E
Z E K I E L
CHAP. XXVII.
Still
we are attending the funeral of
Tyre
and the lamentations made for the fall of that
renowned city. In this chapter we have, I. A large account of the dignity,
wealth, and splendour of
Tyre, while it was in its strength, the vast trade
it drove, and the interest it had among the nations (ver. 1-25), which is
designed to make its ruin the more lamentable. II. A prediction of its fall
and ruin, and the confusion and consternation which all its neighbours shall
thereby be put into, ver. 26-36. And this is intended to stain the pride of
all worldly glory, and, by setting the one over-against the other, to let us
see the vanity and uncertainty of the riches, honours, and pleasures of the
world, and what little reason we have to place our happiness in them or to be
confident of the continuance of them; so that all this is written for our
learning.
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The
Prosperity of Tyre.
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B.
C. 588.
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1 The word of the LORD
came again unto me, saying, 2 Now, thou son of man, take up a
lamentation for Tyrus; 3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art
situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for
many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy
borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy
beauty. 5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees
of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the
Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the
isles of Chittim. 7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was
that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles
of Elishah was that which covered thee. 8 The inhabitants of Zidon
and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in
thee, were thy pilots. 9 The ancients 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 occupy thy merchandise. 10 They of Persia and of
Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and
helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. 11 The men of Arvad
with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were
in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have
made thy beauty perfect. 12 Tarshish was thy merchant by
reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin,
and lead, they traded in thy fairs. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech,
they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of
brass in thy market. 14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in
thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. 15 The men of Dedan were
thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they
brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony. 16
Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy
making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work,
and fine linen, and coral, and agate. 17 Judah, and the land of
Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of
Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. 18 Damascus was
thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of
all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. 19 Dan also and
Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and
calamus, were in thy market. 20 Dedan was thy merchant in
precious clothes for chariots. 21 Arabia, and all the princes of
Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were
they thy merchants. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they
were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all
spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. 23 Haran, and
Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were
thy merchants. 24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of
things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich
apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast
replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
Here, I. The prophet is ordered to take up a lamentation for Tyrus, v.
2. It was yet in the height of its prosperity, and there appeared not the
least symptom of its decay; yet the prophet must lament it, because its
prosperity is its snare, is the cause of its pride and security, which will
make its fall the more grievous. Even those that live at ease are to be
lamented if they be not preparing for trouble. He must lament it because its
ruin is hastening on apace; it is sure, it is near; and though the prophet
foretel it, and justify God in it, yet he must lament it. Note, We ought to
mourn for the miseries of other nations, as well as for our own, out of an
affection for mankind in general; it is a part of the honour we owe to all men
to bewail their calamities, even those which they have brought upon themselves
by their own folly.
II. He is directed what to say, and to say it in the name of the Lord
Jehovah, a name not unknown in Tyre, and which shall be better known, ch.
xxvi. 6.
1. He must upbraid Tyre with her pride: O Tyrus! thou hast said, I am of
perfect beauty (v. 3), of universal beauty (so the word is),
every way accomplished, and therefore every where admired. Zion, that had the beauty
of holiness, is called indeed the perfection of beauty (Ps. l. 2);
that is the beauty of the Lord. But Tyre, because well-built and
well-filled with money and trade, will set up for a perfect beauty. Note, It
is the folly of the children of this world to value themselves on the pomp and
pleasure they live in, to call themselves beauties for the sake of them, and,
if in these they excel others, to think themselves perfect. But God takes
notice of the vain conceits men have of themselves in their prosperity when
the mind is lifted up with the condition, and often, for the humbling of the
spirit, finds a way to bring down the estate. Let none reckon themselves
beautified any further than they are sanctified, nor say that they are of
perfect beauty till they come to heaven.
2. He must upbraid Tyre with her prosperity, which was the matter of her
pride. In elegies it is usual to insert encomiums of those whose fall we
lament; the prophet, accordingly, praises Tyre for all that she had that was
praiseworthy. He has nothing to say of her religion, her piety, her charity,
her being a refuge to the distressed or using her interest to do good offices
among her neighbours; but she lived great, and had a great trade, and all the
trading part of mankind made court to her. The prophet must describe her
height and magnificence, that God may be the more glorified in her fall, as
the God who looks upon every one that is proud and abases him, hides the
proud in the dust together, and binds their faces in secret, Job xl. 12.
