Ezekiel 26:1

PROPHECY AGAINST TYRE

It is of interest that, "In the Hebrew Bible, there is a marginal note at the beginning of this chapter, which reads, `half of the book.'"[1]

Regarding the date of this chapter, Keil identified it as "the year in which Jerusalem fell."[2] Alexander gave that date as 587-586 B.C.[3]

Ezekiel gave more space to God's prophecies against Tyre than did any other sacred writer. The prophecy which begins in this chapter is concluded in Ezekiel 28:19. This may have been due to the importance of Tyre at that particular time.

As was true of all the other nations against whom God directed his prophecies, it was their paganism which required the destruction in which God judged them. Salvation for mankind could never have been accomplished without the general knowledge of all mankind that God is, and that there is none else besides Him. The necessity for the destructive punishment of Israel had given her pagan neighbors the excuse to claim that the True God had been defeated; therefore, the pagan nations themselves were destroyed.

Tyre, and its sister city Sidon were pagan to the center of their existence. It was Jezebel, the daughter of Eth-Baal, king of the Sidonians, who brought the whole pagan institution into Israel in the days of Ahab, precipitating the contest with Elijah on Mount Carmel. Incidentally, that development demonstrated the godless influence of Israel's apostate kings and their foreign wives. Jezebel was the wife of Ahab.

Tyre was an exceedingly strong city, the citadel of which was located on a rock-bound island 1,200 yards off the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. There were numerous villages and cities on the mainland that were commercially and politically related to Tyre. "Tyre was the incarnation of unrestrained commercialism."[4] They were the vulture-like scavengers on the fringes of every battlefield, waiting to make a deal to buy the prisoners of war and sell them at a profit. On one occasion they had even sold the Israelites to Edom (Amos 1:9). Back in the days of Solomon, they had formed a covenant ('the brotherly covenant') with Israel, and therefore they probably had some knowledge of Jehovah.

In addition to the supporting cities and villages on the mainland, Tyre had also established a wide network of commercial establishments all over the Mediterranean world, which some believe included Tarshish on the coast of Spain; and, at one time, Carthage paid a yearly tribute to Tyre.[5] The chief representatives of Tyre in all of such centers were important leaders, called `princes' in this chapter, "the merchant princes" of antiquity.

Tyre was primarily a merchandiser, a tradesman; but another source of her wealth was the manufacture of a rare purple dye, made from the murex shell, which came from a tiny shellfish abundant in that area.[6] No doubt Lydia (Acts 16), a "seller of purple" had her connections with Tyre.

The chapter naturally falls into four divisions: (1) the announcement of Tyre's ruin (Ezekiel 26:1-6), (2) Nebuchadnezzar named as the destroyer (Ezekiel 26:7-14), (3) the world-wide shock at Tyre's fall, and (4) the permanence of the city's ruin (Ezekiel 26:19-21).

Ezekiel 26:1-6

"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah; and she shall become a spoil to the nations. And her daughters that are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Jehovah."

"She ... that was the gate of the people ..." (Ezekiel 26:2). There were several ways in which Jerusalem was indeed the "gate of the people." Due to Jerusalem's location as a kind of center-piece for three continents, she sat astride the principle trade-routes of the world, able to impose taxes upon all who passed through her borders. The cruel selfishness of those old slave-traders in Tyre led them to look with greedy delight upon any disaster that befell Jerusalem.

The word "gate" (Ezekiel 26:2) is often translated "gates"; and Keil believed that, "The plural was used to indicate the folding doors which formed `the gate.'"[7] However, to us, it appears that the several toll-stations on all the roads passing through Palestine is a more logical understanding of the plural. All such seats of custom were under the control of Jerusalem until its fall.

The rejoicing of Tyre over the fall of Jerusalem indicated that, "Tyre considered herself the heiress of Jerusalem. The fall of the world's only spiritual center, enhanced the importance of the secular center."[8] Although not stated here, the full meaning of Tyre's remarks should probably be understood as carrying the thought that, "Now she is turned to me and to my gods!"

They shall destroy the walls of Tyre (Ezekiel 26:4); I will scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock (Ezekiel 26:4); she shall become a spoil to the nations (Ezekiel 26:5); many nations shall come up against thee, as the waves of the sea (Ezekiel 26:3). All of these prophecies were most circumstantially fulfilled.

Cooke alleged that the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar was "probably inconclusive."[9] However, it went on for a period of thirteen years (586 B. C. to 573 B.C.)[10] and any worse "defeat" than such a siege can hardly be imagined. Furthermore, "It is evident that Nebuchadnezzar did indeed establish authority over Tyre, because an ancient inscription dated in 564/563 B.C. mentions a Babylonian high commissioner, alongside Tyre's native king (evidently a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar)."[11]

It should be noted that a final end of Tyre was not to come in a single overthrow; it would be the result of "many nations," coming against the proud city "as the waves of the sea." First, there was Nebuchadnezzar (586-573 B.C); the Persians next subjugated Tyre in 525 B.C.;[12] then, there was Alexander the Great (332 B.C.); and Tyre's remaining history continued to show the `continuing waves' of destruction. These included their submission to the Antiochus III, to Rome in the days of that empire, and to the Saracens in the fourteenth century A.D.[13] Is not this indeed "as the sea causeth her waves to come up?"

That Tyre would become as a bare rock is demonstrated by the condition of the place now, and for centuries previously.

That God would scrape her dust from her took place when Alexander the Great built a great mole out to the island fortress, took it, and then scraped the whole city into the ocean!

A few commentators, quoting Ezekiel 29:18, insist that "this prophecy was not fulfilled." However, in that passage Ezekiel was referring only to a "single wave" of the many that came against Tyre. Besides that, there are indeed Biblical examples of prophecies that were not fulfilled. God's promise through Jonah to overthrow Nineveh in forty days was not fulfilled. Why? Nineveh repented! Furthermore, we cannot rule out the possibility of an unrecorded repentance by Tyre. "It is possible that Tyre was spared because of an unrecorded repentance."[14] It would be helpful if some of our radical "scholars" would read Jeremiah 18:7-10. We have no evidence whatever that Tyre ever repented; but they certainly had some knowledge of the Lord; and it is no more unreasonable that, at one time or another, they indeed might have repented, than that Nineveh herself did so! Our view here is that every Word of God's prophecy against Tyre came to pass exactly as he promised.