Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 27:12
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.
12. The name Tarshish (Tartessus) was given to the district of country lying outside the Straits of Gibraltar on the lower Baetis, the Guadalquiver (Wadi el Kebr, great river).
with silver in thy fairs ] Rather apparently: silver they brought as thy wares. There is no evidence that the word means “fairs;” in Eze 27:27 ; Eze 27:34 the things so named fall into the waters of the sea. The representation is that all things brought to Tyre were hers, the nations offered them to her as tribute ( Eze 27:15). Spain was famous for the metals mentioned; cf. for silver, Jer 10:9. Probably Tarshish served as an entrept for such products found further north, as in the Cassiterides (Scilly Islands) and Cornwall.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12 25. The market of Tyre
Several things are to be observed in this passage: 1. The representation is not that Tyre is traded with by the nations, though this is the fact lying under the figures employed. The nations are not customers of Tyre. Tyre neither buys nor sells, nor does she exchange one article for another. The nations are her merchants, who bring to her wares from every land; or they are her dependents, and the merchandise which they bring is a tribute which they render her ( Eze 27:15). They are her subjects, ministering to her luxury, bringing wares to her, and enriching her. The counterpart to this idea is that she enriches many peoples by bestowing her wealth upon them ( Eze 27:33). 2. The passage is artistic. Two words are employed for “to trade,” “to be a merchant.” The words have little difference of sense and are generally used alternately, e.g. one word in Eze 27:12 ; Eze 27:15-16 ; Eze 27:18 ; Eze 27:21, the other in Eze 27:13 ; Eze 27:15 ; Eze 27:17 ; Eze 27:20 ; Eze 27:22 seq. Two words also are used in the sense of wares or goods, though hardly differing in meaning. These also are used alternately so as to diversify the phraseology, e.g. the one in Eze 27:12 ; Eze 27:14 ; Eze 27:16 ; Eze 27:18 ; Eze 27:22, the other in Eze 27:13 (15), 17, 19, with other variants of the same sense. Gesen. attributed various senses to these words, as: 1, traffic, trading, 2, fair, market-place, and 3, gain, wealth. The words do not appear to differ in meaning, and neither of the two probably has any other sense than the general one of wares. 3. Again, the language is diversified by the adoption of a variety of constructions. The word “give,” which receives an extraordinary extension of usage in Ez. and in later Heb. in general (cf. its use in the Apocalypse), is employed in the sense of put, bring, render, &c. That it ever means to “sell” (Ges.) is without evidence. The various constructions employed are seen in Eze 27:12 ; Eze 27:22 (acc. and prep. b, cf Eze 27:13 ; Eze 27:17); in Eze 27:16 ; Eze 27:18 (double prep. b), and in Eze 27:14 (double accus.). These different constructions probably all express the same general meaning.
There is much uncertainty in the text, e.g. for “sons of Dedan,” Eze 27:15, LXX. reads, sons of the Rhodians, and for Aram (Syria) Eze 27:16, Syriac reads Edom (so LXX. “man”), in both cases by interchange of the similar letters d and r. Eze 27:19 is certainly out of order, and Eze 27:24 exceedingly obscure. Owing to these obscurities the precise order followed in the enumeration of the nations is involved in some uncertainty. 1. vv, 12 14, the prophet names the nations lying in the widest circle around Tyre, beginning with the furthest west, Tarshish (Spain), and pursuing a line along the north, Javan (Ionia), Tubal (N. of Asia Minor), and Togarmah (Armenia). 2. If Rhodians be read in Eze 27:15, a narrower circle of the Mediterranean coasts would be described. 3. Eze 27:16-19, if Edom be read for Aram, the line traced is from S. to N., along the eastern trade route, Edom, Judah, Damascus. 4. In Eze 27:19 Uzal seems certainly to be the name of a place (A.V. “going to and fro”) in the S. of Arabia, the other names are Arabian, Dedan, Kedar, Sheba and Raamah. 5. The names in Eze 27:23 seq. are more obscure, and it is not certain whether this be the previous line carried further N. or a new line.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The thread broken at Eze 27:8 is taken up, and the various nations are enumerated which traded with Tyre.
Eze 27:12
Tarshish – Tartessus in Spain (marginal references). Spain was rich in the metals named.
Merchant – Especially applied to those who traveled about with caravans to carry on trade (see Gen 23:16).
Fairs – Or, wares Eze 27:33. The word occurs only in this chapter. The foreign merchants gave their wares in return for the products delivered to them by Tyre.
Eze 27:13
Jaran – Greece (Ion), including the Grecian colonies in Sicily and Italy.
Tubal, and Meshech – The Tibareni and Moschi, whose lands were on the Caucasian highlands between the Euxine and Caspian Seas (see the marginal reference), were a fine race of men; from thence slaves have been continually sought. Greece too in ancient times was famous for furnishing slaves.
Eze 27:14
Togarmah – Armenia.
Eze 27:15
Dedan – There were two tribes (Shemite and Hamite), each bearing the name of Dedan (see Gen 10:7). The Hamite (Ethiopian) Dedan may well have supplied for a payment (rather than for a present) horns, ivory, and ebony; the Shemite (Arabians), clothes for chariots (see Eze 27:20).
Eze 27:16
Syria – Aram here included Mesopotamia; and Babylon was famous for its precious stones. Many read Edom.
Emeralds – Rather, carbuncle.
Fine linen – The word ( buts) was used only in the times of the captivity. It is a Phoenician word, which in Greek assumed the form byssus, properly cotton, as distinguished from linen; the Phoenicians spinning their threads from cotton wool, the Egyptians from flax.
Eze 27:17
Minnith – A city of the Ammonites, whose country was famous for wheat 2Ch 27:5. The wheat was carried through the land of Israel to Tyre.
Pannag – This word occurs nowhere else, and has been very variously explained. Some take it to be sweetwares. Others see in it the name of a place, fertile like Minnith, perhaps identical with Pingi on the road from Baalbec to Damascus.
Eze 27:18
Helbon – Chalybon, near Damascus, whose wine was a favorite luxury with Persian kings.
White wool – A product of flocks that grazed in the waste lands of Syria and Arabia.
Eze 27:19
Dan also – Hebrew Vedan, a place in Arabia, not elsewhere mentioned.
Going to and fro – Better as in the margin, a proper name, Meuzal, or rather, from Uzal which was the ancient name of Senaa the capital of Yemen in Arabia. Greek merchants would carry on commerce between Uzal and Tyre.
Bright iron – literally, wrought iron; iron worked into plates smooth and polished. Yemen was famous for the manufacture of sword-blades.
Cassia – The inner bark of an aromatic plant.
Calamus – A fragrant reed-like plant (see Exo 30:23-24). Both are special products of India and Arabia.
Eze 27:20
Dedan – See Eze 27:15. It is remarkable that Dedan and Sheba occur both among the descendants of Ham in Gen 10:7, and among the descendants of Abraham and Keturah in Gen 25:3. This seems to indicate that there were distinct nomad tribes bearing the same names of Hamite and of Semitic origin; or it may be that whereas some of the nomad Arabs were Hamite, others Semitic, these were of mixed origin, and so traced up their lineage alike to tiara and Shem. Here we have, at any rate, a number of Arabian nomad tribes mentioned together, and these tribes and their caravans were in those days the regular merchant travelers between east and west. By her ships, Tyre spread over Europe the goods which by these caravans she obtained from India and China.
Precious clothes – Or clothes of covering, cloths of tapestry.
Eze 27:21
Kedar – The representative of the pastoral tribes in the northwest of Arabia.
Eze 27:22
Sheba – Sabaea, the richest country of Arabia, corresponded nearly with what is now called Yemen or Arabia Felix.
