1.
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
the eleventh year. The month not given; but see Jeremiah 39:1-7 ; Jeremiah 52:4-11 . See note on Ezekiel 30:20 . Jerusalem fell probably in the fifth month, after the fall but before the destruction in that year of the Temple (2 Kings 25:8 ). Compare Ezekiel 26:2 . This prophecy began to be fulfilled then, and Tyre was taken by Nebuchadnezzar after a thirteen years' siege (see Isaiah 23:1 ), and Josephus (Antiquities x. 11, 1; cont . Apion, i. 20); but not completely fulfilled till later. Jehovah secs the end from the beginning, and speaks of it by way of prophetic foreshortening. "The day of Jehovah" (Ezekiel 30:3 ) looks forward to the end.
the LORD . Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
2.
Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
Son of man. See note on Ezekiel 2:1 .
Tyrus = Tyre, the city. Now, es Sur, Hebrew, tzur = a rock,
people = peoples.
she is turned: i.e. the tide of her traffic.
3.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
the Lord GOD . Hebrew. Adonai Jehovah . See note on Ezekiel 2:4
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos . App-6 .
4.
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
the top of a rock = a bare rock.
5.
It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
the midst of the sea. Tyre was on a promontory spreading out into the sea.
saith the Lord GOD = [is] Adonai Jehovah's oracle,
6.
And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
Nebuchadrezzar. Occurs thus spelled four times in this book (here; Ezekiel 29:18 , Ezekiel 29:19 ; and Ezekiel 30:10 ). See note on Daniel 1:1 .
companies = a gathered host.
8.
He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.
daughters which are in the field = her daughter cities and towns inland.
9.
And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
engines of war = battering rams. Occurs only here.
axes = weapon
10.
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11.
With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
garrisons. or, pillars. Seen in vast numbers in the ruins to-day.
12.
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
13.
And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
14.
And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
thou. The 1611 edition of tho Authorized Version reads "they". be built no more. Zidon's fate has boon different. Its extinction was not prophesied. See Ezekiel 28:20-26 .
the LORD . The Syriac and Vulgate, with some codices, and two early printed editions, omit "Jehovah" here.
15.
Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
isles = coastlands, or maritime countries.
16.
Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
trembling. Hebrew, plural = a great trembling.
17.
And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
take up = raise.
a lamentation = a dirge.
that wast inhabited of seafaring men: or, that west an abode from the seas. The Syriac kataluo means to lodge , and is the rendering of Hebrew. yashab in Numbers 25:1 .
18.
Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
19.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
20.
When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
descend into the pit . The people of Tyre are meant, as joining those who were dead and buried.
and I shall set glory . This is either a parenthetical contrast referring to Jerusalem (with which the prophecy begins, Ezekiel 26:2 ), or we may read, with Septuagint, "nor yet arise", &c, completing the end of Tyre, as in Ezekiel 26:21 .
in the land of the living . This expression occurs eight times without the Article ("the" living): here; Ezekiel 32:23 , Ezekiel 32:24 , Ezekiel 32:26 , Ezekiel 32:26 , Ezekiel 32:27 , Ezekiel 32:32 ; and Psalms 27:13 . It occurs three times with the Article ("the living "). See note on Isaiah 38:11 . In each case it refers to the condition of life, is contrast with " Sheol ', which is the condition of death.
21.
I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.