Ezekiel 27
New English Translation
A Lament for Tyre
27 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “You, son of man, sing a lament for Tyre.[a] 3 Say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance[b] of the sea,[c] merchant to the peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘O Tyre, you have said, “I am perfectly beautiful.”
4 [d] Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They crafted[e] all your planks out of fir trees from Senir;[f]
they took a cedar from Lebanon to make your mast.
6 They made your oars from oaks of Bashan;
they made your deck[g] with cypress wood[h] from the coasts of Cyprus.[i]
7 Fine linen from Egypt, woven with patterns, was used for your sail
to serve as your banner;
blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah[j] were used for your deck’s awning.
8 The leaders[k] of Sidon and Arvad[l] were your rowers;
your skilled men,[m] O Tyre, were your captains.
9 The elders of Gebal[n] and her skilled men were within you, mending cracks;[o]
all the ships of the sea and their mariners were within you to trade for your merchandise.[p]
10 Men of Persia, Lud,[q] and Put were in your army, men of war.
They hung shield and helmet on you; they gave you your splendor.
11 The Arvadites[r] joined your army on your walls all around,
and the Gammadites[s] were in your towers.
They hung their quivers[t] on your walls all around;
they perfected your beauty.
12 “‘Tarshish[u] was your trade partner because of your abundant wealth; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your clients; they exchanged slaves and bronze items for your merchandise. 14 Beth Togarmah exchanged horses, chargers,[v] and mules for your products. 15 The Dedanites[w] were your clients. Many coastlands were your customers; they paid[x] you with ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Edom[y] was your trade partner because of the abundance of your goods; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your products. 17 Judah and the land of Israel were your clients; they traded wheat from Minnith,[z] millet, honey, olive oil, and balm for your merchandise. 18 Damascus was your trade partner because of the abundance of your goods and of all your wealth: wine from Helbon, white wool from Zahar, 19 and casks of wine[aa] from Izal[ab] they exchanged for your products. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were among your merchandise. 20 Dedan was your client in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your trade partners; for lambs, rams, and goats they traded with you. 22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah engaged in trade with you; they traded the best kinds of spices along with precious stones and gold for your products. 23 Haran, Kanneh, Eden, merchants from Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad were your clients. 24 They traded with you choice garments, purple clothes and embroidered work, and multicolored carpets bound and reinforced with cords; these were among your merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish[ac] were the transports for your merchandise.
“‘So you were filled and weighed down in the heart of the seas.
26 Your rowers have brought you into surging waters.
The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.
27 Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains,
your ship’s carpenters,[ad] your merchants,
and all your fighting men within you,
along with all your crew who are in you,
will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.
28 At the sound of your captains’ cries the waves will surge;[ae]
29 They will descend from their ships—all who handle the oar,
the sailors and all the sea captains—they will stand on the land.
30 They will lament loudly[af] over you and cry bitterly.
They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes;[ag]
31 they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth,
and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning.[ah]
32 As they wail they will lament over you, chanting:
“Who was like Tyre, like a tower[ai] in the midst of the sea?”
33 When your products went out from the seas,
you satisfied many peoples;
with the abundance of your wealth and merchandise
you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your company have sunk[aj] along with you.[ak]
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands are shocked at you,
and their kings are horribly afraid—their faces are troubled.
36 The traders among the peoples hiss at you;
you have become a horror, and will be no more.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 27:2 tn Heb “lift up over Tyre a lament.”
- Ezekiel 27:3 tn Heb “entrances.” The plural noun may reflect the fact that Tyre had two main harbors.
- Ezekiel 27:3 sn Rome, another economic power, is described in a similar way in Rev 17:1.
- Ezekiel 27:4 tn The city of Tyre is described in the following account as a merchant ship.
- Ezekiel 27:5 tn Heb “built.”
- Ezekiel 27:5 tn Perhaps the hull or deck. The term is dual, so perhaps it refers to a double-decked ship.
- Ezekiel 27:6 tn Or “hull.”
