Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 27:26
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
26 31. The vessel steered by her pilots into dangerous waters, is shipwrecked and her cargo and crew cast into the sea ( Eze 27:26-27). Dismay and lamentation of all seafaring men ( Eze 27:28-31)
26. The allegory does not need interpretation. How far her statesmen precipitated the fall of Tyre is unknown; it was the east-wind that broke her in the heart of the sea a force above that of men (Psa 48:7).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The east wind – Compare the marginal reference
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Eze 27:26
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters.
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters
I. This is truly applicable to sinners who are beginning to taste of the result of their sins–ungodly persons, who have chosen their own ways and followed their own devices, and now at last are finding that the way of transgressors is hard.
1. Certain transgressors are beginning to feel the result of wrong-doing in their circumstances. They have brought themselves from wealth to poverty by drunkenness, dishonesty, or vice.
2. Others who have not yet been afflicted by any outward providence are beginning to feel the sting of sin upon their conscience. This will, I trust, be used for their good.
3. O soul, thou art come now where thy sins compass thee about, and shut thee in on every side. Listen to me, while I speak to thee words which may seem harsh, but they are all meant in love to thee. If the waters be great today, what will they be ere long? If now thou canst not bear the wages of sin, what wilt thou do when they are paid thee in full? What wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Learn, I pray thee, this piece of timely wisdom. Thy rowers have brought thee into no quiet waters; they have found thee no harbours of delight: shall they any longer be thy rowers? Do this one thing to thine own soul if thou hast any sense left, or any pity on thyself; cry out against those who are ruining thee. Oh, that the Spirit of the Lord may help thee to break the oars and cast the rowers into the sea! Remember, also, that they have rowed thee into the stormy waters, but they cannot row thee out of them. Thou canst find no rest by continuing in sin, neither canst thou save thyself from thy present forlorn condition. O man, cry mightily unto God. He will hear thee.
II. I see another ship. It is not black with the grime of the world; it resembles the gilded barge of a mighty prince; but still, for all that, its rowers have brought it into great waters. This represents the self-righteous brought into distress. Many men are fondly persuaded that either they need no saving, or that they can save themselves. There is no end to the gallant show which self-righteousness can exhibit. No ship of Tyre can excel it. Yet to this glorious ship a trying voyage is appointed. Alas, my friend! thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. Think of the difficult journey which lies before you. The proposal is that you shall row yourself by your good works across yon sea of sin to the port of glory. Before you enter upon a matter it is well to count the cost. Do you not know that, if you are to be saved by obedience to the law of God, your obedience must be absolutely perfect? Look, sirs, you have been resting in your own righteousness; have you never sinned? Do you claim to have been absolutely perfect before your Maker from your childhood? Surely, you must have a brow of brass to make such a boast. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Verily, my friend, thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. If thou art to be saved by thy works, see where thou art! Any one day thou mayest slip and stumble, and then what becomes of all thy past life? If this be thy style of standing before God, it is a poor standing indeed. Canst thou ever be sure that thou wilt be safe in an hours time? Come, my friend, canst thou be sure that thou hast done enough, and felt enough, and prayed enough, and given enough alms, and gone a sufficient number of times to the meeting house, or to the church? Canst thou be sure that it is well with thee even now? The religion of self-righteousness never proposes such a thing as security. It does not give the quiet of faith, much less the deep repose of full assurance. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. Uncertainty follows uncertainty, and the wind of fear tosses the billows of doubt.