Raamah – Closely connected with Sheba, whose seat is supposed to have been in the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf.
Eze 27:23
Haran – Charrae in Mesopotamia.
Canneh – Calneh Gen 10:10, probably Ctesiphon on the Tigris.
Eden – On the Euphrates Isa 37:12. the merchants of Sheba Here the towns or tribes that traded with Sheba. Sheba maintained a considerable trade with Mesopotamia.
Chilmad – Possibly Kalwada near Bagdad.
Eze 27:24
All sorts of things – See the margin, made of cedar Rather, made fast.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Eze 27:12-23
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches.
The fairs of Tyre
Let us look in upon a worlds fair at Tyre. Ezekiel leads us through one department, and it is a horse fair. Underfed and overdriven for ages, the horses of today give you no idea of the splendid animals which, rearing and plunging and snorting and neighing, were brought down over the planks of the ships, and led into the worlds fair at Tyre, until Ezekiel, who was a minister of religion, and not supposed to know much about, horses, cried out in admiration, They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses. Here in another department of that worlds fair at Tyre, led on by Ezekiel the prophet, we find everything all ablaze with precious stones. Like petrified snow are the corals; like fragments of fallen sky are the sapphires; and here is a gate a-blush with all colours. What is that aroma we inhale? It is from the chests of cedar which we open, and find them filled with all kinds of fabric. But the aromatics increase as we pass down this lane of enchantment, and here are cassia and frankincense and balm. Led on by Ezekiel the prophet, we come to an agricultural fair, with a display of wheat from Minnith and Pannag, rich as that of our modern Dakota or Michigan. And here is a mineralogical fair, with specimens of iron and silver and tin and lead and gold. But, halt! for here is purple, Tyrian purple, all tints and shades, deep almost unto the black, and bright almost unto the blue; waiting for kings and queens to order it made into robes for coronation day; purple, not like that which is now made from the orchilla weed, but the extinct purple, the lost purple, which the ancients knew how to make out of the gastropod molluscs of the Mediterranean. Oh, look at those casks of wine from Helbon! See those snow banks of wool from the back of sheep that once pastured in Gilead! Oh, the bewildering riches and variety of that worlds fair at Tyre! (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Great fairs universal
But the world has copied these Bible mentioned fairs in all succeeding ages, and it has had its Louis the Sixth fair at Dagobert, and Henry the First fair on St. Bartholomews Day, and Hungarian fairs at Pesth, and Easter fairs at Leipsic, and the Scotch fairs at Perth (bright was the day when I was at one of them), and afterward came the London worlds fair, and the New York worlds fair, and the Vienna worlds fair, and the Parisian worlds fair, and it has been decided that, in commemoration of the discovery of America in 1492, there shall be held in this country in 1892 a worlds fair that shall eclipse all preceding national expositions. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of thy wares of thy making.
Home industries to be encouraged
It is the wisdom of a nation to encourage art and industry, and not to bear hard upon the handicraft-tradesman; 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 riches. (M. Henry,)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Tarshish was thy merchant] After having given an account of the naval and military equipment of this city, he now speaks of the various places and peoples with whom the Tyrians traded, and the different kinds of merchandise imported from those places.
By Tarshish some understand the Carthaginians; some think Tartessus, near the straits of Gibraltar, is meant; others, Tharsis in Cilicia. The place was famous for all the useful metals, silver, iron, tin, and lead. All these they might have had from Britain.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Tarshish; the city or country for the inhabitants; some say Carthaginians, others Tarsus in Cilicia; others with more probability say it is Tartessus, an ancient town on the mouth of the river Baetis; or rather, over against it, in an island, (where Gades, now Cadiz,) a convenient port to export the rich metals that were brought down the Baetis from the country abounding with them, and through which their Baetis ran, and the inhabitants of this Tartessus furnished the Tyrians with them. Spain was full of silver and iron; these were the product of the country.
Tin; it is probable they fetched this from some islands over against the own country is most noted for tin and lead, which some say was fetched by the Phoenicians; if so, for aught I see to the contrary, the Tartessians, who were a people before ever the Tyrians came into those parts, might first trade here, and fetch it hence, and carry it to Tyre, the voyage being neither long or dangerous enough between that island and our Cornwall, to render the thing difficult or the conjecture improbable.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. TarshishTartessus inSpain, a country famed for various metals, which were exported toTyre. Much of the “tin” probably was conveyed by thePhoelignicians from Cornwall to Tarshish.
traded in thy fairs“didbarter with thee” [FAIRBAIRN];from a root, “to leave,” something left in barterfor something else.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches,…. Some understand this of the sea, which is sometimes called Tarshish; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it here: and the Targum,
“from the sea, or they of the sea bring merchandise into the midst of thee:”
that is, those who lived upon the coasts, or on the isles, of the Mediterranean sea. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it the Carthaginians, who were a colony of the Tyrians, and no doubt traded with them; but it seems most likely, with others, to intend Tartessus in Spain, a place not far from that where Cadiz now stands; a country which abounded with riches, and with the following things:
with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs; Pliny t says, that almost all Spain abounded in metals of lead, iron, brass, silver, and gold; which takes in the several things here mentioned, excepting tin; and that the Spaniards might have from our Cornwall, which they might import into Tyre: though the Phoenicians carried on a commerce with our isle of Britain themselves, whither they came for tin, and disposed of other goods they brought with them. Gussetius u observes, that the word does not signify the place of trade and traffic, as it is commonly rendered; but respects the goods traded in, and the manner of trafficking with them, by way of “exchange”, as the word should be rendered; and the sense is, that the things before mentioned were what they gave in exchange, battered, and “left”, with the Tyrians, for other goods they took of them; and so it is to be understood in all the following places where the word is used. So Ben Melech says it is expressive of merchandise.
t Nat. Hist. l. 3. c. 3. u Ebr. Comment. p. 594, 595.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This is followed by a description of the commerce of Tyre with all nations, who delivered their productions in the market of this metropolis of the commerce of the world, and received the wares and manufactures of this city in return. – Eze 27:12. Tarshish traded with thee for the multitude of goods of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants; with souls of men and brazen vessels they made thy barter. Eze 27:14. From the house of Togarmah they paid horses, riding-horses, and mules for thy sales. Eze 27:15. The sons of Dedan were thy merchants; many islands were at thy hand for commerce; ivory horns and ebony they brought thee in payment. Eze 27:16. Aram traded with thee for the multitude of thy productions; with carbuncle, red purple, and embroidery, and byssus, and corals, and rubies they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:17. Judah and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants; with wheat of Minnith and confectionery, and honey and oil, and balsam they made thy barter. Eze 27:18. Damascus traded with thee in the multitude of thy productions, for the multitude of goods of all kinds, with wine of Chelbon and white wool. Eze 27:19. Vedan and Javan from Uzal gave wrought iron for thy salves; cassia and calamus were for thy barter. Eze 27:20. Vedan was thy merchant in cloths spread for riding. Eze 27:21. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were at thy hand for commerce; lambs and rams and he-goats, in these they traded with thee. Eze 27:22. The merchants of Sheba and Ragmah, they were thy merchants; with all kinds of costly spices and with all kinds of precious stones and gold they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:23. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, Chilmad, were they merchants; Eze 27:24. They were thy merchants in splendid clothes, in purple and embroidered robes, and in treasures of twisted yarn, in wound and strong cords for thy wares. Eze 27:25. The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans, thy trade, and thou wast filled and glorious in the heart of the seas. – The enumeration of the different peoples, lands, and cities, which carried on trade with Tyre, commences with Tarshish (Tartessus) in the extreme west, then turns to the north, passes through the different lands of Anterior Asia and the Mediterranean to the remotest north-east, and ends by mentioning Tarshish again, to round off the list. But the lands and peoples, which are mentioned in Eze 27:5-11 as furnishing produce and manufactures for the building of Tyre, viz., Egypt and the tribes of Northern Africa, are left out. – To avoid wearisome uniformity in the enumeration, Ezekiel has used interchangeably the synonymous words which the language possessed for trade, besides endeavouring to give life to the description by a variety of turns of expression. Thus (Eze 27:12, Eze 27:16, Eze 27:18), (Eze 27:21), and (Eze 27:15), or (Eze 27:21), are interchanged with (Eze 27:13, Eze 27:15, Eze 27:17, Eze 27:22, Eze 27:24), (Eze 27:20, Eze 27:23), and (Eze 27:24); and, again, (Eze 27:12, Eze 27:14, Eze 27:22), (Eze 27:16, Eze 27:19), with (Eze 27:13, Eze 27:17), and (Eze 27:19), and (Eze 27:15). The words , participle of , and , from morf , signify merchants, traders, who travel through different lands for purposes of trade. , literally, the female trader; and , literally, trade; then used as abstract for concrete, the tradesman or merchant. , the travelling merchant. – , the female trader, a city carrying on trade. , trade or a place of trade, a commercial town. ( pluralet.) does not mean a place of trade, market, and profits (Gesenius and others); but according to its derivation from , to leave, relinquish, literally, leaving or giving up, and as Gusset. has correctly explained it, “that which you leave with another in the place of something else which he has given up to you.” Ewald, in accordance with this explanation, has adopted the very appropriate rendering Absatz, or sale. , with , or with a double accusative, literally, to make thy sale with something, i.e., to pay or to give, i.e., pay, something as an equivalent for the sale; ‘ , to give something for the sale, or the goods to be sold. , barter, goods bartered with , to give bartered goods, or carry on trade by barter.