- Ezekiel 27:6 tc The Hebrew reads, “Your deck they made ivory, daughter of Assyria.” The syntactically difficult “ivory” is understood here as dittography and omitted, though some construe this to refer to ivory inlays. “Daughter of Assyria” is understood here as improper word division, and the vowels are repointed as “cypresses” and translated as “cypress wood.”
- Ezekiel 27:6 tn Heb “from the coastlands (or islands) of Kittim,” generally understood to be a reference to the island of Cyprus, where the Phoenicians had a trading colony on the southeast coast.
- Ezekiel 27:7 sn This is probably a reference to Cyprus.
- Ezekiel 27:8 tc The MT reads, “the residents of”; the LXX reads, “your rulers who dwell in.” With no apparent reason for the LXX to add “the rulers,” many suppose something has dropped out of the Hebrew text. While more than one may be possible, Allen’s proposal, positing a word meaning “elders,” is the most likely to explain the omission in the MT from a graphic standpoint and also provides a parallel to the beginning of v. 9. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:81.
- Ezekiel 27:8 sn Sidon and Arvad, like Tyre, were Phoenician coastal cities.
- Ezekiel 27:8 tn Or “wise.”
- Ezekiel 27:9 sn Another Phoenician coastal city located between Sidon and Arvad.
- Ezekiel 27:9 tn Heb “strengthening damages.” Here “to strengthen” means to repair. The word for “damages” occurs several times in 1 Kgs 12 about some type of damage to the temple, which may have referred to or included cracks. Since the context describes Tyre in its glory, we do not expect this reference to damages to be of significant scale, even if there are repairmen. This may refer to using pitch to seal the seams of the ship, which had to be done periodically and could be considered routine maintenance rather than repair of damage.
- Ezekiel 27:9 sn The reference to “all the ships of the sea…within you” suggests that the metaphor is changing; previously Tyre had been described as a magnificent ship, but now the description shifts back to an actual city. The “ships of the sea” were within Tyre’s harbor. Verse 11 refers to “walls” and “towers” of the city.
- Ezekiel 27:10 sn See Gen 10:22.
- Ezekiel 27:11 tn Heb “sons of Arvad.”
- Ezekiel 27:11 sn The identity of the Gammadites is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 27:11 tn See note on “quivers” in Jer 51:11 on the meaning of Hebrew שֶׁלֶט (shelet) and also M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:553.
- Ezekiel 27:12 sn Tarshish refers to a distant seaport sometimes believed to be located in southern Spain (others identified it as Carthage in North Africa). In any event it represents here a distant, rich, and exotic port that was a trading partner of Tyre.
- Ezekiel 27:14 tn The way in which these horses may have been distinguished from other horses is unknown. Cf. ASV “war-horses” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, CEV are all similar); NLT “chariot horses.”
- Ezekiel 27:15 tn Heb “sons of Dedan.”
- Ezekiel 27:15 tn Heb “they returned as your gift.”
- Ezekiel 27:16 tc Many Hebrew mss, Aquila’s Greek translation, and the Syriac version read “Edom.” The LXX reads “man,” a translation that assumes the same consonants as Edom. This reading is supported from the context as the text deals with Damascus, the capital of Syria (Aram), later (in v. 18).
- Ezekiel 27:17 sn The location is mentioned in Judg 11:33.
- Ezekiel 27:19 tc The MT leaves v. 18 as an incomplete sentence and begins v. 19 with “and Dan and Javan [Ionia] from Uzal.” The LXX mentions “wine.” The translation follows an emendation assuming some confusions of vav and yod. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:82.
- Ezekiel 27:19 sn According to L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 2:82), Izal was located between Haran and the Tigris and was famous for its wine.
- Ezekiel 27:25 tn Or perhaps “Large merchant ships.” The expression “ships of Tarshish” may describe a class of vessel, that is, large oceangoing merchant ships.
- Ezekiel 27:27 tn Heb “your repairers of damage.” See v. 9.
- Ezekiel 27:28 tn Compare this phrase to Isa 57:20 and Amos 8:8. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:561.