III. There is a third case, the errorist in his difficulties. This is a very common sight in these wayward times. I might say to many a man who has ventured out to sea under the strong impulse of curiosity, trusting to his own proud intellect, Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. The only safe course for a thoughtful man is to trust in God, and to accept the Scriptures as infallible truth. There is our anchorage. But there are men who cannot abide this; and, first of all, I think that they begin to get into great waters when they resolve to be guided by their own judgment and their own intellect, without submitting to the teachings of Christ. O my wise and thoughtful friend, do you know what will soon happen to you? You will probably fall under the domination of anothers intellect: you will become the shadow of some greater man. The man who will be guided by nobody is usually guided by someone more foolish or more knavish than himself. In the dogmas of modern thought there is not enough mental meat to bait a mousetrap: as to food for a soul, there is none of it; an ant would starve on such small gram. No atonement, no regeneration, no eternal love, no covenant: what is there worth thinking upon? They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him. They have taken away the light, the life, the love, the liberty of free grace, and they have given us nothing in the stead thereof but pretty toys, which they themselves will break before many days are past. How many who only meant to go a little from the old ways of truth have gone too far aside even for themselves! Truly, my speculative friend, thy rowers have brought thee into great waters.
IV. Behold the backslider filled with his own ways. O wanderer from the Lord thy God, thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. You know how it begins: first of all, that holy, joyful walk with God is lost. It did not seem much merely to lose rapturous enjoyment; but it was much in itself, and it meant more. Then there came a loss of relish for the means of grace. Secret prayer was neglected, and the Bible was unread. The forms of religion were kept up longer than the enjoyment of it; but there was no life, no power in them. After that there came a general fault-finding with brethren, a quarrelling with sisters, a constant cavilling at this and that. Then there came a distaste for Christian company: godly people were too common place and prosaic. The love of something brighter called them away from solid conversation. Songs other than those of Zion began to be relished, and teachings not of the Bible were listened to. At last it went further: it came to actual and open sin, and ruin followed. O friend, thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. Oh, that He would come who owns thy barque, who shed His blood for thee! Oh, that He would step into thy vessel, and take the helm and turn thee round tonight by a great stroke of His almighty grace, and turn thy head to the port of peace! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
Broken by the east wind
In this splendid chapter the prophet describes Tyre under the image of one of her own merchant vessels. Looking at it simply as a piece of composition, what an extreme interest there is in this enumeration of the various races which were subject to this mighty city, and the lands from which she drew her supplies! We are reminded of the far-spreading colonies of the Anglo-Saxon race. We can almost hear the noise of her construction in the earlier verses, and see fine linen hoisted as her sail, whilst she is manned and piloted by her statesmen. Heavily laden with the choice merchandise of the East, she sails the seas, independent of the winds of heaven, because the galley slaves toil at treble banks of oars on either side. But their rowing brings her into great waters; she encounters the east wind, which breaks her in the heart of the sea; and in one day, pilots, rowers, men of war, and merchandise, are lost–all brought to silence in the midst of the sea. What a powerful conception of the great ship sinking in silence with all on board! One cry; the waves meet over her; and only a floating spar tells where she sank. So is it with many a life. The whole world is laid under contribution for its outfit. Bashan, Chittim, Egypt, bring their quota; and to all appearance, as it glides from its stocks upon the sea of life, a fair voyage awaits it, and large exchange of the wares of human industry and thought. But where Christ is not the Pilot, and His word not the chart, the rowers bring it into great waters, and it is broken by the east wind. O mariner! see to it that Christ is on board; for He only can still the tempest and speak peace, and guide thee out of the great waters. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters] Tyre is still considered under the allegory of a ship; and all the vessels of different nations trading with her are represented as towing her into deep waters-bringing her into great affluence. But while in this state, a stormy east wind, or a destructive wind, meaning the Chaldeans, arises, and dashes her to pieces! See the ode from Horace, already quoted on Eze 27:4.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy rowers, governors and counsellors,
have brought thee, unadvisedly, into great waters, dangers and difficulties, in which thou art like to be shipwrecked, in which thou wilt perish.
The east wind, which is very tempestuous, and dangerous to ships in those seas: by this is meant the king of Babylon with his army, whose march was somewhat by east to Tyre.
Hath broken thee; as surely will as if he had already done it; he hath broken; it is the prophetic style.
