Ezekiel 27:22 - Exposition

Sheba . The Sabaea of the Greeks. It is applied, in Genesis 10:7 and 1 Chronicles 1:9 , to a grandson of Cush; in Genesis 10:28 and 1 Chronicles 1:22 , to a son of Joktan; and in Genesis 25:3 and 1 Chronicles 1:32 , to a grandson of Abraham. Geographically, in Ezekiel's time it probably included the South-Arabian region, that of Yemen, or Arabia Felix, and was famous, as in the history of the Queen of Sheba, for its gold, gems, and spices ( 1 Kings 10:1 , 1 Kings 10:2 ; Psalms 72:10 , Psalms 72:15 ). Raamah . Named in Genesis 10:7 as father of the Cushite Sheba, and probably, therefore, connected with it ethnologically and geographically. The chief of all spices had probably a technical name, like the "principal spices" of Exodus 30:23 and So Exodus 4:14 for the genuine balsam, the product of the Amyris opobalsamum, which is found between Mecca and Medina. The precious stones includes onyx, rubies, agates, and cornelians found in the mountains of Hadramant, and the jaspers and crystals of Yemen. In the Rhammanitae, mentioned by Strabo as a Sabaean tribe (16:782), we have, perhaps, a survival of the old name.