(1.) The city of Tyre was advantageously situated, at the entry of the sea
(v. 3), having many commodious harbours each way, not as cities seated
on rivers, which the shipping can come but one way to. It stood at the east
end of the Mediterranean, very convenient for trade by land into all the
Levant parts; so that she became a merchant of the people for many isles.
Lying between Greece and Asia, it became the great emporium, or mart-town, the
rendezvous of merchants from all parts: They borders are in the heart of
the seas, v. 4. It was surrounded with water, which was a great
advantage to its trade; it was the darling of the sea, laid in its bosom, in
its heart. Note, It is a great convenience, upon many accounts, to live in an
island: seas are the most ancient land-mark, not which our fathers
have set, but the God of our fathers, and which cannot be removed as other
land-marks may, nor so easily got over. The people so situated may the more
easily dwell alone, if they please, as not reckoned among the
nations, and yet, if they please, may the more easily traffic abroad and
keep a correspondence with the nations. We therefore of this island must own
that he who determines the bounds of men's habitations has determined well for
us.
(2.) It was curiously built, according as the fashion then was; and, being a
city on a hill, it made a glorious show and tempted the ships that sailed by
into her ports (v. 4): They builders have perfected thy beauty;
they have so improved in architecture that nothing appears in the buildings of
Tyre that can be found fault with; and yet it wants that perfection of beauty
into which the Lord does and will build up his Jerusalem.
(3.) It had its haven replenished with abundance of gallant ships, Isa.
xxxiii. 21. The ship-carpenters did their part, as well as the
house-carpenters theirs. The Tyrians are thought to be the first that invented
the art of navigation; at least they improved it, and brought it to as great a
perfection perhaps as it could be without the loadstone. [1.] They made the boards,
or planks, for the hulk of the ship, of fir-trees fetched from Senir,
a mount in the land of Israel, joined with Hermon, Cant. iv. 8. Planks of fir
were smooth and light, but not so lasting as our English oak. [2.] They had
cedars from Lebanon, another mountain of Israel, for their masts, v. 5.
[3.] They had oaks from Bashan (Isa. ii. 13), to make oars of; for it is
probable that their ships were mostly galleys, that go with oars. The people
of Israel built few ships for themselves, but they furnished the Tyrians with
timber for shipping. Thus one country uses what another produced, and so they
are serviceable one to another, and cannot say to each other, I have no
need of thee. [4.] Such magnificence did they affect in building their
ships that they made the very benches of ivory, which they
fetched from the isles of Chittim, from Italy or Greece, and had
workmen from the Ashurites or Assyrians to make them, so rich would they have
their state-rooms in their ships to be. [5.] So very prodigal were they that
they made their sails of fine linen fetched from Egypt, and that
embroidered too, v. 7. Or it may be meant of their flags
(which they hoisted to notify what city they belonged to), which were very
costly. The word signifies a banner as well as a sail. [6.] They
hung those rooms on ship-board with blue and purple, the richest cloths
and richest colours they could get from the isles they traded with. For though
Tyre was itself famous for purple, which is therefore called the Tyrian
dye, yet they must have that which was far-fetched.
(4.) These gallant ships were well-manned, by men of great ingenuity and
industry. The pilots and masters of the ships, that had command in their
fleets, were of their own city, such as they could put a confidence in (v.
8): Thy wise men, O Tyrus! that were in thee, were thy pilots. But, for
common sailors, they had men from other countries; The inhabitants of Arvad
and Zidon were thy mariners. These came from cities hear them; Zidon was
sister to Tyre, not two leagues off, to the northward; there they bred able
seamen, which it is the interest of the maritime powers to support and give
all the countenance they can to. They sent to Gebal in Syria for calkers,
or strengtheners of the clefts or chinks, to stop them when the
ships come home, after long voyages, to be repaired. To do this they had the ancients
and wise men (v. 9); for there is more need of wisdom and
prudence to repair what has gone to decay than to build anew. In public
matters there is occasion for the ancients and wise men to be
the repairers of the breaches and the restorers of paths to dwell in.