In the midst of the seas; where thou art far from shore, and must therefore sink and drown, or where thou thoughtest thyself impregnable. Where many seas meet, it is impossible for a half-starved creature to swim out; so shall Tyre perish in the violent currents of many seas; many nations, fierce and cruel, under Nebuchadnezzar shall swallow thee up.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. In contrast to her previousgreatness, her downfall is here, by a sudden transition, depictedunder the image of a vessel foundering at sea.
east windblowing fromLebanon, the most violent wind in the Mediterranean (Ps48:7). A Levanter, as it is called. Nebuchadnezzar is meant. The”sea” is the war with him which the “rowers,” orrulers of the state vessel, had “brought” it into, to itsruin.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters,…. Here the city of Tyre is compared to a vessel at sea, with great propriety, it being built in the sea, and its trade chiefly there; and its rulers and governors, or the inhabitants of it, to rowers; literally the men of Zidon and Arvad were her rowers, Eze 27:8, the straits, difficulties, and distresses these brought Tyre into, are compared to great waters; who, by some unadvised step or another, provoked the king of Babylon to come against them with his army, and lay siege unto them:
the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas; a wind very fatal to ships and mariners; see Ps 48:7, by it are meant Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army; so called, because of their great force and fury; and because Babylon, from whence they came, lay somewhat to the east of Tyre. So the Targum,
“a king who is strong as the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Destruction of Tyre
Eze 27:26. Thy rowers brought thee into great waters: the east wind broke thee up in the heart of the seas. Eze 27:27. Thy riches and thy sales, thy bartering wares, thy seamen and thy sailors, the repairers of thy leaks and the treaders in thy wares, and all thy fighting men in thee, together with all the multitude of people in thee, fell into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall. Eze 27:28. At the noise of the cry of thy sailors the places tremble. Eze 27:29. And out of their ships come all the oarsmen, seamen, all the sailors of the sea; they come upon the land, Eze 27:20. And make their voice heard over thee, and cry bitterly, and put dust upon their heads, and cover themselves with ashes; Eze 27:31. And shave themselves bald on thy account, and gird on sackcloth, and weep for thee in anguish of soul a bitter wailing. Eze 27:32. They raise over thee in their grief a lamentation, and lament over thee: Who is like Tyre! like the destroyed one in the midst of the sea!. Eze 27:33. When thy sales came forth out of the seas, thou didst satisfy many nations; with the abundance of thy goods and thy wares thou didst enrich kings of the earth. Eze 27:34. Now that thou art wrecked away from the seas in the depths of the water, thy wares and all thy company are fallen in thee. Eze 27:35. All the inhabitants of the islands are amazed at thee, and their kings shudder greatly; their faces quiver. Eze 27:36. The traders among the nations hiss over thee; thou hast become a terror, and art gone for ever. – The allusion to the ships of Tarshish, to which Tyre was indebted for its glory, serves as an introduction to a renewal in Eze 27:26 of the allegory of Eze 27:5-9; Tyre is a ship, which is wrecked by the east wind (cf. Psa 48:8). In Palestine (Arabia and Syria) the east wind is characterized by continued gusts; and if it rises into a tempest, it generally causes great damage on account of the violence of the gusts (see Wetzstein in Delitzsch’s commentary on Job 27:1). Like a ship broken in pieces by the storm, Tyre with all its glory sinks into the depths of the sea. The repetition of in Eze 27:26 and Eze 27:27 forms an effective contrast to Eze 27:25; just as the enumeration of all the possessions of Tyre, which fall with the ship into the heart of the sea, does to the wealth and glory in Eze 27:25. They who manned the ship also perish with the cargo, – ”the seamen,” i.e., sailors, rowers, repairers of leaks (calkers), also the merchants on board, and the fighting men who defended the ship and its goods against pirates, – the whole qahal , or gathering of people, in the ship. The difficult expression can only be taken as an explanatory apposition to : all the men who are in thee, namely, in the multitude of people in thee. Eze 27:28. When the vessel is wrecked, the managers of the ship raise such a cry that the migreshoth tremble. is used in Num 35:2 for the precincts around the Levitical cities, which were set apart as pasture ground for the flocks; and in Eze 45:2; Eze 48:17, for the ground surrounding the holy city. Consequently cannot mean the suburbs of Tyre in the passage before us, but must signify the open places on the mainland belonging to Tyre, i.e., the whole of its territory, with the fields and villages contained therein. The rendering “fleet,” which Ewald follows the Vulgate in adopting, has nothing to support it.
