Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 26:21
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.
21. make thee a terror ] lit., terrors or destructions I will utterly destroy thee, Eze 27:36, Eze 28:19; cf. Psa 73:19. On “make” cf. Eze 16:38.
The passage Eze 29:17-21 states that Nebuchadnezzar received no adequate reward for the service against Tyre which he served for Jehovah. History records his thirteen years’ siege of Tyre, but is silent as to the issue of it. It is not known (1) whether he took the city, or (2) whether it capitulated, or (3) whether he retired from it. On the whole the second supposition may be most probable. At any rate neither the king nor his army received wages for his service. The prophecy was not literally fulfilled. Now
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Eze 26:21
I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more.
The humiliation of Tyre
All prophecy is moral, is based on moral considerations. What the prophet aims his threats against is not the prosperity of Tyre, but its pride of heart, which was rebellion against Jehovah–God over all. The humiliation of Tyre was morally as good as its ruins, in so far as it showed that there were higher forces in the world than itself. (A. B. Davidson.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. Yet shalt thou never be found again] This is literally true; there is not the smallest vestige of the ancient Tyre, that which was erected on the main land. Even the ground seems to have been washed away; and the new Tyre is in nearly a similar state. I think this prophecy must be extended to the whole duration of Tyre. If it now be found to be in the state here described, it is sufficient to show the truth of the prophecy. And now it is found precisely in the state which the above prophetic declarations, taken according to the letter, point out! No word of God can ever fall to the ground.
Notwithstanding the former destructions, Tyre was a place of some consequence in the time of St. Paul. There was a Church there, (see Ac 21:3-4, &c.,) which afterwards became famous. Calmet observes, it afforded a great number of martyrs for the Christian Church.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A terror, or consumption; I will utterly consume thee; with more than one kind of destruction will I destroy thee, and make thee thereby a terror to all that hear the bruit of thee.
Thou shalt be no more: see Eze 26:14. If any will be so curious as to inquire, if they come to seek out the footsteps of this ancient Tyre, they shall lose their labour, no signs of it On the rock where once it stood. Rich, populous, potent, wise, renowned Tyre, as once thou wast, shalt never more be found; and, alas, that which is now on the continent is not fit to bear its name, much less to be counted the same city.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. terroran example ofjudgment calculated to terrify all evildoers.
thou shall be no moreNotthat there was to be no more a Tyre, but she was no more to be theTyre that once was: her glory and name were to be no more. As, to OldTyre, the prophecy was literally fulfilled, not a vestige of it beingleft.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will make thee a terror,…. To all the isles round about, who shall shake and tremble at the ruin of Tyre, as before observed; or to herself, being brought into a most terrible and distressed condition:
and thou shall be no more: in the same place and situation, in the same happy state and condition:
though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God: this is true of the antitype, Babylon, or antichrist, Re 18:21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
21. Terror Literally, destruction. I will entirely destroy thee (Eze 27:36; Eze 28:19).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 26:21. I will make thee a terror These prophesies, like most others, were to receive their accomplishment by degrees. Nebuchadrezzar destroyed the old city, and Alexander employed the ruins and rubbish in making his causey from the continent to the island, which hence-forward were joined together. Bishop Pococke hence observes, “It is no wonder that there are no signs of the ancient city; and as it is a sandy shore, the face of every thing is altered; and the great aqueduct in many places is almost buried in the sand.” So that as to this part of the city, the prophesy has literally been fulfilled: Thou shalt be built no more, &c. Eze 26:14. It may be questioned, whether the new city ever after that arose to that height of glory, power, wealth, and greatness to which it was elevated in the time of Isaiah and Ezekiel. It received a great blow from Alexander, not only by his taking and burning the city, but much more by his building Alexandria in Egypt, which in time deprived it of much of its trade, and thereby contributed more effectually to its ruin. It had the misfortune afterwards of changing its masters often, being sometimes in the hands of the Ptolemies, and sometimes of the Seleucidae, till at length it fell under the dominion of the Romans. It was taken by the Saracens about the year of Christ 639, in the reign of Omar: it was retaken by the Christians in the year 