Nay, all the countries they traded with were at their service, and were
willing to send men into their pay, to put their youths apprentice in Tyre, or
to put them on board their fleets; so that all the ships in the sea with
their mariners were ready to occupy thy merchandise. Those that
give good wages shall have hands at command.
(5.) Their city was guarded by a military force that was very considerable, v.
10, 11. The Tyrians were themselves wholly given to trade; but it was
necessary that they should have a good army on foot, and therefore they took
those of other states into their pay, such as were fittest for service, though
they had them from afar (which perhaps was their policy), from Persia, Lud,
and Phut. These bore their arms when there was occasion, and in time of peace hung
up the shield and buckler in the armoury, as it were to proclaim peace,
and let the world know that they had at present no need of them, but they were
ready to be taken down whenever there was occasion for them. Their walls
were guarded by the man of Arvad; their towers were
garrisoned by the Gammadim, robust men, that had a great deal of
strength in their arms; yet the vulgar Latin renders it pygmies,
men no longer than one's arm. They hung their shields upon the walls in
their magazines or places of arms; or hung them out upon the walls of the
city, that none might dare to approach them, seeing how well provided they
were with all things necessary for their own defence. "Thus they set
forth thy comeliness (v. 10), and made they beauty perfect,"
v. 11. It contributed as much as any thing to the glory of Tyre that it
had those of all the surrounding nations in its service, except the land of
Israel (though it lay next them), which furnished them with timber, but we do
not find that it furnished them with men; that would have trenched upon the
liberty and dignity of the Jewish nation, 2 Chron. ii. 17, 18. It was also the
glory of Tyre that it had such a militia, so fit for service, and in constant
pay, and such an armoury, like that in the tower of David, where hung the shields
of mighty men, Cant. iv. 4. It is observable that there and here the
armouries are said to be furnished with shields and helmets,
defensive arms, not with swords and spears, offensive, though it is probable
that there were such, to intimate that the military force of a people must be
intended only for their own protection and not to invade and annoy their
neighbours, to secure their own right, not to encroach upon the rights of
others.
(6.) They had a vast trade and a correspondence with all parts of the known
world. Some nations they dealt with in one commodity and some in another,
according as either its products or its manufactures were, and the fruits of
nature or art were, with which it was blessed. This is very much enlarged upon
here, as that which was the principal glory of Tyre, and which supported all
the rest. We do not find any where in scripture so many nations named together
as are here; so that this chapter, some think, gives much light to the first
account we have of the settlement of the nations after the flood, Gen. x. The
critics have abundance of work here to find out the several places and nations
spoken of. Concerning many of them their conjectures are different and they
leave us in the dark and at much uncertainty; it is well that it is not
material. Modern surveys come short of explaining the ancient geography. And
therefore we will not amuse ourselves here with a particular enquiry either
concerning the traders or the goods they traded in. We leave it to the
critical expositors, and observe that only which is improvable. [1.] We have
reason to think that Ezekiel knew little, of his own knowledge, concerning the
trade of Tyre. He was a priest, carried away captive far enough from the
neighbourhood of Tyre, we may suppose when he was young, and there he had been
eleven years. And yet he speaks of the particular merchandises of Tyre as
nicely as if he had been comptroller of the custom-house there, by which it
appears that he was divinely inspired in what he spoke and wrote. It is God
that saith this, v. 3. [2.] This account of the trade of Tyre
intimates to us that God's eye is upon men, and that he takes cognizance of
what they do when they are employed in their worldly business, not only when
they are at church, praying and hearing, but when they are in their markets
and fairs, and upon the exchange, buying and selling, which is a good reason
why we should in all our dealings keep a conscience void of offence,
and have our eye always upon him whose eye is always upon us. [3.] We may here
observe the wisdom of God, and his goodness, as the common Father of mankind,
in making one country to abound in one commodity and another in another, and
all more or less serviceable either to the necessity or to the comfort or
ornament of human life. Non omis fert omnia tellus--One land does not
supply all the varieties of produce. Providence dispenses its gifts
variously, some to each, and all to none, that there may be a mutual commerce
among those whom God has made of one blood, though they are made to
dwell on all the face of the earth, Acts xvii. 26. Let every nations
therefore thank God for the productions of its country; though they be not so
rich as those of others, yet there is use for them in the public service of
the world. [4.] See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind,
especially when followed in the fear of God, and with a regard not only to
private advantage, but to a common benefit. The earth is full of God's