Eze 27:29. The ruin of this wealthy and powerful metropolis of the commerce of the world produces the greatest consternation among all who sail upon the sea, so that they forsake their ships, as if they were no longer safe in them, and leaving them for the land, bewail the fall of Tyre with deepest lamentation. with , as in Psa 26:7; 1Ch 15:19, etc. For the purpose of depicting the lamentation as great and bitter in the extreme, Ezekiel groups together all the things that were generally done under such circumstances, viz., covering the head with dust (cf. Jos 7:6; 1Sa 4:12; and Job 2:12) and ashes ( , to strew, or cover oneself, not to roll oneself: see the comm. on Mic 1:10); shaving a bald place (see Eze 7:18 and the comm. on Mic 1:16); putting on sackcloth; loud, bitter weeping ( , as in Job 7:11 and Job 10:1); and singing an mournful dirge (Eze 27:32.). , in lamento eorum ; contracted from (Jer 9:17-18; cf. , Eze 2:10). The reading adopted by the lxx, Theodot., Syr., and eleven Codd. ( ) is unsuitable, as there is no allusion to sons, but the seamen themselves raise the lamentation. The correction proposed by Hitzig, , is altogether inappropriate. The exclamation, Who is like Tyre! is more precisely defined by , like the destroyed one in the midst of the sea. , participle Pual, with the dropt, as in 2Ki 2:10, etc. (vid., Ges. 52. 2, Anm. 6). It is quite superfluous to assume that there was a noun signifying destruction. ‘ has been aptly explained by Hitzig; “inasmuch as thy wares sprang out of the sea, like the plants and field-fruits out of the soil” (the selection of the word also suggested this simile); “not as being manufactured at Tyre, and therefore in the sea, but because the sea floated the goods to land for the people in the ships, and they satisfied the desire of the purchasers.” Tyre satisfied peoples and enriched kings with its wares, not only by purchasing from them and paying for their productions with money or barter, but also by the fact that the Tyrians gave a still higher value to the raw material by the labour which they bestowed upon them. in the plural is only met with here. – Eze 27:34. But now Tyre with its treasures and its inhabitants has sunk in the depths of the sea. The antithesis in which Eze 27:34 really stands to Eze 27:33 does not warrant our altering into , as Ewald and Hitzig propose, or adopting a different division of the second hemistich. is an adverbial accusative, as in Eze 16:57: “at the time of the broken one away from the seas into the depth of the waters, thy wares and thy people have fallen, i.e., perished.” , tempore quo fracta es . is intentionally selected as an antithesis to in Eze 26:17. – Eze 27:35. All the inhabitants of the islands and their kings, i.e., the inhabitants of the (coast of the) Mediterranean and its islands, will be thrown into consternation at the fall of Tyre; and (Eze 27:36) the merchants among the nations, i.e., the foreign nations, the rivals of Tyre in trade, will hiss thereat; in other words, give utterance to malicious joy. , to be laid waste, or thrown into perturbation with terror and amazement. .t n emezama dna , to tremble or quiver in the face, i.e., to tremble so much that the terror shows itself in the countenance. – In Eze 27:36 Ezekiel brings the lamentation to a close in a similar manner to the threat contained in Ezekiel 26 (vid., Eze 26:21).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Fall of Tyre. | B. C. 588. |
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 (Eze 27:32; Eze 27:33); 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 27:22; Job 27:23. Is this the city which men called the perfection of beauty?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
LAMENTATIONS FOR LOSS OF TYRE’S GLORY
Verses 26-36:
Verses 26-28 describe Tyre as having been brought by her rowing mariners, into the midst of the sea of great waters where the east wind has broken up her ship. The east wind is used to signify the powers of Assyria, that like the east wind, have swept down upon her through the mountains of Lebanon, Psa 48:7; Act 27:14; Act 27:41. Those east winds from Lebanon are said to be the most violent of the Mediterranean Sea, Psa 48:8. Nebuchadnezzar is represented under this figure. The riches of all Tyre her mariners, pilots, merchants, ship, warehouses, harbors, and men of war were prophesied to fall in the midst of the sea in her ruin and devastation, caused by the east wind flood-tide of Divinely sent judgment, Pro 11:4; Eze 16:12; Rev 18:11. Even the surburbs or adjoining villages of Tyre would shake and quake at the despairing cry of doom from the pilots of the city of Tyre. The scene is one of total devastation.
