous waters and suffering shipwreck.

Thirdly, ch. 28. The pride and fall of the prince of Tyre.

CHAPTER 26

Ch. 26 Prophecy of Tyre’s destruction

The prophecy has these divisions:

(1) Ezekiel 26:1-6. The sin of Tyre, and therefore her downfall.

(2) Ezekiel 26:7-14. The instrument of her destruction, Nebuchadnezzar.

(3) Ezekiel 26:15-18. Dismay of the princes at the news of her ruin. Their sorrow and lament over her.

(4) Ezekiel 26:19-21. Repetition and confirmation of the threat against her. She shall be plunged into eternal darkness, with those dead of old, never more to rise among the living.

Eze 26:1-21.

THE JUDGMENT ON TYRE THROUGH NEBUCHADNEZZAR (TWENTY-SIXTH THROUGH TWENTY-EIGHTH CHAPTERS).

In the twenty-sixth chapter, Ezekiel sets forth:--(1) Tyre's sin; (2) its doom; (3) the instruments executing it; (4) the effects produced on other nations by her downfall. In the twenty-seventh chapter, a lamentation over the fall of such earthly splendor. In the twenty-eighth chapter, an elegy addressed to the king, on the humiliation of his sacrilegious pride. Ezekiel, in his prophecies as to the heathen, exhibits the dark side only; because he views them simply in their hostility to the people of God, who shall outlive them all. Isaiah

(Isa 23:1-18),

on the other hand, at the close of judgments, holds out the prospect of blessing, when Tyre should turn to the Lord.

1. The specification of the date, which had been omitted in the case of the four preceding objects of judgment, marks the greater weight attached to the fall of Tyre.

eleventh year--namely, after the carrying away of Jehoiachin, the year of the fall of Jerusalem. The number of the month is, however, omitted, and the day only given. As the month of the taking of Jerusalem was regarded as one of particular note, namely, the fourth month, also the fifth, on which it was actually destroyed

(Jer 52:6, 12, 13),

RABBI DAVID reasonably supposes that Tyre uttered her taunt at the close of the fourth month, as her nearness to Jerusalem enabled her to hear of its fall very soon, and that Ezekiel met it with his threat against herself on "the first day" of the fifth month.

Prophecies against Tyre. The siege of Tyre lasted thirteen years beginning 585 b.c., about three years after the capture of Jerusalem. While besieging Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar had driven Pharaoh Hophra back to the borders of Egypt. Tyre being thus relieved from a dangerous enemy, was exulting in her own deliverance, and in her neighbor's ruin, when Ezekiel predicted the calamity about to befall her. The name Tyre means rock, and was given to the city in consequence of its position. This island-rock was the heart of Tyre, and the town upon the continent - called "Old Tyre," possibly as having been the temporary position of the first settlers - was the outgrowth of the island city. The scanty records of ancient history give no, distinct evidence of the capture of insular Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar; but the fact is very probable. Compare especially Ezekiel 26:7-12; Ezekiel 29:18. The present state of Tyre is one of utter desolation, though the end was long delayed (compare Isaiah 23). Tyre was great and wealthy under Persian, Greek, Roman, and even Muslim masters. The final ruin of Tyre was due to the sultan of Egypt (1291 a.d.).

In the first day of the month - The number of the month being omitted, many suppose "the month" to mean the month when Jerusalem was taken (the rebirth month), called "the month," as being so well known. The capture of the city is known to have taken place on "the ninth day of the fourth month" and its destruction on "the seventh day of the fifth month." This prophecy therefore preceded by a few days the capture of the city. The condition of Jerusalem in the latter months of its siege was such that the Tyrians may well have exulted as though it had already fallen.

The eleventh year - This was the year in which Jerusalem was taken; the eleventh of the captivity of Jeconiah, and the eleventh of the reign of Zedekiah. What month we are not told, though the day is mentioned. There have been many conjectures about this, which are not of sufficient consequence to be detailed.