Ezekiel 27:1 - Meaning and Application

Here, the prophet is told to sing a lament over Tyre (Ezekiel 27:2). Tyre was still rich and strong, and there was no clear sign of ruin. Yet Ezekiel must mourn for it, because its prosperity had become a trap. Its success fed its pride and false sense of security, which would make its fall all the more painful. Even people who live comfortably should be grieved over if they are not ready for trouble.

He must also lament Tyre because its ruin is coming quickly. It is certain, and it is near. Even though the prophet foretells it and clears God of blame, he still must grieve over it. We should mourn the troubles of other nations as well as our own, out of concern for all people. It is part of the respect we owe to others to sorrow over their misery, even when they have brought it on themselves by their own folly.

The prophet is also told what to say, and to speak in the name of the Lord Jehovah. That name was not unknown in Tyre, and it would become even better known there (Ezekiel 26:6). First, he must rebuke Tyre for her pride: “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty’” (Ezekiel 27:3). The word means “beautiful in every way.” Tyre thought herself complete and admired everywhere. Zion, which had the beauty of holiness, is called the perfection of beauty (Psalm 50:2), because it has the beauty of the Lord. But Tyre, because she was well built and rich from trade, claimed to be perfect beauty. It is foolish for worldly people to value themselves on wealth, comfort, and pleasure. They think they are beautiful because of these things, and if they excel others in them, they think themselves complete. But God notices such empty pride, and he often brings down the proud to humble them. No one should count themselves truly beautiful unless they are made holy, and no one should say they are of perfect beauty until they come to heaven.

Tyre is also rebuked for the prosperity that made her proud. In poems of mourning, it is common to praise the one who has fallen, and the prophet does that here. He says nothing about Tyre’s religion, kindness, or care for the distressed. He speaks only of her greatness, her trade, and the honor paid to her by merchants from everywhere. This picture of her height and splendor will make God’s judgment on her stand out more clearly. God looks on the proud and brings them low, and he lays the mighty in the dust (Job 40:12).

Tyre was well placed, at the entrance to the sea (Ezekiel 27:3). It had good harbors on both sides, unlike cities on rivers, where ships can come only one way. It stood at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, making it very useful for trade by land throughout the lands of the Levant. So it became a merchant city for many islands. Because it lay between Greece and Asia, it became a great market and meeting place for traders from everywhere. Its borders were in the heart of the seas (Ezekiel 27:4). Being surrounded by water gave it a great advantage in trade. It was like a favorite child of the sea, resting in its heart. It is a great advantage in many ways to live on an island. The sea is the oldest boundary, set not by our fathers, but by the God of our fathers. It cannot be moved like other borders, and it is not so easy to cross. People in such a place may more easily live apart from the nations if they choose, and yet they may also trade abroad and keep contact with other peoples. We who live on this island must admit that the one who fixed the borders of human life has fixed ours wisely.

Tyre was also beautifully built, according to the style of that time. As a city set high, it made a splendid sight and drew ships into its ports (Ezekiel 27:4). Its builders had made it beautiful. They had improved the art of building so much that nothing in Tyre seemed open to fault. Yet it still lacked the perfect beauty that the Lord gives and will give to his Jerusalem.

Tyre also had a harbor full of grand ships. The shipbuilders did their work as well as the housebuilders did theirs. The Tyrians are thought to have been among the first to develop navigation, or at least they advanced it greatly, perhaps as far as it could go before the compass. They made the planks of their ships from fir trees brought from Senir, a mountain joined with Hermon in the land of Israel (Song of Solomon 4:8). Fir planks were smooth and light, though not as lasting as English oak. They used cedar from Lebanon, another mountain in Israel, for their masts (Ezekiel 27:5). They used oak from Bashan (Isaiah 2:13) for oars, so their ships were likely mostly rowed galleys. Israel built few ships for itself, but it supplied Tyre with timber. In this way, one nation used what another produced, and they helped one another. Neither could say to the other, “I have no need of you.”

Tyre was so eager for splendor in shipbuilding that even the benches were made of ivory, brought from the isles of Chittim, likely Italy or Greece. Skilled workers from the Ashurites, or Assyrians, made them. They wanted their ships’ rooms to be rich and stately. They were also lavish with their sails, making them of fine linen from Egypt, embroidered too (Ezekiel 27:7). This may also mean their flags, used to show what city they belonged to, were costly and impressive. The word can mean either a banner or a sail. They hung their shipboard rooms with blue and purple, the richest cloth and colors they could get from the islands they traded with. Tyre was itself famous for purple dye, but even so, it wanted what was brought from farther away.

