Ezekiel 27:16 - Exposition

Syria ; Hebrew, Aram . The LXX . which gives ἀνθρώπους , seems to have read Adam (equivalent to "man"), another instance of the fact just referred to. And this has led many commentators (Michaelis, Ewald, Hitzig, Furst) to conjecture, following the Peshito Version, that Edom must have been the true reading. As regards the products named, we know too little of the commerce of Edom to say whether it included them in its exports, and the fact that the broidered work of Babylon had been famous from of old ( Joshua 7:21 ), and that it was also the oldest emporium for precious stones, may be urged in favor of the present reading, and of taking Aram in its widest sense as including Mesopotamia. On the other hand, the mention of onyx, sapphire, coral, pearls, topaz, in Job 28:16-19 , the local coloring of which is essentially Idumaean, supports the conjectural emendation. Emeralds (comp. Exodus 28:18 ). Some writers identify it with the carbuncle. It meets us again in Ezekiel 28:13 . The fine linen ( butz ) is different from that of Ezekiel 28:7 ( shesh ) and appears only in the later books of the Old Testament ( 1 Chronicles 4:21 ; 2 Chronicles 3:14 ; Esther 1:6 , etal .). It was probably the byssus of the Greeks, made of cotton, while the Egyptian fabric was of flax. Coral . The Hebrew ( ramoth ) occurs only here and in Job 28:18 . "Coral" is the traditional Jewish interpretation , but the LXX . transliterates, and the Vulgate gives secure. Agate is found here and in Isaiah 54:12 , and has been identified with the ruby or carbuncle. In Exodus 28:19 and Exodus 39:12 the English represents a different Hebrew word.