Ezekiel 27:19 - Exposition

Dan also ; Hebrew, Vedan . The Authorized Version, following the Vulgate, takes the first syllable as the common conjunction "and;" but no other verse in the chapter begins in this way, and the Revised Version is probably right in giving the Hebrew word as its stands. Dan, it may be added, was hardly likely to have been singled out of all the tribes after the mention of Judah and Israel, especially as it had shared in the exile of the ten tribes. Smend identifies it with Waddan, between Mecca and Medina, or with Aden. Javan, too. already named in Ezekiel 27:13 , can scarcely here be Greece, though it may possibly refer to Greek traders. It also has been identified conjecturally with an Arabian city. The words , going to and fro , have been rendered "from Uzal" ( Genesis 10:27 ), the ancient name of the capital of Yemen, in Arabia; or, as in the Revised Version, with yarn . The bright iron describes the steel used for sword-blades, for which Yemen was famous. Cassia ( Exodus 30:24 ; Psalms 45:8 ) and calamus ( Exodus 30:23 ; So Exodus 4:14 ) both belong to the class of perfumes for which Arabia was famous. It is probably the Acorns fragraas, the "sweet cane" of Isaiah 43:24 ; Jeremiah 6:20 .