1124. From the Christians it was taken again, in the year 1289, by the Mamelucs of Egypt, under the sultan Alphix, who sacked and rased this and Sidon, and other strong towns, that they might not afford any harbour to the Christians. From the Mamelucs it was taken again in the year 1516, by Selim, the ninth emperor of the Turks, and under their dominion it continues at present. But, alas! how fallen! for, from being the centre of trade, frequented by all the merchant-ships of the east and west, it is now become a heap of ruins, visited only by the boats of a few fishermen. So that as to this part likewise of the city the prophesy has been literally fulfilled: I will make thee like the top of a rock, &c. Let us now hear what travellers have to say concerning the completion of this prophesy. Hadrianus Parvellerius, a Jesuit, who resided ten years in Syria, has related, that when he approached the ruins of Tyre, and beheld the rocks stretched forth to the sea, and the great stones scattered up and down the shore made clean and smooth by the sun, and waves, and winds, and useful only for the drying of fishermen’s nets, many of which happened at that time to be spread thereon, it brought to his memory the 5th and 14th verses of this chapter, I will make thee, &c. Dr. Shaw, in his account of Tyre, expresses himself thus: “I visited several creeks and inlets, to discover what provisions might have been formerly made for the security of their vessels; yet I could not perceive the least token of their cothon or harbour, that could have been of any extraordinary capacity: so that there must have been some other station than this. In the north-north-east part likewise of the city, we see the traces of a safe and commodious bason, which is scarce forty yards in diameter. Yet even this port is so choked up with sand and rubbish, that the boats of those poor fishermen, who now and then visit this once-renowned emporium, can with great difficulty be only admitted.” Mr. Maundrell is fullest to our purpose. “This city, (says he) standing in the sea upon a peninsula, promises at a distance something very magnificent but when you come to it you find no similitude of that glory for which it was so renowned in ancient times. On the north side is an old Turkish ungarrisoned castle; besides which you see nothing but a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c. there being not so much as one entire house left. Its present inhabitants are only a few wretches, harbouring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly upon fishing; who seem to be preserved in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible argument, how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, that it should be as the top of a rock; a place for fishers to dry their nets on.” See Bishop Newton’s Dissert. vol. 1: p. 344.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The same year Jerusalem was destroyed, this prophesy was delivered. We have,
1. The joy that the Tyrians took in the ruin of Judah, and the hopes of advantage which they conceived would accrue to them from her fall. Jerusalem had been the gates of the people, much frequented, a place of great trade, but was now broken down; and they hoped that all the commerce which had been carried on there would be transferred to them, and that they should be replenished, both with people who might fly thither, or with captives, and the spoil sold by the conquerors. Note; It is very sinful to be pleased with the death or misfortunes of those who were our rivals in trade, or whose fall is our advantage; and the envy and covetousness which appear herein, God will assuredly remember and punish.
2. God threatens to visit Tyre for her iniquity. I am against thee; and he is more to be feared than innumerable hosts. At his beck, and under his guidance, the king of Babylon shall besiege the city with an immense army, raging like the waves of the sea: the dust raised by the multitude of his cavalry shall obscure the skies as a thick cloud, and his military engines shake down the walls, till at the breach his troops shall enter, and spread desolation on every side. Her daughters shall be slain with the sword; either the cities and people of the continent subject to Tyre; or so terrible should be the massacre when the city was taken, that not even the women should be spared; her garrisons beat to the ground; the statues of her strength, the images of her idols, on whom she placed her confidence, trodden under foot; the very pavements broken with the prancings of the horses: the rich merchandize becomes a prey to the besiegers; the walls are razed; the whole city is laid in ruins; the very dust is scraped off, and made bare as the top of a rock. Deserted now, no songs of mirth, no music, shall be heard any more in her; nor shall she ever be rebuilt, at least not on the same spot, or be restored to her former splendour, but remain a desert waste, as the top of a rock; a place for fishermen to dry their nets; which, according to the reports of those who have been there, is to this day literally true of Tyre, since its final destruction. God hath spoken it, and therefore the fulfilment is sure; and in these judgments he will make himself terribly known to them.
