“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with chariots, with horsemen, and an army with many people.
Parallel Translations
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“For the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with chariots, with horsemen, and an army with many people.
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For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
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For thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people.
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 26:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezra 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the perfect God of heaven. Now
- Daniel 2:37 You, O king, are king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory.
- Ezekiel 23:24 They will come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you with buckler, shield, and helmet all around. I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments.
- Nahum 2:3-4 The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished. The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the wide ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings.
- Isaiah 10:8 For he says, “Aren’t all of my princes kings?
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jeremiah 52:32 He spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
- Hosea 8:10 But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.
- Ezekiel 32:11-12 For the Lord Yahweh says: “The sword of the king of Babylon will come on you. I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of the mighty. They are all the ruthless of the nations. They will bring the pride of Egypt to nothing, and all its multitude will be destroyed.
- Daniel 2:47 The king answered to Daniel, and said, “Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.”
- Nahum 3:2-3 The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots, the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies,
- Jeremiah 4:13 Behold, he will come up as clouds, and his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined.
- Jeremiah 6:23 They take hold of bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.”
- Jeremiah 25:22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;
- Jeremiah 27:3-6 Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them a command to their masters, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “You shall tell your masters: ‘I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him.
- Ezekiel 17:14 that the kingdom might be brought low, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
- Ezekiel 26:3 therefore the Lord Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
- Ezekiel 26:10-11 By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city which is broken open. He will tread down all your streets with the hoofs of his horses. He will kill your people with the sword. The pillars of your strength will go down to the ground.
- Ezekiel 28:7 therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom. They will defile your brightness.
- Ezekiel 29:18-20 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 30:10-11 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 26:7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold,…
Eze 26:7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
Ver. 7. Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar.] A name as dreadful then as was at any time the name of the great Turk: a man as famous for his valour and victories as ever was Hercules, saith Megasthenes in Josephus, {a} and such as whom we may well call, as Orosius doth Alexander, magnum miseriarum gurgitem, et totius Orientis atrocissimum turbinem, The great troubleworld.
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{a} Antiq., lib. x. cap. 13.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I will bring: see Eze 23:46.
I will bring: see Eze 23:46.
A king of kings; so he styled himself, according to the vaunting manner of those countries, and indeed, by the right of conquest, he was king of kings, having many tributary kings under him, and many captive kings with him in Babylon, 2Ki 18:28; Jer 52:32. From the north; so was Babylon accounted to lie, as observed, Eze 1:4, though it did not lie full north, but had some points of the north from Tyre. With horses; those Eastern kings had store of horses, and used many in their wars: see Eze 26:11.
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With chariots: see Eze 23:24.
With horsemen: see Eze 23:12. And companies; an assembly of all sorts, from all parts of the large kingdom of Babylon.
And much people; a mighty army for fighting, and mighty train of hangers-on, who were ready enough to do mischief to the country, though not very fit to assist the army; if need required, these would sweep all before them wherever they came.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For thus saith the Lord God,.... What follows; and…
For thus saith the Lord God,.... What follows; and declares by name the person that should be the instrument of this ruin, and the manner in which it should be brought about:
I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon; a prince whose name was terrible, having conquered many nations: the Lord is said to bring him against Tyre, because, he inclined his heart to steer his course this way; encouraged him to this work; led and protected his army; and, at last, gave him success: it held out thirteen years against him, and then was taken. The siege began, according to Mr. Whiston (f), A.M. 3650 or before Christ 586; and was taken A.M. 3663 or before Christ 573; according to Bishop Usher, (g), it began A.M. 3419 or before Christ 585; and was taken A.M. 3432 or before Christ 572. The Phoenician historians make mention of the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar; and Berosus speaks of his subduing the whole country of Phoenicia, in which Tyre was; with whom agree Philostratus and Megasthenes (h):
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a king of kings from the north; who had many kings tributaries to him; the metropolis of whose kingdom lay somewhat, though not fully, north to Tyre:
with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people: with a very numerous army, consisting of a large cavalry; horses being very numerous in the countries subject to him; and which he mounted his men on, both for their more easy travelling, and for their better fighting, and for the terror of their enemies.