The following are the countries and peoples enumerated: – , the Tyrian colony of Tarshish or Tartessus, in Hispania Baetica, which was celebrated for its wealth in silver (Jer 10:9), and, according to the passage before us, also supplied iron, tin, and lead (vid., Plin. Hist. nat. iii. 3 4, xxxiii. 6 31, xxiv. 14 41; Diod. Sic. v. 38). Further particulars concerning Tarshish are to be found in Movers, Phoeniz. II 2, pp. 588ff., and II 3, p. 36. – Javan, i.e., Jania, Greece or Greeks. – Tubal and Meshech are the Tibareni and Moschi of the ancients between the Black and Caspian Seas (see the comm. on Gen 10:2). They supplied souls of men, i.e., slaves, and things in brass. The slave trade was carried on most vigorously by the Ionians and Greeks (see Joel 4:6, from which we learn that the Phoenicians sold prisoners of war to them); and both Greeks and Romans drew their largest supplies and the best slaves from the Pontus (for proofs of this, see Movers, II 3, pp. 81f.). It is probable that the principal supplies of brazen articles were furnished by the Tibareni and Moschi, as the Colchian mountains still contain an inexhaustible quantity of copper. In Greece, copper was found and wrought in Euboea alone; and the only other rich mines were in Cyprus (vid., Movers, II 3, pp. 66, 67). – Eze 27:14. “From the house of Togarmah they paid,” i.e., they of the house of Togarmah paid. Togarmah is one of the names of the Armenians (see the comm. on Gen 10:3); and Strabo (XI 14. 9) mentions the wealth of Armenia in horses, whilst that in asses is attested by Herodotus (i. 194), so that we may safely infer that mules were also bred there. – Eze 27:15. The sons of Dedan, or the Dedanites, are, no doubt, the Dedanites mentioned in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Cush, who conducted the carrying trade between the Persian Gulf and Tyre, and whose caravans are mentioned in Isa 21:13. Their relation to the Semitic Dedanites, who are evidently intended in Eze 27:20, and by the inhabitants of Dedan mentioned in connection with Edom in Eze 25:13 and Jer 49:8, is involved in obscurity (see the comm. on Gen 10:7). The combination with and the articles of commerce which they brought to Tyre, point to a people of southern Arabia settled in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf. The many are the islands and coasts of Arabia on the Persian Gulf and Erythraean Sea.
(Note: Movers (II 3, pp. 303ff.) adduces still further evidence in addition to that given above, namely, that “unquestionable traces of the ancient name have been preserved in the region in which the ancient Dedanites are represented as living, partly on the coast in the names Attana, Attene, which have been modified according to well-known laws, – the former, a commercial town on the Persian Gulf, visited by Roman merchants (Plin. vi. 32, 147); the latter, a tract of country opposite to the island of Tylos (Plin. l.c. 49), – and partly in the islands of the Persian Gulf” (p. 304).)
, the commerce of thy hand, i.e., as abstr. pro concr., those who were ready to thy hand as merchants. , ivory horns. This is the term applied to the elephants’ tusks ( shn ) on account of their shape and resemblance to horns, just as Pliny ( Hist. nat. xviii. 1) also speaks of cornua elephanti, although he says, in viii. 3 (4), that an elephant’s weapons, which Juba calls cornua, are more correctly to be called dentes.
(Note: The Ethiopians also call ivory Karna nage, i.e., cornu elephanti, and suppose that it is from horns, and not from tusks, that ivory comes (vid., Hiob Ludolph, Hist. Aeth. I c. 10).)
The . . . , Keri , signifies hebenum , ebony. The ancients obtained both productions partly from India, partly from Ethiopia (Plin. xii. 4 8). According to Dioscor. i. 130, the Ethiopian ebony was preferred to the Indian. to return payment (see the comm. on Psa 72:10).
In Eze 27:16, J. D. Michaelis, Ewald, Hitzig, and others read for , after the lxx and Pesh., because Aram did not lie in the road from Dedan and the to Israel (Eze 27:17), and it is not till Eze 27:18 that Ezekiel reaches Aram. Moreover, the corruption for could arise all the more readily from the simple fact that the defective form only occurs in Ezekiel (Eze 25:14), and is altogether an extraordinary one. These reasons are undoubtedly worthy of consideration; still they are not conclusive, since the enumeration does not follow a strictly geographical order, inasmuch as Damascus is followed in Eze 27:19. by many of the tribes of Southern Arabia, so that Aram might stand, as Hvernick supposes, for Mesopotamian Aram, for which the articles mentioned in Eze 27:16 would be quite as suitable as for Edom, whose chief city Petra was an important place of commerce and emporium for goods. , the multitude of thy works, thy manufactures. Of the articles of commerce delivered by , the red purple, embroidery, and (the Aramaean name for byssus, which appears, according to Movers, to have originally denoted a species of cotton), favour Aram, particularly Babylonia, rather than Edom. For the woven fabrics of Babylonia were celebrated from the earliest times (vid., Movers, II 3, pp. 260ff.); and Babylon was also the oldest and most important market for precious stones (vid., Movers, p. 266). is the carbuncle (see the comm. on Exo 28:18). , probably the ruby; in any case, a precious stone of brilliant splendour (vid., Isa 54:12). , corals or pearls (vid., Delitzsch on Job 28:18). – Judah (Eze 27:17) delivered to Tyre wheat of Minnith, i.e., according to Jdg 11:33, an Ammonitish place, situated, according to the Onomast., four Roman miles from Heshbon in the direction of Philadelphia. That Ammonitis abounded in wheat, is evident from 2Ch 27:5, although the land of Israel also supplied the Tyrians with wheat (1Ki 5:11). The meaning of the . . cannot be definitely ascertained. The rendering confectionery is founded upon the Aramaean , deliciari , and the Chaldee translation, , i.e., , according to Hesychius, , or sweetmeats made from honey. Jerome renders it balsamum , after the of the lxx; and in Hitzig’s opinion, Pannaga (literally, a snake) is a name used in Sanscrit for a sweet-scented wood, which was employed in medicine as a cooling and strengthening drug (?). Honey (from bees) and oil are well-known productions of Palestine. is balsam; whether resina or the true balsam grown in gardens about Jericho ( opobalsamum ), it is impossible to decide (see my Bibl. Archol. I p. 38, and Movers, II 3, pp. 220ff.). Damascus supplied Tyre with wine of Chelbon. still exists in the village of Helbn, a place with many ruins, three hours and a half to the north of Damascus, in the midst of a valley of the same name, which is planted with vines wherever it is practicable, from whose grapes the best and most costly wine of the country is made (vid., Robinson, Biblical Researches). Even in ancient times this wine was so celebrated, that, according to Posidonius (in Athen. Deipnos. i. 22), the kings of Persia drank only Chalybonian wine from Damascus (vid., Strabo, XV 3. 22). , wool of dazzling whiteness; or, according to others, wool of Zachar, for which the Septuagint has , Milesian wool.