- Ezekiel 27:30 tn Heb “make heard over you with their voice.”
- Ezekiel 27:30 tn Note a similar expression to “roll in the ashes” in Mic 1:10.
- Ezekiel 27:31 tn Heb “and they will weep concerning you with bitterness of soul, (with) bitter mourning.”
- Ezekiel 27:32 tn As it stands, the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The translation follows the suggestion of M. Dahood, “Accadian-Ugaritic dmt in Ezekiel 27:32, ” Bib 45 (1964): 83-84. Several other explanations and emendations have been offered. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:83, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:85-86, for a list of options.
- Ezekiel 27:34 tn Heb “fallen.”
- Ezekiel 27:34 tn Heb “in the midst of you.”
Ezekiel 27
English Standard Version
A Lament for Tyre
27 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Now you, (A)son of man, (B)raise a lamentation over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who dwells at (C)the entrances to the sea, (D)merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God:
“O Tyre, you have said,
‘I am (E)perfect in beauty.’
4 Your borders are (F)in the heart of the seas;
your builders made perfect your beauty.
5 They made all your planks
of fir trees from (G)Senir;
they took (H)a cedar from Lebanon
to make a mast for you.
6 Of (I)oaks of Bashan
they made your oars;
they made your deck of pines
from (J)the coasts of Cyprus,
inlaid with ivory.
7 (K)Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
was your sail,
serving as your banner;
blue and purple from (L)the coasts of Elishah
was your awning.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and (M)Arvad
were your rowers;
your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;
they were (N)your pilots.
9 The elders of (O)Gebal and her skilled men were in you,
(P)caulking your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you
to barter for your wares.
10 (Q)“Persia and (R)Lud and (S)Put were in your army as your men of war. (T)They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of (U)Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made (V)perfect your beauty.
12 (W)“Tarshish did (X)business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your (Y)wares. 13 (Z)Javan, (AA)Tubal, and (AB)Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From (AC)Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules (AD)for your wares. 15 The men of (AE)Dedan[a] traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Syria (AF)did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares (AG)emeralds, (AH)purple, (AI)embroidered work, (AJ)fine linen, coral, and (AK)ruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise (AL)wheat of (AM)Minnith, meal,[b] honey, oil, and (AN)balm. 18 (AO)Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and (AP)wool of Sahar 19 and casks of wine[c] from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, (AQ)cassia, and (AR)calamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of (AS)Kedar were your favored dealers (AT)in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of (AU)Sheba and (AV)Raamah traded with you; they exchanged (AW)for your wares (AX)the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 (AY)Haran, Canneh, (AZ)Eden, traders of Sheba, (BA)Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of (BB)blue and (BC)embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 (BD)The ships of (BE)Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden (BF)in the heart of the seas.
26 “Your rowers have brought you out
into the high seas.
(BG)The east wind has wrecked you
in the heart of the seas.
27 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,
your mariners and (BH)your pilots,
(BI)your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your crew
that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas
(BJ)on the day of your fall.
28 At the sound of the cry of your pilots
(BK)the countryside shakes,
29 and down from their ships
(BL)come all who handle the oar.
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
stand on the land
30 (BM)and shout aloud over you
and cry out bitterly.
(BN)They cast dust on their heads
(BO)and wallow in ashes;
31 they (BP)make themselves bald for you
and put sackcloth on their waist,
and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,
with bitter mourning.
32 In their wailing they (BQ)raise a lamentation for you
and lament over you:
(BR)‘Who is like Tyre,
like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares came from the seas,
(BS)you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
(BT)you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now (BU)you are wrecked by the seas,
in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew in your midst
have sunk with you.
35 (BV)All the inhabitants of the coastlands
are appalled at you,
and (BW)the hair of their kings bristles with horror;
their faces are convulsed.
36 (BX)The merchants among the peoples (BY)hiss at you;
(BZ)you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 27:15 Hebrew; Septuagint Rhodes
- Ezekiel 27:17 The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown
- Ezekiel 27:19 Probable reading; Hebrew wool of Sahar 19and Dan and Javan
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