(f) Chronological Tables, cent. 10. (g) Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3419, 3432. (h) Apud Joseph. adv. Apien. l. 1. c. 19, 20, 21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. Nebuchadrezzar - king of kings] An ancient…
Verse 7. Nebuchadrezzar - king of kings] An ancient title among those proud Asiatic despots [Arabic] shahinshah and padshah, titles still in use.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 26:7-11. Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar…
Eze 26:7-11. Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar — Josephus asserts, upon the authority of the Phenician Annals, translated by Menander, the Ephesian, into Greek, “that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre thirteen years, when Ithobal was king there, and began the siege in the seventh year of Ithobal’s reign, and that he subdued Syria and all Phenicia. It further appears from the Phenician Annals, quoted by the same historian, that the Tyrians received their kings afterward from Babylon. These Annals too, as Dr. Prideaux hath clearly shown, agree exactly with Ezekiel’s account of the time and year wherein the city was taken.” — Bishop Newton. Nebuchadnezzar is here called king of kings, because he had several other kings under him as his vassals and tributaries. With horses and with chariots, &c. — With a vast army, but all land forces; for we do not find that he had any naval force, or any means of attacking the place by sea, which made his undertaking the more difficult. He shall make a fort against thee, &c. — The various operations and actions of a siege are here set forth, all which it is said Nebuchadnezzar should employ against Tyre. And in a siege of so long continuance as thirteen years, undoubtedly every method and art of annoying and injuring the city was made use of. By reason of the abundance of horses, &c. — This is a lively description of the tumult and desolation that attend a conquering army making themselves masters of a great city. When he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter, &c. — Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, had besieged Tyre, but without success: the Tyrians with a few ships had beaten his large fleet; (Josephus’s Antiq.;) but yet, it is here foretold, Nebuchadnezzar should prevail. Thy strong garrisons — Or, thy strong fortresses, or, the fortresses of thy strength, as מצבות עזןrather signifies; shall go down to the ground — Shall be entirely demolished, The LXX., however, render the clause, Την υποστασιν της ισχυος σου επι την γην καταξει, He shall bring down the station of thy strength, or, thy strong (that is, military) station to the ground. The Vulgate understands the expression of their images, or tutelary gods, rendering the words, Et statuæ nobiles in terram corruent, Thy famous statues shall fall to the ground.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The description of the siege is that of a…
The description of the siege is that of a town invested by land.
Eze 26:7
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Nebuchadrezzar - Jer 21:2 note.
Eze 26:8
Lift up the buckler - i. e., set a wall of shields, under cover of which the walls could be approached.
Eze 26:9
Engines of war - Or, his battering ram. “axes” swords. They who would break flown the towers, rush on with their swords to slay the defenders.
Eze 26:11
Garrisons - pillars, on which stood statues of some protecting god. Compare 2Ki 10:26.
Eze 26:14
The siege had been on land, but the victory was to be completed by the subjection of the island-citadel.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Kings: Nabuchodonosor (4 Kings xxv. 28.) or Alexander [the…
Kings: Nabuchodonosor (4 Kings xxv. 28.) or Alexander [the Great], who took Tyre. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain from the north--the original locality of the Chaldeans; also,…
from the north--the original locality of the Chaldeans; also, the direction by which they entered Palestine, taking the route of Riblah and Hamath on the Orontes, in preference to that across the desert between Babylon and Judea.
king of kings--so called because of the many kings who owned allegiance to him (Kg2 18:28). God had delegated to him the universal earth-empire which is His (Dan 2:47). The Son of God alone has the right and title inherently, and shall assume it when the world kings shall have been fully proved as abusers of the trust (Ti1 6:15; Rev 17:12-14; Rev 19:15-16). Ezekiel's prophecy was not based on conjecture from the past, for Shalmaneser, with all the might of the Assyrian empire, had failed in his siege of Tyre. Yet Nebuchadnezzar was to succeed. JOSEPHUS tells us that Nebuchadnezzar began the siege in the seventh year of Ithobal's reign, king of Tyre.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar — See…
7. I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar — See Dan_2:37, and Introduction to Daniel, III, 3.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. The correct spelling, Nebuchadrezzar (Eze_29:18, Eze_30:10), the name…
7. The correct spelling, Nebuchadrezzar (Eze_29:18, Eze_30:10), the name being Nabû-Kudurri-usur, “Nebo protect the crown!” Schrader KAT, p. 361 (on 2Ki_24:1).
a king of kings] the king. Ezr_7:12; Dan_2:37. Already the king of Assyria had said, “Are not my princes altogether kings?” Isa_10:8; Isa_36:4.