(Note: According to Movers (II 3, p. 269), is the Sicharia of Aethicus (Cosm. 108): Sicharia regio, quae postea Nabathaea, nuncupatur, silvestris valde, ubi Ismaelitae eminus , – an earlier name for the land of the Nabathaeans, who dwelt in olden time between Palestine and the Euphrates, and were celebrated for their wealth in flocks of sheep.)
Eze 27:19. Various explanations have been given of the first three words. is not to be altered into , as it has been by Ewald, both arbitrarily and unsuitably with Eze 27:20 immediately following; nor is it to be rendered “ and Dan.” It is a decisive objection to this, that throughout the whole enumeration not a single land or people is introduced with the copula w . Vedan, which may be compared with the Vaheb of Num 21:14, a place also mentioned only once, is the name of a tribe and tract of land not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. Movers (p. 302) conjectures that it is the celebrated city of Aden (Arab. ‘dn). Javan is also the name of an Arabian place or tribe; and, according to a notice in the Kamus, it is a place in Yemen. Tuch ( Genesis, p. 210) supposes it to be a Greek (Ionian) settlement, the founders of which had been led by their enterprising spirit to cross the land of Egypt into Southern Arabia. For the purpose of distinguishing this Arabian Javan from Greece itself, or in order to define it more precisely, is appended, which all the older translators have taken to be a proper name. According to the Masoretic pointing , the word is, no doubt, to be regarded as a participle Pual of , in the sense of spun, from , to spin. But apart from the fact that it would be a surprising thing to find spun goods mentioned in connection with the trade of the Arabian tribes, the explanation itself could not be sustained from the usage of the language; for there is nothing in the dialects to confirm the idea that is a softened form of , inasmuch as they have all (Aram.) and gzl (Arab.), and the Talmudic , texere, occurs first of all in the Gemara, and may possibly have been derived in the first instance from the Rabbinical rendering of our by “spun.” Even the fact that the word is written with Shurek is against this explanation rather than in its favour; and in all probability its origin is to be traced to the simple circumstance, that in Eze 27:12, Eze 27:14, Eze 27:16 the articles of commerce are always mentioned before , and in this verse they would appear to be omitted altogether, unless they are covered by the word . But we can very properly take the following words as the object of the first hemistich, since the Masoretic accentuation is founded upon the idea that is to be taken as the object here. We therefore regard as the only admissible pointing, and take as a proper name, as in Gen 10:27: “from Uzal,” the ancient name of Sanaa, the subsequent capital of Yemen. The productions mentioned bear this out. Forged or wrought iron, by which Tuch ( l.c. p. 260) supposes that sword-blades from Yemen are chiefly intended, which were celebrated among the Arabs as much as the Indian. Cassia and calamus (see the comm. on Exo 30:23 and Exo 30:24), two Indian productions, as Yemen traded with India from the very earliest times. – Dedan (Eze 27:20) is the inland people of that name, living in the neighbourhood of Edom (cf. Eze 25:13; see the comm. on Eze 27:15). They furnished , tapetes straguli , cloths for spreading out, most likely costly riding-cloths, like the middim of Jdg 5:10. and represent the nomad tribes of central Arabia, the Bedouins. For is never used in the Old Testament for the whole of Arabia; but, according to its derivation from , a steppe or desert, simply for the tribes living as nomads in the desert (as in Isa 13:20; Jer 3:2; cf. Ewald, Grammat. Arab. I p. 5). Kedar, descended from Ishmael, an Arabian nomad tribe, living in the desert between Arabia Petraea and Babylonia, the Cedrei of Pliny (see the comm. on Gen 25:13). They supplied lambs, rams, and he-goats, from the abundance of their flocks, in return for the goods obtained from Tyre.
Jdg 5:22. Next to these the merchants of Sheba and Ragmah ( ) are mentioned. They were Arabs of Cushite descent (Gen 10:7) in south-eastern Arabia (Oman); for , , was in the modern province of Oman in the bay of the same name in the Persian Gulf. Their goods were all kinds of spices, precious stones, and gold, in which southern Arabia abounded. , the chief or best of all perfumes (on this use of , see the comm. on Exo 30:23; Son 4:14), is most likely the genuine balsam, which grew in Yemen ( Arabia felix), according to Diod. Sic. iii. 45, along with other costly spices, and grows there still; for Forskal found a shrub between Mecca and Medina, called Abu sham, which he believed to be the true balsam, and of which he has given a botanical account in his Flora Aeg. pp. 79, 80 (as Amyris opobalsamum), as well as of two other kinds. Precious stones, viz., onyx-stones, rubies, agates, and cornelians, are still found in the mountains of Hadramaut; and in Yemen also jaspers, crystals, and many good rubies (vid., Niebuhr, Descript. p. 125, and Seetzen in Zach’s Monatl. Corresp. xix. p. 339). And, lastly, the wealth of Yemen in gold is too strongly attested by ancient writers to be called in question (cf. Bochart, Phal. II 28), although this precious metal is no found there now.
In Eze 27:23, Eze 27:24 the trade with Mesopotamia is mentioned. , the Carrhae of the Romans in north-western Mesopotamia (see the comm. on Gen 11:31), was situated at the crossing of the caravan-roads which intersect Mesopotamia; for it was at this point that the two caravan routes from Babylonia and the Delta of the Persian Gulf joined the old military and commercial road to Canaan (Movers, p. 247). The eastern route ran along the Tigris, where Calneh, the later Ktesiphon, and the most important commercial city. It is here called (Canneh), contracted from (see the comm. on Gen 10:10; Amo 6:2). The western route ran along the Euphrates, past the cities mentioned in Eze 27:23. is not the Syrian, but the Mesopotamian Eden (2Ki 19:12; Isa 37:12), the situation of which has not yet been determined, though Movers (p. 257) has sought for it in the Delta of the Euphrates and Tigris. The singular circumstance that the merchants of Sheba should be mentioned in connection with localities in Mesopotamia, which has given rise both to arbitrary alterations of the text and to various forced explanations, has been explained by Movers (p. 247 compared with p. 139) from a notice of Juba in Pliny’s Hist. nat. xii. 17 (40), namely, that the Sabaeans, the inhabitants of the spice country, came with their goods from the Persian Gulf to Carrhae, where they held their yearly markets, and from which they were accustomed to proceed to Gabba (Gabala in Phoenicia) and Palestinian Syria. Consequently the merchants of Sabaea are mentioned as those who carried on the trade between Mesopotamia and Tyre, and are not unsuitably placed in the centre of those localities which formed the most important seats of trade on the two great commercial roads of Mesopotamia.