Verses 29, 30 foretell cries of despair that shall come forth from the mariners and pilots who leave their ship and stand upon the land and cry aloud, bitterly, casting dust upon their heads and wallowing in the ashes as an expression of grief and despair, when it is too late; When the sins of the city and people have gone too far for God to redeem from judgment, Jer 11:14; Jos 7:6; 1Sa 4:12; Rev 18:19; 1Sa 13:19; Mat 11:21.
Verse 31 adds that these mighty pilots, mariners, and salty merchantmen of the seas shall make themselves completely bald, dress themselves in sackcloth, weeping bitterly for Tyre, with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing, tormenting themselves, not with regret for the sins of Tyre so much as for their personal, selfish loss of monetary gain and international prestige, Deu 14:1; Jer 14:11.
Verse 32 foretells that these men will, in the course of wailing, take up a lamentation, talking aloud to themselves in grief, yet addressing Tyre, asking what city is like her who is destroyed in the midst of the sea? Rev 18:18. Not only was her continent base but also her island base and her sea traffic destroyed.
Verse 33 lamentingly recounts that her merchant traffic once enriched her employees, her merchants, and kings of the earth with her wares and custom dues or taxes that were levied by kings on her traffic produce; She engaged in business commerce with nations far and near.
Verses 34, 35 further foretell that in Tyre’s coming doom, when she is broken up and all her company falls into the midst of the sea, all the inhabitants of the coastal regions, all seaports and harbors with which she had so long exchanged her wares, would be dumbfounded. Their kings would be struck with fear. Trouble would show in their countenance as they were stunned with ashen paleness at the Assyrian desolation of Tyre, their mighty source of sea merchandise and wealth gained from it, Isa 23:6; Eze 26:15.
Verse 36 concludes that the lament for Tyre shall die out with the sound of hissing merchants that survive among her people, without gainful employment, hissing like vipers over a mound of devastated terror, Eze 26:21; Eze 28:19. A city that should never rise again, 1Ki 9:8; Jer 18:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(26) Thy rowers.As the chief means of propelling vessels when the art of sailing was imperfectly understood. The figure of the ship is here resumed. The east wind is powerful, gusty, and dangerous in the Levant. (Comp. Psa. 48:7 : Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26, 27. The heavily laden ship is broken by the Euroclydon (Psa 68:7; Act 27:14) “in the heart of the seas” (R.V.), and her crew, her passengers, and all her wares (not “fairs”) sink into the sea.
In all thy company Omit “in” (LXX.).
Occupiers of thy merchandise R.V., margin, “exchangers.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Fall of Tyre
v. 26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters, v. 27. Thy riches, v. 28. The suburbs, v. 29. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, v. 30. and shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, v. 31. and they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, v. 32. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee and lament over thee, v. 33. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, v. 34. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas, v. 35. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, v. 36. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Eze 27:26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters This is a proper allegory, says Bishop Warburton, with only one real sense; and it is managed by the prophet with that brevity and expedition, which a proper allegory demands, when used in the place of a metaphor. He is here speaking of Tyre under the image of a ship. Houbigant renders the verse, They who shall spoil thee, shall bring thee into many waters; and a vehement wind shall break thee in the midst of the seas. This alludes to the destruction of Tyre by the Chaldeans. Grotius refers to Horace, Od. lib. Eze 1:14 :
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 27:26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
Ver. 26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. ] Narrat Tyri naufragium. Here beginneth the prophecy of Tyre’s woeful shipwreck. a
The east wind.
a Omnium horum ruinam et rapinam praenunciat.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 27:26-36
26Your rowers have brought you
Into great waters;
The east wind has broken you
In the heart of the seas.
27Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,
Your sailors and your pilots,
Your repairers of seams, your dealers in merchandise
And all your men of war who are in you,
With all your company that is in your midst,
Will fall into the heart of the seas
On the day of your overthrow.
28At the sound of the cry of your pilots
The pasture lands will shake.
29All who handle the oar,
The sailors and all the pilots of the sea
Will come down from their ships;
They will stand on the land,
30And they will make their voice heard over you
And will cry bitterly.
They will cast dust on their heads,
They will wallow in ashes.
31Also they will make themselves bald for you
And gird themselves with sackcloth;
And they will weep for you in bitterness of soul
With bitter mourning.
32Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you
And lament over you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?
33When your wares went out from the seas,
You satisfied many peoples;
With the abundance of your wealth and your merchandise
You enriched the kings of earth.
34Now that you are broken by the seas
In the depths of the waters,
Your merchandise and all your company
Have fallen in the midst of you.
35All the inhabitants of the coastlands
Are appalled at you,
And their kings are horribly afraid;
They are troubled in countenance.
36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.’
Eze 27:26-36 This starts the second poetic lament of chapter 27 (cf. Eze 27:3-9). This lament first lists all of the people/groups mentioned in the first poem (those who built, manned the ships of Tyre and those who guarded the city). They will all be shipwrecked with the great ship of Tyre. Then in Eze 27:30-32, these same groups mourn for Tyre’s destruction (i.e., and their own).
Eze 27:26 the east wind See note at Eze 17:10.
into great waters Again this may refer to the chaotic waters of creation. Notice Eze 27:34 broken by the seas in the depth of the waters. See note at Eze 26:3; Eze 26:19-21.
Eze 27:30-32 This is a series of mourning rites.
1. cry bitterly, Eze 27:30-32
2. put dust on their heads
3. wallow in ashes
4. pull out their hair
5. put on sackcloth
Eze 27:32
NASB, TEV,
JPSOAlike her who is silent in the midst of the sea
NKJV, NRSV,
NABdestroyed in the midst of the sea
NJBfar out to sea
PESHITTAbuilt in the midst of the sea
The Hebrew root has several meanings (KB 225-226). BDB 199 has one silenced, brought to silence (destroyed). Either option fits the context. JB speculates with haughty Tyre (cf. Eze 27:3-9).
Eze 27:34 Tyre is lost in the depth (BDB 771) of the chaotic waters sent by YHWH. The ship, the contents, and all on board are lost!
Eze 27:35 Trembling takes hold of fearful people (cf. Eze 32:10; Job 18:20; also notice Exo 15:14-15; Isa 21:3; Isa 33:13; Jer 13:21). Note the parallel in Eze 26:16.
Eze 27:36 The merchants among the people Ezekiel’s knowledge of the trading centers and their known exports is absolutely amazing. This chapter forms one of the most detailed commercial chapters anywhere in ancient literature.
hiss at you This (BDB 1056) is an audible gesture of astonishment (cf. Jer 19:8; Jer 49:17; Jer 50:13). It also can be used of derision (cf. 2Ch 29:8; Jer 25:9; Jer 25:18; Jer 29:18; Jer 51:37; Lam 2:15; Mic 6:16). In context it is hard to make a distinction between astonishment and a sense of the appropriateness of what has happened.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Thy rowers. Continuing the symbol of a ship, used of Tyre in this chapter.
wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 27:26-31
Eze 27:26-31
“Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas. Thy riches, and thy wares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the dealers in thy merchandise, and all the men of war that are in thee, with all thy company that is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin. At the sound of the cry of thy pilots the suburbs shall shake, And all that handle the oar, their mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to be heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads; they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: and they shall make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul and with bitter mourning.”