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and companies, and] and a company, and. LXX. reads: company of much people (very many nations), which may be the meaning of the Heb.
7–14. Jehovah’s instrument in Tyre’s destruction, Nebuchadnezzar
The description is graphic: the advance of the assailant with his great army (Eze_26:7); the siege with the powerful train of engines (8, 9); the assault, and capture and sack of the city (10–12), which is left a joyless ruin, a naked rock in the midst of the sea, never again to be built (13, 14).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Nebuchadrezzar.—So the name is very often written by…
(7) Nebuchadrezzar.—So the name is very often written by Jeremiah and a few times by Ezekiel. It is, perhaps, a closer representation of the Nabu-kudurriuzur of the Babylonian cylinders than the form finally adopted by the Hebrews of Nebuchadnezzar.
A king of kings, from the north.—He is called a “king of kings” because of the many countries subject to his sway, whose kings were his vassals; and he is described as “from the north,” because, as often before said, it was from this direction that his armies must approach Tyre, although Babylon itself was in actual latitude to the south of Tyre.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I will bring against thee, etc. There is a…
I will bring against thee, etc. There is a special emphasis of abruptness in the way in which Ezekiel brings in the name of the great Chaldean conqueror (we note, by the way, that he adopts the less common spelling of the name), of whom he speaks as "king of kings." The title is used by Daniel (2:37) of Nebuchadnezzar, and by Artaxerxes of himself, (Ezr_7:12) by Darius in the Nakshi Rustam inscription ("Records of the Past," 5:151), by Tiglatb-Pileser, with the addition of "lord of lords" (ibid., 5:8).
The mission of Nebuchadnezzar.
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I GOD EMPLOYS HUMAN AGENTS. He does not shatter Tyre as he created the world, with a word. Nor does he send Michael and the hosts of heaven with flaming swords to smite the devoted city. The devastating conquests of Babylon effect his purpose. Nebuchadnezzar is his "servant.". (Jer_25:9) In the happier work of bringing salvation to a ruined world God uses human agents. God appeared incarnate in a human form. Apostles were next sent forth to proclaim the glad tidings. In the present day God uses human ministers of justice and human ministers of mercy.
II GOD EMPLOYS AS HIS AGENTS MEN WHO DO NOT KNOW HIM. This is the singular fact brought before us in relation to the use of Nebuchadnezzar as a minister of Divine judgment. The King of Babylon was a heathen monarch, who did not acknowledge the true God. (see Dan_3:15) Yet he was impressed into the Divine service. We may serve God unconsciously. It is possible to be an instrument for effecting his purposes even when we are thinking that we are resisting them. The Jews who crucified Christ were unconsciously the means of leading his work on to completion. Thus God controls men. He claims all; he uses all. For he is the God of all, though all do not own or even know him.
III GOD EMPLOYS BAD MEN AS HIS AGENTS. The worst thing about Nebuchadnezzar was not his paganism, for which he was not responsible, as he had inherited it from his ancestors; but his wickedness, his cruelty, his ambitious greed and intolerant despotism. Yet not only was this than unconsciously enlisted in the service of God. His very wrath was made to praise God, and the very exercise of his wicked disposition was just the thing that carried out the Divine purpose. The nations were chastised according to the ends of Divine justice by the unjust and wicked scourge of Nebuchadnezzar"s invasions. This wonderful fact does not solve the enigma of evil, but it helps to lighten the burden of that great mystery. We see that evil itself may be turned into a ministry of good.
IV GOD"S EMPLOYMENT OF HUMAN AGENTS IS NO JUSTIFICATION OF THEIR CONDUCT. The use of their action is no defense for it. God does not approve of Nebuchadnezzar because he seizes that cruel monarch"s plans and makes them to fall in with his own holy purposes. Nebuchadnezzar must be content to be judged by the moral character of his deeds, not by the unsuspected Divine issue of them. It is no excuse for sin that God may overrule it for good. The Jews were not exonerated from blame in rejecting Christ because this rejection was the means of the world"s redemption. We may be used by God to high ends, and then cast away as worthless souls unless we serve him consciously and do his will from our hearts.
Vers. 7-14. The besieging of Tyre.
The fate foretold for the famous city is here related, so to speak, beforehand, with singular copiousness and exactness of detail.
