F3 K1 26:1-28:19.
K2 28:20-26. Zidon.
K1 L1 26:1-27:27:36. The City of Tyre.
L2 28:1-19. The "Prince" and "King" of Tyre.
L1 M1 26:1-21. The Destruction of Tyre.
M2 27:1-36. The Lamentation of Tyre.
M1 N 1,2. Tyre rejoices at Jerusalem fall.
O g 3. Invasion by many nations.
h 4-. Breaking down.
i -4-6. Likeness to top of a rock.
O g 7,8. Invasion by Babylon.
h 9-13. Breaking down.
i 14. Likeness to top of a rock.
N 15-21. Nations lament at Tyre fall.
478 B.C.
Ezekiel 26)
1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month (the month not given; but see Jer. 39:1-7; 52:4-14. See 30:20. Jerusalem fell probably in the 5th month, after the fall but before the destruction in that year of the Temple [2 Kings 25:8]. Cp. v.2. This prophecy began to be fulfilled then, and Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar after a 13 years' siege [see Isa. 23;1]; but not completely fulfilled till later. Yahaveh sees the end from the beginning, and speaks of it by way of prophetic foreshortening, "The day of Yahaveh" [30:3] looks forward to the end), that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 "Son of man, because that Tyre (= a rock. Noe es Sur) has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the peoples: she is turned (i.e. the tide of her traffic) to me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:'
3 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; 'Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes his waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her,
and make her like a bare rock.
5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea (Tyre was on a promontory spreading out into the sea): for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughter cities and towns inland shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'
7 For thus says the Lord GOD; 'Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a gathered host, and much people.
8 He shall slay with the sword your daughter cities and towns inland: and he shall make a fort against you, and cast a mount against you, and lift up the buckler against you.
9 And he shall set battering rams against your walls, and with his weapons he shall break down your towers.
10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets: he shall slay your people by the sword, and your strong garrisons (or, pillars. Seen in vast numbers in the ruins today) shall go down to the ground.
12 And they shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise: and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses: and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the water.
13 And I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.
14 And I will make you like the top of a rock: you shall be a place to spread nets upon; you shalt be built no more (Zidon's fate has been different. Its extinction was not prophesied. See 28:20-26): for I the LORD have spoken it, says the Lord GOD.'
15 Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre; 'Shall not the coastlands (or, maritime countries) shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you?
16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with a great trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at you.
17 And they shall raise a lamentation (= a dirge) for you, and say to you, 'How are you destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!'
18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at your departure.
19 For thus says the Lord GOD; 'When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon you, and great waters shall cover you;
20 When I shall bring you down with them that descend into the pit (the people of Tyre are meant, as joining those who were dead and buried), with the people of old time, and shall set you in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I shall set glory (this is either a parenthetical contrast referring to Jerusalem [with which the prophecy begins, v.2], or we may read, "nor yet arise", &c., completing the end of Tyre, as in v.21) in the land of the living; (See Isa. 38:11. In each case it refers to the condition of life, in contrast with "Sheol", which is the condition of death.)
21 I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more: though you be sought for, yet shall you never be found again, says the Lord GOD.' "