riches, Ps. civ. 24. There is a multitude of all kinds of riches in
it (as it is here, v. 12), gathered off its surface and dug out of its
bowels. The earth is also full of the fruits of men's ingenuity and industry,
according as their genius leads them. Now by exchange and barter these are
made more extensively useful; thus what can be spared is helped off, and what
is wanted is fetched in, in lieu of it, from the most distant countries. Those
that are not tradesmen themselves have reason to thank God for tradesmen and
merchants, by whom the productions of other countries are brought to our
hands, as those of our own are by our husbandmen. [5.] Besides the necessaries
that are here traded in, see what abundance of things are here mentioned that
only serve to please fancy, and are made valuable only by men's humour and
custom; and yet God allows us to use them, and trade in them, and part with
those things for them which we can spare that are of an intrinsic worth much
beyond them. Here are horns of ivory and ebony (v. 15), that are
brought for a present, exposed to sale, and offered in exchange, or (as
some think) presented to the city, or the great men of it, to obtain their
favour. Here are emeralds, coral, and agate (v. 16), all precious
stones, and gold (v. 22), which the world could better be without
than iron and common stones. Here are, to please the taste and smell, the chief
of all spices (v. 22), cassia and calamus (v. 19),
and, for ornament, purple, broidered work, and fine linen (v.
16), precious clothes for chariots (v. 20), blue clothes
(which Tyre was famous for), broidered work, and chests of rich
apparel, bound with rich cords, and made of cedar, a sweet
wood to perfume the garments kept in them, v. 24. Upon the review of
this invoice, or bill of parcels, we may justly say, What a great many things
are here that we have no need of, and can live very comfortably without! [6.]
It is observable that Judah and the land of Israel were merchants in
Tyre too; in a way of trade they were allowed to converse with the heathen.
But they traded mostly in wheat, a substantial commodity, and
necessary, wheat of Minnith and Pannag, two countries in Canaan famous
for the best wheat, as some think. The whole land indeed was a land of
wheat (Deut. viii. 8); it had the fat of kidneys of wheat, Deut.
xxxii. 14. Tyre was maintained by corn fetched from the land of Israel. They
traded likewise in honey, and oil, and balm, or rosin;
all useful things, and not serving to pride or luxury. And the land which
these were the staple commodities of was that which was the glory of all
lands, which God reserved for his peculiar people, not those that traded
in spices and precious stones; and the Israel of God must reckon
themselves well provided for if they have food convenient; for those
that are acquainted with the delights of the children of God will not set
their hearts on the delights of the sons and daughters of men, or the treasures
of kings and provinces. We find indeed that the New-Testament Babylon
trades in such things as Tyre traded in, Rev. xviii. 12, 13. For,
notwithstanding its pretensions to sanctity, it is a mere worldly interest.
[7.] Though Tyre was a city of great merchandise, and they got abundance by
buying and selling, importing commodities from one place and exporting them to
another, yet manufacture-trades were not neglected. The wares of their own
making, and a multitude of such wares, are here spoken of, v.
16, 18. It is the wisdom of a nation to encourage art and industry, and not to
bear hard upon the handicraft-tradesmen; for it contributes much to the wealth
and honour of a nation to send abroad wares of their own making, which
may bring them in the multitude of all riches. [8.] All this made Tyrus
very great and very proud: The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in they
market (v. 25); thou wast admired and cried up by all the nations
that had dealings with thee; for thou wast replenished in wealth and
number of people, wast beautified, and made very glorious, in the midst of
the seas. Those that grow very rich are cried up as very glorious; for
riches are glorious things in the eyes of carnal people, Gen. xxxi. 1.
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The
Fall of Tyre.
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B.
C. 588.
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26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great
waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots,
thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war,
that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst
of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the
sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry
bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow
themselves in the ashes: 31 And they shall make themselves utterly
bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with
bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. 32 And in their
wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying,
What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the
sea? 33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst
many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of
thy riches and of thy merchandise. 34 In the time when thou
shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and
all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. 35 All the
inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be
sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror,
and never shalt be any more.