Asshur and Chilmad, as we have already observed, were on the western road which ran along the Euphrates. has already been discovered by Bochart ( Phal. I 18) in the Charmande of Xenophon ( Anab. i. 5. 10), and Sophaenetus (see Steph. Byz. s.v. ), a large and wealthy city in a desert region “beyond the river Euphrates.” The Asshur mentioned along with Chilmad, in the midst of purely commercial cities, cannot be the land of Assyria, but must be the emporium Sura (Movers, p. 252), the present Essurieh, which stands upon the bank on this side of the Euphrates above Thapsacus and on the caravan route, which runs from Palmyra past Rusapha ( Rezeph, Isa 37:12; 2Ki 19:12) to Nicephorium or Rakka, then in a northerly direction to Haran, and bending southwards, runs along the bank of the river in the direction of Chilmad or Charmande (Ritter, Erdk. XI pp. 1081ff.). The articles of commerce from these emporia, which were brought to Tyre by Sabaean caravans, consisted of , literally, articles of perfect beauty, either state-dresses (cf. , Eze 23:12 and Eze 34:4), or more generally, costly works of art (Hvernick). The omission of the copula before is decisive is favour of the former, as we may infer from this that ‘ is intended as an explanatory apposition to . , cloaks ( connected with ) of hyacinth-purple and embroidery, for which Babylonia was celebrated (for proofs of this, see Movers, pp. 258ff.). The words which follow cannot be explained with certainty. All that is evident is, that ‘ ‘ is appended to without a copula, as ‘ is to in the first hemistich, and therefore, like the latter, is intended as an explanatory apposition. does not mean either cloths or threads, but lines or cords. signifies literally bound or would up; probably twisted, i.e., formed of several threads wound together or spun; and , firm, compact, from Arab. arz , to be drawn together. Consequently ‘ can hardly have any other meaning than treasures of spun yarns, i.e., the most valuable yarns formed of different threads. For “treasures” is the only meaning which can be assigned to with any certainty on philological grounds, and , from , Arab. brm , contorsit , is either yarn spun from several or various threads, or cloth woven from such threads. But the latter would not harmonize with . Movers (II 3, pp. 263ff.) adopts a similar conclusion, and adduces evidence that silk yarn, bombyx, and cotton came to Tyre through the Mesopotamian trade, and were there dyed in the splendid Tyrian purples, and woven into cloths, or brought for sale with the dyeing complete. All the other explanations which have been given of these difficult words are arbitrary and untenable; not only the Rabbinical rendering of , viz., chests of damask, but that of Ewald, “pockets of damask,” and that proposed by Hartmann, Hvernick, and others, viz., girdles of various colours, . In Eze 27:25 the description is rounded off with a notice of the lever of this world-wide trade. cannot mean “walls” in this instance, as in Jer 5:10, and like in Job 24:11, because the ships, through which Tyre became so rich, could not be called walls. The word signifies “caravans,” after = Arab. sar (Isa 57:9), corresponding to the Aramaean . might be regarded as an accusative of more precise definition: caravans, with regard to (for) thy bartering trade. At the same time it is more rhetorical to take as a second predicate: they were thy trade, i.e., the carriers of thy trade. What the caravans were for the emporia of trade on the mainland, the ships of Tarshish were for Tyre, and these on the largest sea-going ships are mentioned instar omnium. By means of these vessels Tyre was filled with goods, and rendered weighty ( ), i.e., rich and glorious. – But a tempest from the east would destroy Tyre with all its glory.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE IN TYRE
Verses 12-25:
Verse 12 begins a description of Tyre’s international commerce in securing her primary needs of silver, iron, tin, and lead from Tarshish, in Spain, to the west. This ancient city of riches is first mentioned Gen 10:4; 2Ch 20:36.
Verse 13 adds that Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were areas from which Tyre engaged in slave trade, and secured their vessels of brass, for their own marketing needs. It is said that the Turks still take pride in purchasing harems of females, slaves from Circassia and Georgia where the young women are noted for their beauty, Joe 3:6; Gen 10:2; 1Ch 1:5; 1Ch 1:7; Isa 65:19.
Verse 14 states that Togarmah of the northern Armenia area, descendants of Gomer, furnished Tyre her horses, horsemen, and mules, Gen 10:3; 1Ch 1:6. They inhabit the southern rough region of the Caucasus mountain range. The country was then well known for its breed of horses in great demand by the Persian kings of the day.
Verse 15 recounts that Dedan, a commercial town in the Persian gulf was also a territory of the merchants of Tyre, another of the most ancient centers of the world, Gen 10:7. The people of her coasts carried gifts of ivory and ebony, which they got from India, to present to Tyre for her personal use and outlets of resale, v. 27.
Verse 16 adds that Syria furnished the factories of Tyre emeralds, purple, broidered work, fine linen, and coral and agate stones to be used in their international commerce, through her many merchantmen of the seas, Gen 10:7; Gen 25:3; 1Ch 1:9; 1Ch 1:32; Jer 25:23; Jer 49:8.
Verse 17 states that Judah of the land of southern Israel furnished to the markets of Tyre wheat of Minnith, and Pannog, and honey, oil, and balm, used for food and medicinal purposes, Jdg 11:33; 1Ki 5:9; 1Ki 5:11; Ezr 3:7; Act 12:20. Balm is rosin, Jer 8:22.
Verse 18 lists wine of Hebron, and white wool, as produce marketed by Damascus of Syria, through the merchants of Tyre. Persian monarchs would drink no other wine than this.
Verse 19 adds that Dan and Javan regularly engaged in market exchange with Tyre, by sale of their wares of bright iron of Yemen, Cassia, and Calamus, found or produced in Asia, Gen 10:27.
Verse 20 also lists precious clothes for chariots, as an item of market sold from Dedan in Asia, in addition to the ivory and ebony previously certified, v. 15. Dedan descended from Abraham and Keturah, Gen 25:3.
Verse 21 tells of the merchants or nomads of Arabia, and her princes or rulers of Keder, who brought and sent to Tyre flocks of lambs, rams, and goats for both their use and resale in their international merchant market, Gen 25:13; Isa 21:16; Isa 66:7.
Verse 22 relates that the merchants of Sheba and Raamah were chief sources of supply, from which the markets of Tyre secured spices, precious stones, and gold, Gen 10:7; 1Ki 10:2; Psa 72:10; Psa 72:15.
Verse 23 lists six further merchant cities which sold their supplies, produce, and marketable goods to and through Tyre. The cities and territories were Haran, Canneh, and Eden of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, referred to Gen 11:31; 2Ki 19:12; Gen 25:3; Act 7:4.
Verses 24, 25 restate that merchants from afar sought purchase, sale, and resale of all sorts of excellent things in blue clothes, broidered work, chests of rich apparel, bound with words, made of cedar in Tyre. The merchants of the ship of Tarshish in Spain did sing of her glory, advertise her markets, v. 13; Isa 2:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
B. The Ship in her Ports of Call 27:1225a
TRANSLATION
(12) Tarshish was your client because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; silver, iron, tin and lead they traded for your wares. (13) Javan, Tubal and Meshech were your trading partners; persons of men and vessels of bronze they traded for your merchandise. (14) Those from Beth-togarmah traded horses, war horses and mules for your wares. (15) The children of Dedan were your trading partners. Many coastlands were your market; horns of ivory and ebony they brought as your gift. (16) Aram was your client because of the abundance of your works; emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies they traded for your wares. (17) Judah and the land of Israel were your trading partners; the wheat of Minnith, cakes[404] honey, oil and balm they have traded for your merchandise. (18) Damascus was your client because of the multitude of your works, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, with the wine of Helbon and white wool. (19) Vedan and Javan traded for your wares from Uzal; iron, cassia and calamus were among your merchandise. (20) Dedan was your trading partner in saddle-cloths for riding. (21) Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your clients; in lambs, rams, and goats, for these were they your clients. (22) The traders of Sheba and Raamah were your trading partners; the best of all kind of spices, and all kinds of precious stones, and gold they traded for your wares. (23) Haran, Canneh, Eden and the traders of Sheba, Assyria (and) Chilmad were your trading partners. (24) These were your trading partners in gorgeous fabrics, in cloth of blue and embroidered work and chests[405] of rich apparel, bound with cords and cedar-lined, among your merchandise (Eze. 27:25 a). The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise.
