Ezekiel 26

Tyre to be punished for attitude toward Jerusalem 1
Nebuchadnezzar will attack Tyre 7
They will plunder its wealth 12
Coastlines will tremble at its fall 17
Tyre will become desolate 19
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For a chart showing relationships between verses here and ones in Revelation, go.
Text Comments
.1 ¶ And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
 2  Son of man, because that Tyrus [Tyre] hath said against Jerusalem, Ha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
 3  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
.4  And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
 5  It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
 6  And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
  1 - Eleventh year Not long before the fall of Jerusalem.
  2 - Tyre Then a Phoenician island state of about 140 acres and the best seaport for the Palestine area. Hiram, king of Tyre, provided materials and workers for David's palace, is5501. He did the same to help Solomon build the temple 1pe0110f, da0713f. The Phoenician religious practices were evil like the Cantinas. Jezebel was from Tyro's sister city, Sidon 1ki0601.
  2-6 - Ha, she is broken This greedy happiness drew a serious response from the Lord God as we see in the next verses. Tyre was to be totally destroyed and removed.
  4 - Scrape her dust Fulfilled literally when Alexander built a causeway from the mainland using the stones from the ancient city in 332 BC.
.7  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
8  He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.

  7 - Tyrus Or "Tyre." Modern Tyre has about 115,000 people (2002). The ancient city was founded around 2000 BC. The new city arose in the place of the old one.
  7 - Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon Babylon has been symbolic of forces used to punish nations in apostasy is5210 and the historic leader of apostasy re1705, re1118. Here we may see Greece as playing the Babylon role to punish Tyre. Photo courtesy of Steven Engelhard.
  8 - Daughters of the field Apparently a reference to cities which were allies of Tyre.
 9  And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
.10  By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
 11  With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
.12  And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
  9 - Engines of war Literally "an apparatus for striking." "He shall apply the stroke of the battering-ram against thy walls." (JFB).
  9 - Axes Literally, "swords."
  11 - Garrisons From masseboth, or "pillars."
  12 - Shall lay ... midst of the water. ....The meaning is not entirely clear. I suggest that the city is seen away from shore. A causeway would not make a big different. 
.13  And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
.14  And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
  14 - Like the top of a rock ... built no more See on v4. The old Tyre of pride and wealth is gone. This does not mean that a new Tyre with its culture was never to be built on the location of the old one. The case of Israel is similar. The modern nation with that name bears little resemblance to the faithful people of God who accepted the covenant given to Abraham. See comments on this topic.
  14 - No more From lo'...'od simply means an unspecified length of time. See its use in ge4629, is1320.
.15 ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
.16  Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
  15 - Isles From 'iyyim Meaning coastlines as well as islands.
  16 - Princes of the sea These were merchants who became wealthy business people. See is2308.
.17  And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
18  Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
  18 - Isles tremble Other nations would be concerned. Compare re0614.
.19  For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
.20  When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
.21  I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.
  20 - Low parts ... desolate The experience of Christ lu2253.
  21 - Be no more The prophecy does not say that the area would never again be inhabited. The proud nation is gone.
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