We have seen
Tyre
flourishing; here we have
Tyre
falling, and great is the fall of it, so much the greater for its having made
such a figure in the world. Note, The most mighty and magnificent kingdoms and
states, sooner or later, have their day to come down. They have their period;
and, when they are in their zenith, they will begin to decline. But the
destruction of Tyre was sudden. Her sun went down at noon. And all her
wealth and grandeur, pomp and power, did but aggravate her ruin, and make it
the more grievous to herself and astonishing to all about her. Now observe
here, 1. How the ruin of Tyrus will be brought about, v. 26. She is as
a great ship richly laden, that is split or sunk by the indiscretion of her
steersmen: Thy rowers have themselves brought thee into great
and dangerous waters; the governors of the city, and those that had the
management of their public affairs, by some mismanagement or other involved
them in that war with the Chaldeans which was the ruin of their state. By
their insolence, by some affront given to the Chaldeans or some attempt made
upon them, in confidence of their own ability to contend with them, they
provoked Nebuchadnezzar to make a descent upon them, and, by their obstinacy
in standing it out to the last, enraged him to such a degree that he
determined on the ruin of their state, and, like an east wind, broke them
in the midst of the seas. Note, It is ill with a people when those that
sit at the stern, instead of putting them into the harbour, run them aground.
2. How great and general the ruin will be. All her wealth shall be buried with
her, her riches, her fairs, and her merchandise (v. 27); all
that had any dependence upon her, and dealings with her, in trade, in war, in
conversation, shall ball with her into the midst of the seas, in the day of
her ruin. Note, Those who make creatures their confidence, place their
happiness in their interest in them and rest their hopes upon them, will of
course fall with them; happy therefore are those that have the God
of Jacob for their help, and whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who lives for ever. 3. What sad lamentation would be made for the destruction
of Tyre. The pilots, her princes and governors, when they see how wretchedly
they have mismanaged and how much they have contributed to their own ruin,
shall cry out so loud as to make even the suburbs shake (v.
28), such a vexation shall it be to them to reflect upon their own bad
conduct. The inferior officers, that were as the mariners of the state, shall
be forced to come down from their respective posts (v. 29), and they
shall cry out against thee, as having deceived them, in not proving so
well able to hold out as they thought thou hadst been; they shall cry
bitterly for the common ruin, and their own share in it. They shall use
all the most solemn expressions of grief; they shall cast dust on their
heads, in indignation against themselves, shall wallow themselves in
ashes, as having bid a final farewell to all ease and pleasure; they shall
make themselves bald (v. 31), with tearing their hair;
and, according to the custom of great mourners, those shall gird themselves
with sackcloth who used to wear find linen, and, instead of merry songs,
they shall weep with bitterness of heart. Note, Losses and crosses are
very grievous, and hard to be borne, to those that have long been wallowing in
pleasure and sleeping in carnal security. 4. How Tyre should be upbraided with
her former honour and prosperity (v. 32, 33); she that was Tyrus the renowned
shall now be called Tyrus the destroyed in the midst of the sea.
"What city is like Tyre? Did ever any city come down from such a
height of prosperity to such a depth of adversity? Time was when thy wares,
those of thy own making and those that passed through thy hands, went forth
out of the seas, and were exported to all parts of the world; then thou
filledst many people, and didst enrich the kings of the earth and
their kingdoms." The Tyrians, though they bore such a sway in trade, were
yet, it seems, fair merchants, and let their neighbours not only live, but
thrive by them. All that dealt with them were gainers; they did not cheat or
oppress the people, but did enrich them with the multitude of their
merchandise. "But now those that used to be enriched by thee shall be
ruined with thee" (as is usual in trade); "when thou shalt be
broken, and all thou hast is seized on, all thy company shall fall too,"
v. 34. There is an end of Tyre, that made such a noise and bustle in
the world. This great blaze goes out in a snuff. 5. How the fall of Tyre
should be matter of terror to some and laughter to others, according as they
were differently interested and affected. Some shall be sorely afraid,
and shall be troubled (v. 35), concluding it will be their own
turn to fall next. Others shall hiss at her (v. 36), shall
ridicule her pride, and vanity, and bad management, and think her ruin just.
She triumphed in Jerusalem's fall, and there are those that will triumph in
hers. When God casts his judgments on the sinner men also shall clap
their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place, Job xxvii.
22, 23. Is this the city which men called the perfection of beauty?
Contents
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