[404] The Hebrew is of uncertain meaning.
[405] RSV and NAAB and BV render carpets; KJV renders chests.
COMMENTS
The cities which traded with Tyre are given in geographical order in three groupings. The first group of cities consists of those which lie along the Mediterranean trade route. The list begins with Tarshish at the western end of the sea. Tarshish, a mining district in southern Spain,[406] was attracted by the wealth of Tyre to become one of her trading partners. They traded valuable metals for the export products of Tyre (Eze. 27:12). Javan is Greece; Tubal and Meshech were tribes in Asia Minor. With these regions Tyre trafficked in slaves (Eze. 27:13; cf. Joe. 3:6) and copper ore[407] (Eze. 27:13). From Beth-togarmah (probably Armenia) Tyre secured horses, war horses,[408] and mules (Eze. 27:14). Dedan (island of Rhodes)[409] traded with Tyre too. Many other islands were part of Tyres commercial network (the mart of your hand). Vessels of ivory and ebony were paid as tribute to Tyre for the privilege of belonging to this commercial community (Eze. 27:15). These products would come from the African interior via the Phoenician traders on the coast of North Africa.
[406] Others have suggested that Tarshish may have been the Phoenician name for the ancient city of Nora in Sardinia.
[407] The Hebrew nechoshet may refer to either copper, bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) or brass (alloy of copper and zinc). See .NBD, p. 825.
[408] Parashim frequently means horsemen. In some passages the word refers to the horses used with war chariots. Cf. Isa. 28:28; Jer. 46:4; Joe. 2:4.
[409] Dedan in Eze. 27:15 obviously is not the same as the Arabian Dedan mentioned in Eze. 27:20. The Septuagint (Greek version) preserves the tradition that this Dedan is the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Some think that a port on the Persian Gulf is meant.
Aram[410] (Syria) provided Tyre with precious stones and beautiful fabrics (Eze. 27:16). Judah exported agricultural products to Tyre wheat,[411] cakes,[412] honey, oil and balm. Damascus supplied Tyre with the finest wine, the wine of Helbon, and white[413] wool (Eze. 27:18). Vedan[414] was probably an Arab city. Javan here in Eze. 27:19 may refer to a Greek colony in Arabia. Both cities are said to export the trading merchandise from Uzzal[415] iron bars,[416] perfume (cassia) and sweet cane (calamus).[417] The entire nineteenth verse is difficult to translate and opinions differ widely on its meaning. From Arabian Dedan, Tyre received saddle-cloths (Eze. 27:20). The nomadic Arabs and the princes of Kedar were famous for their flocks (cf. Isa. 60:7). They supplied Tyre with livestock (Eze. 27:20). Sheba in southwest Arabia and Raamah, thought to be along the Persian Gulf, were famous trading people (cf. Job. 6:19). Gold, precious stones and aro-matics were among the items these traders bartered with Tyre (v.22).
[410] Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint read Edom. In Hebrew, only a small curve in one letter makes the difference between Arum and Edom
[411] Minnith was an Amrnonite town (cf. Jdg. 11:33) which apparently sent wheat as tribute to Judah (cf. 2Ch. 27:5).
[412] The Hebrew word pannag occurs only here and is of doubtful meaning. It has been rendered Pannag (KJV), early figs (BV, RSV): and cakes (NASB). Some kind of foodstuff is intended.
[413] Exact translation uncertain.
[414] Could also be translated Dan. Vedan has conjecturally been identified with Aden or Waddan near the Arab city of Medina.
[415] Several Hebrew manuscript and the Septuagint support this translation
[416] Again the exact meaning is uncertain. KJV has bright iron.
[417] Cassia and Calamus were ingredients of anointing oil (cf. Exo. 30:23 f.)
The next three ports mentioned were located in Mesopotamia. Haran, a stopping point in Abrams migration (Gen. 12:4) was an important commercial center on the main trade route from Babylon to Syria. Canneh is probably to be identified as Calneh (Gen. 10:10) otherwise called Calno (Isa. 10:9), a city in Babylonia. Eden is known on Assyrian inscriptions as Bit-Adini which occupies both sides of the Euphrates river due south of Haran. Through these trading centers the merchandise of Sheba (see previous verse), Asshur (Assyria) and Chilmad (location unknown) moved toward Tyre (Eze. 27:23). The Mesopotamian trading partners brought to Tyre gorgeous fabrics (lit., things perfected), cloaks of blue and richly woven work, and beautiful cedar chests containing other kinds of luxurious wearing apparel (Eze. 27:24). The list concludes with a reference to the ships of Tarshish (see Eze. 27:12) which brought their dues to Tyre, the queen of the merchant marine (Eze. 27:25 a).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(12) Traded in thy fairs.Tarshish, Tartessus in Spain, was famous in antiquity for the metals enumerated, especially silver. The word for fairs occurs only in this chapter (Eze. 27:14; Eze. 27:16; Eze. 27:19; Eze. 27:22; Eze. 27:33). In the last case it is translated wares, as it should be throughout. The idea of the word is something left with another in place of something else given in exchange, in accordance with the habits of ancient commerce, which consisted chiefly in barter. Translate the clause, exchanged for thy wares.
Eze. 27:12-23 give a general survey of the nations with whom the Tyrians were connected in commerce, omitting those already mentioned in the previous section. To avoid monotony, the prophet also constantly alternates in the use of synonymous words.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Tarshish was thy merchant Josephus identifies Tarshish with Tarsus in Cilicia, and this view is still held by reputable Greek scholars, one of whom recently pointed out that from Ramses III to Ibrahim Pasha the Egyptian rulers sought timber for their navies in the Taurus, which would naturally explain why these great vessels were called “ships of Tarshish” ( B.S.A., 16:300). Le Page Renouf has argued that Tarshish could not be philologically connected with Tartessus, but must have been a general name for Phoenicia, “the ships of Tarshish” always meaning in Scripture simply Phoenician ships. He quotes Psa 48:7; Isaiah 23, where Tyre is called the “daughter of Tarshish,” and other biblical passages to sustain this conjecture ( B.S.A., 16:138). Conder thinks it possible that there were several localities named Tarshish, one on the Asia Minor coast and another in Arabia, but thinks that Solomon’s trade with Tarshish (1Ki 22:48) certainly could not refer to a Spanish port, since Carthage introduced Phoenician trade to Spain, and Carthage was not founded until several centuries after Solomon. He points out that trade with some point in Asia Minor in gold, silver, copper, and bronze (which supposes the existence of tin) is mentioned in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets about 1400 B.C. ( The Bible and the East, 1896, p. 163). Semitic scholars are, however, almost unanimous in identifying Tarshish with Tartessus in Spain, which point was celebrated in ancient times for the productions mentioned in this verse. A “ship of Tarshish” does not mean that the ship or its timbers came from Tarshish, but that it traded with Tarshish (compare our East Indiaman, Australian clipper, American liner), and finally, since Tarshish was the extreme western limit of Mediterranean travel, all great merchant-men, whatever seas they sailed, came to be known as “ships of Tarshish” (Eze 27:25; 1Ki 22:48; Isa 2:16). See Sayce, High. Crit., 138; Brown, Hebrew and English Lexicon; Gesenius, last edition; Classical Review, 1895, p. 265.
