Ezekiel 27:21

"Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants. The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers; they traded for thy wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, were thy traffickers, Asshur and Chilmad, were thy traffickers. These were thy traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas."

"Traffickers ..." (Ezekiel 27:22-24). This word is used seven times in this brief paragraph; and the connotations of the term are not at all complimentary. On the contrary, the term means "crooked trader," using false balances and other `tricks of the trade.' Like the ancient term "Corinth," which gave the ancient world the term "Corinthianize," meaning to corrupt morally, the term `trafficker' came to mean a crooked Canaanite dealer. (See a full documentation of this in Vol. 2 of my Minor Prophets Series (Hosea), pp. 198,199.)

The skillful organization of the ancient evil world appears in this passage. There was a single, sprawling, net-work of traders under the leadership of Tyre and her navy of "the ships of Tarshish." Her comparison with a majestic ship was certainly appropriate, because her wealth and glory were derived from and continually dependent upon the ships. Just as Britannia once ruled the waves in modern times, Tyre ruled them of old.

Here is terminated the catalogue of merchandise and products; and in the following verse, the metaphor of the ship is again resumed.

"If one traces the location of the place-names in this section on a map, it will appear that Tyre traded with practically every known nation in the western world from Spain to Armenia, the Black Sea and beyond. Each area, taking advantage, of the available shipping, brought the products of its land to trade with Tyre. The commercial operations of that city were truly vast!"[25]