Ezekiel 27:1

PROPHECY OF THE SINKING OF THE MAJESTIC SHIP; TYRE

The prophet Ezekiel suddenly emerges in this chapter as a man of almost unbelievable ability, information, and knowledge of world geography, agricultural and manufacturing products associated with the nations of the whole world, and of the art of ship-building. It is not known just how much of this incredible store of knowledge was due to the divine inspiration of the prophet, and how much of it was derived from his own personal knowledge. We do not pretend to know the full answer to that question.

It is evident, as McFadyen noted that, "The dirge over Tyre is a brilliant poem, the central paragraph of which is in prose, containing a gorgeous account of the commercial commodities featured in the commerce of Tyre, together with the various origins of the commodities and the goods for which they were exchanged!."[1]

Plumptre called this chapter "without parallel in the history of literature."[2] Cooke labeled it, "One of the finest of Ezekiel's compositions."[3]

Keil divided the chapter into three sections: a presentation of the glory of Tyre under the figure of a majestic Merchant Ship (1-11), an account of the commodities involved in Tyre's extensive commerce with the nations of the world (12-25), and the dramatic prophecy of her sudden disaster (26-36).[4]

THE GLORY OF THE MAJESTIC SHIP TYRE

Ezekiel 27:1-11

"The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, And thou, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre; and say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest at the entry of the sea, that art the merchant of the peoples unto many isles, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, O Tyre, hast said, I am perfect in beauty. Thy borders are in the heart of the seas; thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy planks of fir trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim. Of fine linen broidered work from Egypt was thy sail, that it might be to thee for an ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning. The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots. The old men 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 deal in thy merchandise. Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about; they have perfected thy beauty."

"O thou that dwellest at the entry of the sea ..." (Ezekiel 27:3). Here we have another example of scholarly fiddling with the Biblical text in which they perverted the Word of God, changing what the sacred text says into what the translators thought the Holy Spirit should have said! This passage reads entrances into the sea, not entry.[5] Tyre had two great harbors, the Sidonian on the north, and the Egyptian harbor on the south. Thus "entrances of the sea" is correct.

Another example of the same type of error by translators appears in Acts 17:40 (KJV), where translators changed "rudders" to "rudder," erroneously believing that ancient ships had only a single rudder. (See a full comment on this in our New Testament Series, Vol. 5 (Acts), pp. 503,504.)

Please do not misunderstand this comment as downgrading the efforts of scholars to aid us in the understanding of the Bible. Their work is absolutely indispensable. It is true that errors like the ones cited here occur, but the scholars are confronted with a nearly impossible task. The sacred text of this very chapter, in its transmission to us through many centuries has been severely damaged and obscured in some places, leaving part of it unintelligible until emendations and corrections of it have been studied in order to arrive at the meaning. "This very chapter is remarkable for its textual difficulties."[6]

Also, it should be remembered that, in those cases where the scholars have added words, those additions appear in the versions as italics; and in instances where a presumably better term is substituted for a word in the original, the original word is generally given as an alternate reading in the margin, or in a footnote. Then, also, there are many cases in which former errors are corrected in subsequent versions, as in the case of Acts 27:40.

Nevertheless, a word of warning should be issued with regard to many "corrupt translations," especially of the New Testament, which are, in many passages, intentional perversions of the truth, slanted to favor the theological bias of certain groups.

"I am perfect in beauty ..." (Ezekiel 27:3). "Simply put, her pride and self-adulation knew no bounds, and she was inordinately arrogant."[7]

"Fir-trees from Senir ..." (Ezekiel 27:5). "Senir was the Amorite" name for Mount Hermon (as in Deuteronomy 3:9)."[8]

"Of the oaks of Bashan... thine oars ..." (Ezekiel 27:6). Special varieties of trees were sought for every part of the magnificent ship. We are reminded that the hulk of The Mayflower was made of the "Oaks of Devonshire."

"Benches of boxwood inlaid with ivory ..." (Ezekiel 27:6). The word which is here translated as "benches" is also rendered as "deck,"[9] or "boards,"[10] or "cabin." That the wood was precious is seen in the fact that it was used in the framing of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:15,16; and Numbers 3:36; 4:31). The exact kind of wood here called "boxwood" is not certainly known. Skinner thought that it was probably, "A variety of cedar imported from Cyprus."[11] Kittim in this verse is the same as Cyprus.

"The isles of Elishah ..." (Ezekiel 27:7). "This is the equivalent of the Greek Aeolis on the western coast of Asia Minor."[12] Tyre, having somewhat depleted the supply of the murex mollusk in the waters of Phoenicia, found an additional, abundant supply of these in the Greek isles. They were important in the making of purple dye.

"Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers ..." (Ezekiel 27:8). "'Arvad' was an island off the coast of Sidon, now called Ruad (Genesis 10:18)."[13]

Some radical critics would like to delete the prose section which immediately follows Ezekiel 27:11, as some kind of a later addition to the prophecy; but as Beasley-Murray said, "That is not sufficient reason for denying its authenticity."[14]

"Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and buckler in thee ..." (Ezekiel 27:10).

"We should seek Lud in Africa (Jeremiah 46:9; Genesis 10:13; Isaiah 66:19); and Put is on the African coast of the Red Sea."[15]

The great riches of Tyre enabled her to employ mercenary soldiers from as far away as Persia. From Jeremiah 46:9, it appears that Egypt also employed mercenaries from these same sources. "Thus Tyre had become a magnificent world-wide empire, which was able to procure the commerce and cooperation of the nations all over the world of that era."[16]

"Thine army upon thy walls ..." (Ezekiel 27:11). Keil called attention to the fact that, "A distinction is made between the mercenaries from Lud, Put, etc., called `men of war' in 5:10, and the other soldiers who 'manned the walls" of the city. These from the local Arvad would have been considered more loyal to Tyre. The more distant mercenaries were entrusted with battles more removed from the city itself."[17]