Traded in thy fairs Rather, traded for thy wares, or, brought as thy wares. Davidson says: “The representation is that all things brought to Tyre were hers; the nations offered them to her as tribute (Eze 27:15). Spain was famous for the metals mentioned. (Compare for silver Jer 10:9.) Probably Tarshish served as an entrepot for such products found farther north, as in the Cassiterides (Scilly Islands) and Cornwall.” For extended proof of ancient commerce see Introduction to Daniel, III, 2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Tyre’s Trading Contacts and Colonies.
Ezekiel then goes on to describe Tyre’s ‘worldwide’ network of trading contacts in a listing of places and what they traded. It is an extensive list and brings out their remarkable activity. They set up trading colonies in many of these places. They were ‘an empire of the seas’.
“Tarshish was your co-merchant by reason of your great wealth of all kinds,
Silver, iron, tin and lead they exchanged for your wares.”
Tarshish bordered on the sea (Jon 1:3; Jon 4:2) and was rich in metals. It was probably a land in the Western Mediterranean, and many have identified it with Tartessus in Spain. The mineral wealth of Spain attracted the Tyrians who founded colonies there. Monumental inscriptions in Sardinia, erected by the Phoenicians in 9th century BC, also bear the name Tarshish, so that some identify it with the ancient city of Nora in Sardinia.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Description of the Commerce of Tyre
v. 12. Tarshish, v. 13. Javan, v. 14. They of the house of Togarmah, v. 15. The men of Dedan, v. 16. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making, v. 17. Judah and the land of Israel, v. 18. Damascus, v. 19. Dan also, v. 20. Dedan, v. 21. Arabia, v. 22. The merchants of Sheba, v. 23. Haran, v. 24. These, v. 25. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Eze 27:12. Tarshish Or, Tartessus. Michaelis thinks that there was only the Spanish Tarshish; and that ships sailed to it from Ezion-geber round Africa. Spic. Geogr. Spain was anciently remarkable for silver mines. Plin. l. xxxiii. c. vi.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 27:12 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.
Ver. 12. Tarshish, ] i.e., The Carthaginians, say some; the citizens of Tarsus, another colony of the Tyrians, say others.
They traded in thy fairs.
“ Non omnis fert omnia tellus. ”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 27:12-25
12Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares. 13Javan, Tubal and Meshech, they were your traders; with the lives of men and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise. 14Those from Beth-togarmah gave horses and war horses and mules for your wares. 15The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your market; ivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment. 16Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods; they paid for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies. 17Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil and balm they paid for your merchandise. 18Damascus was your customer because of the abundance of your goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19Vedan and Javan paid for your wares from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia and sweet cane were among your merchandise. 20Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams and goats; for these they were your customers. 22The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of spices, and with all kinds of precious stones and gold. 23Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you. 24They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise. 25The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise.
And you were filled and were very glorious
In the heart of the seas.
Eze 27:12 Tarshish It is surprising that this term (BDB 1077) appears to be a place name because it is also a person in Gen 10:4. Several other persons from Genesis 10 are mentioned in this context (i.e., Elishah, Arvad). The term is used in several senses in Scripture.
A. Persons
1. grandson of Javan (Greece) and brother to Elishah in Gen 10:4; 1Ch 1:7
2. grandson of Benjamin in 1Ch 7:20
3. one of the powerful seven princes of Persia in Est 1:14
B. Places
1. Phoenician mining city in southern Spain on the Guadalquiver River
2. Phoenician colony in north Africa, Carthage (LXX translation of Eze 27:12)
3. Phoenician colony in Indian Ceylon
4. Phoenician colony on Sardina (city of Nora)
5. an idiom for the end of the earth
C. Things
1. precious stones (cf. Exo 28:20; Exo 39:13; Eze 10:9; Eze 28:13; Dan 10:6; Rev 21:20)
2. special ships (cf. 1Ki 10:22; 1Ki 22:48; 2Ch 9:21; Psa 48:7; Isa 2:16; Isa 23:1; Isa 60:9)
Eze 27:13 Javan Because of the spelling ionia (BDB 402), most commentators refer this to Greece. It is spelled differently from the same word used in Eze 27:19 (BDB 402).
Tubal and Meshech In Gen 10:2 and 1Ch 1:5 these are listed as sons or descendants of Japheth, one of Noah’s three sons.
1. Gomer (his son Togarmah, cf. Eze 27:14; Gen 10:3)
2. Magog
3. Madai
4. Javan
5. Tubal
6. Meshech
7. Tiras
The significance is that several of these are mentioned as tribes or peoples in Ezekiel 38-39 (i.e., #1,2,5,6). They were inhabitants of eastern Turkey (Anatolia). They are mentioned by
1. Herodotus (3:94; 7:28)
2. Josephus (Antiq. 1.124)
the lives of men This refers to the slave trade (cf. Joe 3:4-8; Amo 1:9-10; Rev 18:12).
Eze 27:14 Beth-togarmah This is identified with Armenia (cf. Gen 10:3).
Eze 27:15 Dedan This is a descendant of Ham (cf. Gen 10:7; 1Ch 1:9) and a brother of Sheba (cf. Eze 38:13-14). The same group is mentioned in Eze 27:20 as an Arabian tribe (possibly related to a specific desert oasis close to Tema). The LXX changed it to Rhodes. Because it is identified in context with coast lands (BDB 912). It is possible that it relates to a region north of Tyre known as Danuna in the Amarna letters (IVP Bible Background Commentary, p. 713).
Eze 27:16 Syria Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Peshita relate this to Edom, which involves an emendation of the Hebrew text (see NAB, NEB, REB).
Edom is spelled , while Aram is spelled . As you can see the letters d and r are formed in similar ways and easily confused in copying. The MT has Aram (BDB 74). Why Damascus is listed separately in Eze 27:18 is uncertain. Aram was a coalition of independent tribes/clans north of Palestine and west of Assyria. Damascus may have had special autonomy.
NASB, NKJV,
TEVemeralds
NRSV, JPSOA,
NIVturquoise
NJB, REBgarnets
JB, Josephuscarbuncle
This term (BDB 656) refers to some kind of precious stone (cf. Eze 28:13). It was one of the jewels in the High Priest’s breastplate (cf. Exo 28:13; Exo 39:11).
rubies This rare term (BDB 461) occurs only here and in Isa 54:12. It may be related to the Aramaic root to sparkle or a red-hot rod. Rubies were not common in this area of the world until a later date.
Eze 27:17 Notice it says Judah and the land of Israel. Judah was still (or until very recently) an existing nation, but Israel had been exiled by Assyria in 722 B.C. and was no longer a nation.
Minnith This is a location in Ammon (cf. Jdg 11:33) which produced especially fine wheat.
NASBcakes
NKJV, NRSVmillet
NJB, JPSOApannag
JBwax
REBmeal
This term (BDB 815) appears only here in the OT. In context it refers to some type of merchandise, probably food. In Akkadian the root means pastry.
Eze 27:18 Helbon This (KB 316 II, i.e., forest place) refers to a grape-growing area several miles north of Damascus.
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV, JPSOAwhite wool
TEVSahar
NJBZahar
REBSuhar
BDBreddish-grey
The KB 1019 denotes the BDB meaning comes from Arabic. It also notes that it can refer to a territory northwest of Damascus, called es-Sahra.
Eze 27:19
NASB, NRSV,
JPSOAVedan
NKJV, NJB,
PESHITTADan
NIVDanites
Both lexicons, BDB (255) and KB (259), assert the meaning as uncertain. Some scholars think it is a place name near Medina, Arabia. Most assert a textual corruption. However, since it is linked to Javan (Greece) it may be another name for them (i.e., Homer and the History Channel video, Decoding the Exodus). The Septuagint has and wine from instead of a name.