2nd, The dreadful ruin of Tyre is farther described.
1. The islands of the sea, terrified with her fall, will quake for fear; their princes, descending from their thrones, with expressions of deepest sorrow shall mourn over her desolations, while they tremble in expectation of sharing her fate. They shall take up their lamentation, astonished how such a glorious city could be destroyed, and weeping over the mighty fallen. Once so renowned had Tyre been; strong in the sea; fortified by the waves as bulwarks, and filled with mariners, the most expert and bold; the terror of all that ploughed the main: she reigned the unrivalled mistress of the ocean; but now was deserted and desolate; the people departed into captivity; the city, with its inhabitants, sunk under the waters; demolished by the army of the Chaldeans, rushing with resistless fury upon them, and bringing them down to the sides of the pit with those who have been long dead. Yea, so total and intire shall be the overthrow, that scarcely the vestiges shall remain. So weak is human strength, so fading is human greatness; so tottering are the foundations of the strongest cities: if we would dwell abidingly in safety, we must look above the earth for that better city whose maker and builder is God.
2. The Lord will do this. I will make thee a terror; his hand shall be visible in their ruin; and his design in her fall is to give her neighbours warning, that, terrified with her destruction, they may avoid her sins.
3. The restoration of Israel, over whom she triumphed, shall aggravate the irreparable ruin of Tyre. I shall set glory in the land of the living; in Israel, whither many souls, spiritually alive to God, should return from the captivity; and God will exalt and distinguish them with his love, favour, and protection. Note; (1.) The church of God’s believing people is the land of the living; blessed and happy are they who have their portion therein. (2.) The joy and glory of the saints in heaven will aggravate the torments of the dammed in hell, when they behold the bliss from which they are eternally excluded, and gnash with rage and despair.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
OH! Eternal Spirit, who by thy servant the Prophet, hath here brought us into visions of God! condescend blessed Lord, to be our Guide and Teacher in them: If by the Tyre here spoken of as an enemy to the Church, we are to consider the ancient Tyre the foe to Israel, we bless thee, O Lord, for thus showing thy people how graciously thou hast always watched over them for good, notwithstanding their unworthiness; and considered the injuries shown to them, as directed against thyself. And if Lord, this prophecy hath a further reference to the after dispensations in thy Church; and this becomes some mystic Tyre, that shall be thrown down, and thy Church triumph over her, when thou shalt set glory in the land of the living; give, gracious Lord, wisdom, both to him that writes and to him that reads, humbly to wait at thy footstool, thy revelations, in their due season; and never presume to be wise above what is written. Grant Holy Lord, all suited and becoming grace to this purpose, and make the heart of each infinitely more studious, to be found among thy faithful people, when thou shalt set glory in the land of the living, than to be among the wise and prudent in their own conceit, from whom divine things are hidden. Oh! precious, precious Jesus! be it our one only desire, to be found in thee: that when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning; it may be our portion to be found written, among the living in Jerusalem! Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 26:21 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.
Ver. 21. Yet shalt thou never be found again. ] See on Eze 26:14 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a terror: Heb. terrors, Eze 26:15, Eze 26:16, Eze 27:36, Eze 28:19
though: Eze 26:14, Psa 37:36, Jer 51:64, Rev 18:21
Reciprocal: Eze 27:27 – shall fall Dan 11:19 – but Zep 2:9 – Surely
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 26:21. Nothing new is contained in this verse; it is a summing up of the desolate condition to be brought by the Lord upon Tyrus.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Terrors would overtake the people, and the city would exist no longer even though others tried to find it (cf. 27:26-35). They would search for the city on its former site but would discover that it was not there. In other words, it would enjoy no continuing importance in history. Today only a small fishing village exists on the site, and sailors use the rocks to dry their nets (cf. Eze 26:14).
"The God who has chosen what is weak in the world also shames the strong by evidence of his power, so that no human being may boast in his presence (1Co 1:27-29)." [Note: Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, p. 77.]