THE SINKING OF THE MAJESTIC
SHIP; TYRE (Eze 27:26-36)
“The east wind hath broken thee …” (Eze 27:26). The destruction of Tyre is here spoken of as something already done; but the future tense of verbs in the following verse (Eze 27:27) shows that we are dealing with a prophecy of what will happen, not with a summary of what has already happened. The event indicated by this, of course, is the 13-year siege of Tyre about to be initiated by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar.
“(They) shall come down from their ships; they shall stand upon the land …” (Eze 27:29). The “ships” here are the smaller ships that accompanied the great ship Tyre and were dependent upon her. “The dependent cities and states are represented by these smaller ships. They were terrified by the great storm, called here `the East Wind,’ namely the approach of the Babylonians.
The weeping, making themselves bald, wallowing in the ashes, and clothing them in sackcloth were all actions commonly associated with funerals.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
rowers: Isa 33:23
great: Eze 26:19, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4, Rev 17:15
the east: Eze 27:34, Psa 48:7, Act 27:14, Act 27:41
midst: Heb. heart
Reciprocal: Psa 69:2 – deep waters Psa 107:23 – go down Jer 51:42 – General Eze 26:3 – as the sea Eze 27:27 – midst Eze 27:32 – the destroyed Eze 28:2 – in the midst Eze 28:8 – are slain Zec 9:4 – he will Joh 6:19 – had rowed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 27:26, Up to the present time the subject matter has been the prosperous state of Tyrus. The Lord was sorely displeased with the city and decreed to humble her by a series of defeats at the hands of other nations. But as a partial reason for the chastisement of this enemy of His people, he had the prophet present to her a long list of the resources from which she had obtained her wealth and other advantages. After presenting to the proud city this picture, He changes the subject and begins to portray to her some of the calamities that are to befall her. In some of the verses the terms and imagery are those that belong to the sea and the business and activities of it. In some there is a mixture of the two kinds of illustrations. The comparisons cannot always be meant literally, for no history shows Tyrus ever to have suffered the ruin at sea that is herein set forth. The selection of terms, however, is appropriate, since the whole history of the city is one of the sea and of the traffic by Tyrus thereon. Let the reader bear in mind that while the language will be that of a sea and a ship and the men managing it, the real subject usually is the ship of state, and the sea is the world of business and politics, and the mariners are the men in high places in the city. Hence in the present verse the rowers (rulers) have brought the city into great waters (in contact with others nations). The east wind (nations from the east) hath broken thee (defeated the city) in the midst of the sea (in the power of the besiegers).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 27:26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters The prophet here begins to change the subject, and now, in metaphorical language, speaks of the danger into which the rulers and statesmen of Tyre had brought her by their pride and ill-concerted measures. He compares her to a ship, impelled by its own rowers into a very tempestuous sea, by which is meant their war with the Chaldeans. See a similar comparison Isa 33:23. Great troubles are frequently signified by great waters. The east wind hath broken thee By this is signified the Chaldean army coming from the east: as if he had said, As the violence of the east wind occasions many shipwrecks in the sea, so the army of thy enemies, coming upon thee, shall ruin thy strength and glory, and leave thee like a wreck cast upon the shore. This is a proper allegory, says Bishop Warburton, with only one real sense; and it is managed by the prophet with that brevity and expedition which a proper allegory demands, when used in the place of a metaphor. Grotius refers to Horace, lib. 1. ode 14, as an allegory very similar to this of the prophet.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
27:26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the {l} east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
(l) That is, Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Tyre’s merchants had brought her "ship" into great waters, but there it encountered a strong east wind that broke it, namely, Babylon. All who contributed to the success of Tyre’s enterprise would fall into the chaotic sea when God overthrew this ship of state.
"Any ship can be sunk by the Master of the seas." [Note: Stuart, p. 267.]