Uzal This may be (1) the capital of Yemen (BDB 23); (2) a word for yarn (BDB 23); or (3) a city (Izalla) in Cilicia (IVP Bible Background Commentary, p. 713).
Eze 27:20-22 Dedan, Arabia, Kedar, and Raamah These all refer to Arabian tribes.
Eze 27:23 All of these locations are in Mesopotamia and most are associated with Assyria. The Jewish Study Bible asserts that the first three of these are all Syrian cities (p. 1094, cf. Gen 12:4; Gen 10:10; 2Ki 19:12; Isa 10:9; Isa 37:12; Amo 1:5).
Asshur Asshur (BDB 78) is a son of Shem (cf. Gen 10:22; 1Ch 1:17). It becomes a region synonymous with Assyria. One of the national gods of Assyria is named Asshur. Asshur became the name of one of the capitals of Assyria.
Chilmad This place (BDB 484) is unknown. The Targums revocalize the consonants and come up with all Media (cf. Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 1, p. 908).
Eze 27:24 clothes Another rare term is clothes (BDB 166). The NOUN is found only here and the VERB (i.e., to wrap) only in 2Ki 2:8. It refers to a large garment wrapped around the body (i.e., same meaning in Aramaic, Syrian, Arabic, and Persian, NIDOTTE, vol. 1., p. 865).
carpets of many colors This phrase has two rare words.
1. Carpets (BDB 170) possibly means chests (cf. NKJV). It is found only here and in Est 3:9; Est 4:7, where it is translated treasury.
2. The phrase many colors (BDB 140) occurs only here. In Arabic it denotes a rope made of two colors. The trilateral root means to twist.
Eze 27:25
NASB, NKJV,
TEV, NIVthe carriers for your merchandise
NRSV,
NASB (margin)travelers for your trade
NJBsoiled in your business
JPSOAin the service of your trade
REBcaravans of your imports
The root (BDB 1003-1004, KB 1449-1452) has several meanings.
1. to travel, to journey
2. to behold, to regard
3. (unknown, Psa 92:12)
4. head of cattle, bullock
5. wall
Context determines meaning. In this context #1 fits best. There are no guarantees on exact meaning for roots that
1. are rare
2. are used in poetic texts
3. are uncertain as to which root it derives
Even ancient cognate languages are unable to precisely define all Hebrew terms.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Tarshish. See note on 1Ki 10:22.
fairs, Occurs only in this chapter, and here, seven times: verses: Eze 27:12, Eze 27:14, Eze 27:16, Eze 12:19, Eze 12:22, Eze 12:27, Eze 12:33 (“wares “).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 27:12-15
Eze 27:12-15
“Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares. Javan, Tubal, and Mesheck, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise. They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with horses and war-horses and mules. The men of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy land: they brought thee in exchange horns of ivory and ebony,”
MERCHANDISE AND SUPPLIES
TRADED IN BY TYRE (Eze 27:12-25)
“Tarshish …” (Eze 27:12). This is the same city to which Jonah intended to flee “from the presence of Jehovah.” It is thought to have been located upon the southern coast of Spain.
“Javan, Tubal, and Mesheck …” (Eze 27:13). “‘Javan’ refers to the Ionian Greeks; `Tubal and Mesheck’ are the names used by the Assyrians and Greeks for the nations dwelling in Cappadocia between the Black Sea and the Taurus mountains.
This verse is important as the confirmation of the charge by Amos against Tyre (Amo 1:9) that these heartless old slave-traders had even sold Israelites to Edom; and also as the confirmation of the fact of the Greeks themselves having been involved in this contemptible “trading in the persons of men,” as Joel charged in Joe 3:6.
The extent of the Tyrian commercial empire should be noted. From Tarshish on the south coast of Spain to the area eastward from the Black Sea and beyond just about covers the entire Mediterranean world of that era.
“The house of Togarmah …” (Eze 27:14). “This is the same as Armenia. Work animals (horses and mules), saddle-horses, and war-horses were extremely valuable commodities in the ancient world; and it continued to be so for many centuries.
“The men of Dedan …” (Eze 27:15). “This is the same as `the men of Rhodes’; they were the merchants who traded in ivory and ebony with the North African tribes, much of which merchandise would also have passed through the hands of Tyrian merchants.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Eze 38:13, Gen 10:4, 1Ki 10:22, 1Ki 22:48, 2Ch 20:36, 2Ch 20:37, Psa 72:10, Isa 2:16, Isa 23:6, Isa 23:10, Isa 23:14, Isa 60:9, Jer 10:9, Jon 1:3
Reciprocal: Gen 10:2 – General Isa 47:15 – thy merchants Eze 27:3 – a merchant Eze 27:27 – Thy riches Eze 27:33 – thy wares Eze 28:5 – and by Eze 28:16 – the multitude
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 27:12. Tarshish was a town on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This seaport produced the metals named in the verse, then transported them over the sea to Tyrus and exchanged them for the goods on sale in her markets.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 27:12-15. Tarshish was thy merchant Trafficked with thee. Of Tarshish, see note on Isa 2:16; Isa 23:1. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech By Javan is to be understood Greece, in which sense Alexander is styled king of Javan, or Greece, Dan 8:21. So the LXX. translate it here, and in that place of Daniel. And all Greece, except Peloponnesus, was anciently called Ionia. Tubal and Meshech are names usually joined together in Scripture. Two of Japhets sons are so called, Gen 10:2. Bochart and Bishop Newcome, with others, suppose them to be the people afterward called Tibareni and Moschi, who are generally mentioned together, and were situated near the Euxine sea. They traded the persons of men In buying and selling slaves in the markets. Bochart observes, that Pontus, to which the Tibareni extended themselves, was remarkable for slaves, and that the Grecian slaves were the most valuable of any. And vessels of brass in thy market The Hebrew word here, generally translated brass, likewise signifies steel, and is so rendered by our interpreters, Psa 18:34. And we may very well understand it so here; for the Chalybes, a people so called from their steel manufactures, lived in the neighbourhood of the Tibareni and Moschi, for which reason steel is called the northern iron, Jer 15:12. By Togarmah, Bochart supposes Cappadocia is meant. Michaelis, however, prefers Armenia, which abounded in horses, and among the inhabitants of which a tradition prevailed, that they were descended from Thorgom. By Dedan, the above-mentioned critics, with Bishop Newcome, understand a city in the Persian gulf, now called Daden. To this place the inhabitants of the eastern isles, or seacoasts, brought their wares. Many isles were, or rather, had, the merchandise of thy hand That is, many isles took thy manufactures, or bought commodities of thee; and, by way of return for them, brought thee in ivory, and other rarities from India, whither they traded. They brought these by way of present, says our translation; but it was rather by way of price, or return, for the commodities exported, and so it is rendered in some versions.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The extent of Tyre’s commercial empire 27:12-24
This section is a valuable resource for understanding the geography, natural resources, and trade relations of the ancient Near East as well as explaining the extensiveness of Tyre’s commercial empire. Notice the large numbers of places and products named. [Note: See the maps at the end of these notes for probable locations of these places. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament also has a chart of "Tyre’s Trading Partners" listed in Eze 27:12-25 on page 1281.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Tyre’s trading partners included Tarshish (at the western end of the Mediterranean, probably southern Spain or Sardinia), which gave silver, iron, tin, and lead for her wares. There was a Tartessus in both southern Spain and in Sardinia. [Note: Feinberg, p. 223.] Javan (Greece), Tubal, and Meshech (both in eastern Anatolia) paid for their purchases from Tyre with human slaves and vessels of bronze.