I THE ENEMY THE KING OF BABYLON. Tyre had many foes, but at most of them she could afford to laugh, for they had no power to carry their hostility into effect. But Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings, was an enemy that none could despise. His power and his resources were such as to render him formidable even to the mightiest. Flushed with previous successes, confident in the irresistible force of his arms, this puissant monarch, in unconscious obedience to Divine behests, turned his sword against the proud mistress of the seas.
II THE HOSTILE ARMY AND THE APPARATUS OF WAR. Ezekiel describes, with the accuracy and minuteness of one who beheld it, the force which the King of Babylon directed against Tyre. We see the dreaded conqueror of the nations advance from the north-east "with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company of much people." The undertaking was only possible to a power which commanded abundance of military resources, and which was able to bring up successive reinforcements, and to continue warlike operations through the changing fortunes and the long delays often incident to ancient campaigns. All that was necessary for his purpose, Nebuchadnezzar knew, before he commenced operations, that he could command.
III THE SIEGE. The several stages of this enterprise are described as by an eyewitness. First, engagements take place with the neighboring powers dependent upon and in alliance with Tyre. These are defeated, and their opposition is subdued. Then forts are constructed and a mount is raised from which the besiegers can direct their attack against the beleaguered city. Further, battering-engines are brought forward to play against the walls, and the towers are assaulted by the battle-axes of the besiegers. The dust raised by the galloping horses marks where the cavalry repel the sally from the garrison. The sights of warfare rise before the eye, its sounds salute and deafen the ear. Through long years these military maneuvers go forward with changing fortune; yet leaving the city weaker and less able, even with the open communication seawards, to sustain the siege.
IV THE ASSAULT, CONQUEST, AND SUBJUGATION. At length the fatal breach is made in the city wall, and we seem to see the victorious army rush forward to overpower the gallant but now disheartened defenders. The walls shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, as the conquerors pour into the streets of the city. The conquering troops, mad with long-delayed success, ride over and cut down every armed man they meet, and even slay the defenseless inhabitants with the sword. The famous city, which had boasted itself invincible and impregnable, is taken and occupied by the Babylonian forces.
V THE SPOILING AND DESTRUCTION. The riches and merchandise fall a prey into the hands of the victors, who are satiated with booty. The monuments of Tyrian pride and grandeur are leveled in the dust. The fortifications are demolished, the pleasant houses, luxurious abodes of merchant-princes, are pulled down, and the stone and timber are flung into the sea. Precious goods are appropriated or wantonly destroyed. As ever in warfare, so here, the spoils go to the conquerors, Vae victis!
VI THE DESOLATION AND WASTE. In those palaces and halls were once heard the songs of joy and of love, of feasting and of mirth the strains of music vibrating from harp and lyre, and breathing from the tuneful flute. Now a mournful silence reigns, broken only by the cry of the sea-bird or the plash of the wind-smitten waves. In those harbors rode but lately the fleets laden with the commerce of the world, and Tyrian merchants gazed with pride upon their noble and richly laden argosies. Now the fisherman spreads his nets upon the deserted rocks, and looks wistfully over the forsaken roadsteads and the waste of waters where no sail curves before the wind or glitters in the sunshine. "The Lord has spoken it," and what he has said has come to pass. The Tyrian splendor and opulence were of this world, and they are no more. Sic transit gloria mundi! T.
Vers. 7-14. A miracle of foreknowledge.
False prophets discourse only in general terms and in ambiguous language. Their announcements may have the most contrary meanings. At best they are happy conjectures, fortunate guesses. But the prophecies of Scripture are like sunlight compared with such a phosphorescent flame. The clearness and fullness of these prophetic utterances can be accounted for only as a revelation from the omniscient God.
I DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE ALWAYS RIGHTEOUS IN THEIR SUBSTANCE. The predictions of pretentious men are usually trivial the effect of a prurient curiosity. God"s revelations of the future are always concerned in the rebuke of sin and in the furtherance of righteousness. As in the manufacture of cordage in our Government arsenals a worsted thread of a distinct color runs through every yard of rope, so through all God"s dealings with men this principle of righteousness is ever prominent. What does not serve a righteous end is not of God.
II DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE CLEAR IN THEIR ANNOUNCEMENTS. There is no ambiguity, no double meaning, here. No one is left in doubt whether the event to happen is to be favorable or unfavorable. No one is left in doubt what place or people is the subject-matter of the prophecy. In this case every circumstance is narrated with as much minuteness of detail as if it were a piece of history acted before the eye of the speaker. The place to be overthrown, its peculiar situation and structure, its former greatness and splendor, the name of the invader, all his military enginery and tactics, the steps by which he should proceed, and the extent of his triumph, are announced beforehand with a dearness and definiteness that can only come from a superhuman source. The contents of the prophecy are often so unlikely in themselves that no human foresight, however shrewd, would conceive such issues; and the fulfillment of such improbable predictions most plainly indicate the operation of a Divine mind.
III DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE CERTAIN IN THEIR FULFILMENT. "I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord." The true prophet of Jehovah is modest and self-oblivious. He does not speak in his own name. He keeps himself in the background. His object is to exalt his Master and to gain homage for him. The predictions of God always take effect. For with God there is no future. He sees things distant as though they were near. Looking along the vista of ages, he perceives how every event unfolds from preceding event. The history of men and of nations is, to his eye, drawn out in long perspective. And his word is the mightiest force in the universe. He spake, and it was done;" "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made;" "By the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
IV DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE MERCIFUL IN THEIR INTENTIONS. Wherefore did God declare beforehand this coming suffering and disaster? Was it not enough to endure the calamity when the destined hour came? As the main design was to promote righteousness, this shall be done, if possible, in a way of mercy. The prediction would serve to instruct and console the Jews in captivity. It would be beneficial for them to be convinced that Jehovah ruled in all the affairs of men. If the prophecy reached the ears of the King of Babylon, it would serve a good purpose for him to know that he was a servant of the King of heaven, that his army was under the control of God, and that the success of his military expeditions depended on the good will of Jehovah. And if the prophecy should be repeated in the ears of the Tyriaus, who can tell that some among them may repent and opportunely escape from the catastrophe? To foreshadow the dread event is an act of kindness, which the humble and teachable would appreciate. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar King of…
Eze_26:7-14
Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar King of Babylon.
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The prophecy against Tyre
I. What were the grounds of her judgment. She was judged for her sins.
1. She abused the privilege of civilisation. Tyre was the most cultivated state of antiquity, invented letters, weights and measures, money, arithmetic, the art of keeping accounts. She made her painting and sculpture and architecture and music and letters, all her skill and learning and refinement, instruments of corruption.
2. Tyre abused also the privilege of commerce. The Tyrians were a nation of merchants. But there are two classes of merchants. There are those who aim to develop new countries, to introduce new crops and arts and industries, to elevate races, to make commerce the servant of God. There are others who make everything bend to gain. A prince or an entire people may thus abuse the privilege of commerce. So Tyre abused her privilege.
3. She abused the privilege of her intimate connection with the Jewish people. In the enjoyment of this distinction she stood alone. Tyre was a bulwark of Israel, covering Zion as the wing of the cherub covered the altar. In the unscrupulousness of her lust of empire and gain she broke the brotherly covenant, and when Jerusalem fell she rejoiced in her overthrow. To her unscrupulousness nothing was too sacred to be turned to profit.
II. The delay of the judgment. The method of God, sometimes, is swift retribution, as with Sodom and Gomorrah, sometimes slow, as with Tyre. She was long in filling her measure of guilt. Over two hundred years before the siege of Nebuchadnezzar, Joel prophesied against her. A few years later Amos took up the prophecy, then Isaiah in 712 B.C., Ezekiel in 590, Zechariah in 487. Yet the judgment delayed. She suffered calamities, but always rose above them. The prophecies were not literally fulfilled. The Christian era came in. Tyre still stood; Shalmaneser had besieged it; Nebuchadnezzar had invested it by sea and land for thirteen years, and conquered it; Alexander the Great, in 332 B.C., after a frightful siege of six months, had stormed, captured, and destroyed it, massacring thousands of its inhabitants, and selling thirty thousand into slavery. But after each disaster it had arisen anew, In the days of Jerome, in the fifth century, it was still standing, e city powerful and opulent. It was still flourishing eight hundred years later, in the times of the Crusades. It was the seat of a Christian bishopric. It had stood over twenty-five hundred years. The prophecies against it were nearly two thousand years old. Was the Bible, then, which had proved true in prophecies against Egypt and Nineveh, and Edom and Judah, to be found at fault here?
III. The literal fulfilment of judgment. In the year 1291 the Sultan of Egypt laid siege to the strong city of Ptolemais or Acre. Terror spread through the crusaders kingdom. Tyre shared it. Capture meant massacre and slavery. Ptolemais fell on the very day on which the evil news reached Tyre. At vespers the people in mass forsook their city. In panic and haste they embarked upon their galleys, and went out never to return. The Mahometan came. He overthrew the city. He choked one of the matchless harbours with the ruins. He cast into the sea, statues and columns and the huge stones of warehouses and palaces. He set the last fire to her splendour. He scraped the rock. Standing amid the ruins we may see the dust and ashes of her conflagration, the broken marble columns beneath the sea and scattered upon the shore, the fishers nets spread upon the rock, and feel, with every traveller who thus stands, that the last prophecy concerning her must also prove true, That shalt be built no more.
1. The fate of Tyre is a warning to those engaged in traffic. Beware of the iniquity of traffic, of the pride, the luxury, the unscrupulousness, the atheism.
2. The fate of Tyre exalts the Word of God. If we look upon its ruins simply as a record of fulfilled prophecy, they force the conviction, This is the accomplishment of the Word of God, the one thing on earth amid the vast mutations of time, as passes unceasingly the glory of the world, which is unchangeable. (Sermons by Monday Club.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Prophecy Concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s Coming
The Prophecy Concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s Coming
v. 7. For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, a ruler excelling in power, from the north, for it was from that side that the attack would naturally be made, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people, both infantry and cavalry being strongly represented in his armies of conquest.
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v. 8. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field, quickly subduing the smaller cities tributary to Tyre; and he shall make a fort against thee, battering-towers from which the attacking troops could throw missiles into a besieged city, and cast a mount against thee, breast-works behind which trenches could be constructed, and lift up the buckler against thee, setting the infantry in array for an attack upon the city, one section of which was built on the mainland.
v. 9. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, literally, "wall-breakers," that is, battering-rams. and with his axes he shall break down thy towers, the swords of the invaders killing the soldiers on the towers and leaving the towers of the walls unmanned, so that they could easily be torn down by the enemy.
v. 10. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee, a strong picture to emphasize the immense mass of horses in the invader’s army; thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, as they move forward, galloping to the attack, and of the wheels and of the chariots when he shall enter into thy gates, after a victorious onslaught, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach, which can no longer hold out in the siege.
v. 11. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets, tramping the pavement to pieces; he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground, literally, "and the pillars of thy strength shall sink to the ground," probably a reference to two monuments in the temple of Hercules and expressing the proud boast of the citizens that they could not be conquered.
v. 12. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, the great treasures stored up in this great commercial city, and make a prey of thy merchandise, taking it away as a welcome booty; and they shall break down thy walls and destroy thy pleasant houses, the proud palaces of the merchants, Cf Isa 23:13; and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water, thus razing the city down to the very rock on which it was built.
v. 13. And I will cause the noise of thy songs, shouted in the proud consciousness of prosperity, to cease; and the sound of thy harps, as expressing the joyousness of the inhabitants, shall be no more heard, for all joy would give way to sorrow and grief.
v. 14. And I will make thee like the top of a rock, utterly bare, with not even a heap of ruins to mark the spot; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon, the draw-nets of fishermen being stretched out there to dry. Thou shalt be built no more; for I, the Lord, have spoken it, saith the Lord God. Throughout the entire passage the overwhelming strength of the invading host is vividly pictured; for, as the instruments of Jehovah in carrying out His punishment, no one was able to withstand them.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to Tyre.
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Behold
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings
The phrase "king of kings" was a title, meaning that he was the greatest of kings, the king that other kings obeyed. AT: "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the greatest king" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
a great many people
This emphasizes the great size of Nebuchadnezzar's army.
He will kill
Here the word "He" refers to Nebuchadnezzar and is a metonym for his army. AT: "His army will kill" (See: Metonymy)
your daughters in the field
Possible meanings are 1) "your daughters" refers to the young women of Tyre who were working in the fields or 2) "your daughters" is a metonym for nearby towns and villages on the mainland that supported the main city of Tyre. See how you translated a similar phrase in Ezekiel 26:6. AT: "your daughter communities who are on the mainland" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Nebuchadnezzar
king
Babylon
horse
chariot
siege
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 26:7-11 Tyre’s projected destruction is described in great detail,…
26:7-11 Tyre’s projected destruction is described in great detail, conveying certainty as to the conflict’s outcome.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.