These splendid ships were well crewed by capable and hardworking men. The pilots and captains were from Tyre itself, men they could trust (Ezekiel 27:8). “Your wise men, O Tyre, were your pilots.” But for ordinary sailors they used men from other places. The people of Arvad and Sidon were their sailors. Sidon was Tyre’s near neighbor and sister city, only a short distance away. There they trained skilled seamen, and maritime powers should support and encourage such training. They also sent to Gebal in Syria for calkers, men who filled the seams and cracks in the ships so they would be sound again after long voyages.

To do this, they had the elders and wise men (Ezekiel 27:9). It takes more wisdom and careful judgment to repair something that has fallen into ruin than to build something new. In public life, elders and wise men are needed to mend broken places and restore safe paths to live in.

Even the surrounding countries that Tyre traded with served it in one way or another. They were willing to send workers into its service, place their young men as apprentices in Tyre, or send them aboard its ships. In that way, all the ships in the sea, with their sailors, were ready to carry Tyre’s goods. Those who pay good wages will always have workers at hand.

Tyre’s city was also protected by a strong military force (Ezekiel 27:10-11). The people of Tyre were completely devoted to trade, but they still needed a strong army. So they hired soldiers from other nations, the ones best suited for war, even from faraway places such as Persia, Lud, and Put. These men carried weapons when needed, and in times of peace they hung up shield and buckler in the armory, as if to say that peace now ruled, but they were ready whenever danger came.

The walls were guarded by the men of Arvad, and the towers were manned by the Gammadim, strong men with great strength in their arms. Some have taken Gammadim to mean pygmies, tiny men, but that is doubtful. They hung their shields on the walls, either in the arms storehouses or openly on the city walls, so that no one would dare come near. This added to Tyre’s outward splendor and made its beauty complete (Ezekiel 27:10-11).

This was part of Tyre’s glory, that people from all the neighboring nations served it, except the land of Israel, though Israel was close by. Israel provided timber, but we do not find that it supplied men, since that would have crossed the liberty and dignity of the Jewish nation (2 Chronicles 2:17-18). Tyre was also honored by having such a well-trained militia, always on pay, and such a fine armory, like the one in the tower of David, where shields were hung (Song of Solomon 4:4).

It is worth noticing that both here and there, the armories are described as filled with shields and helmets, which are defensive weapons, not swords and spears, which are for attack. This seems to teach that a nation’s military strength should be used for protection, not for invading and harming neighbors. It should guard its own rights, not seize the rights of others.

Tyre also had a huge trade network and connections with the whole known world. Some nations traded with it in one kind of good, and some in another, depending on what each country produced or made. This part is expanded at length because it was the main glory of Tyre and the support of all the rest. Scripture nowhere else names so many nations together, and some think this chapter sheds light on the first settling of the nations after the flood (Genesis 10).

The scholars have much work here in trying to identify each place and people named. On many of them, their guesses differ, and much remains uncertain. It is well that this is not essential. Even modern surveys do not fully explain the ancient geography. So we will not spend time trying to sort out every trader or every good. We leave that to careful interpreters and take notice only of what is useful for us.

First, Ezekiel likely knew little from his own experience about Tyre’s trade. He was a priest, taken captive far from Tyre, probably while still young, and he had lived in exile for eleven years. Yet he speaks of Tyre’s merchandise as plainly as if he had worked there himself. That shows he was speaking and writing by divine help. It is God who says this (Ezekiel 27:3).

Second, this account reminds us that God watches people in their daily work. He takes notice not only when they are in worship, praying and hearing, but also when they are in markets, fairs, and places of trade, buying and selling. That is a strong reason to keep a clear conscience in all our dealings and to remember that his eye is always on us.

Third, we see God’s wisdom and goodness as the common Father of all people. He made one country rich in one product and another in something else, so that each could help meet human needs and comforts. One land does not produce everything. Providence gives gifts in different ways, some to each nation and all to none, so that there may be useful trade among the peoples God made from one blood and spread over the earth (Acts 17:26). So every nation should thank God for what its own land produces, even if it is not as rich as others, because it has its place in the shared service of the world.

Fourth, trade and merchandise are a blessing to human life, especially when people follow them in the fear of God and for the good of others, not just private gain. The earth is full of God’s riches (Psalm 104:24). It holds a great variety of wealth, both gathered from its surface and dug from beneath it (Ezekiel 27:12). It also holds the fruits of human skill and hard work. Through exchange and trade, these things are shared more widely. What can be spared is sent out, and what is needed is brought in from far countries. Even those who are not merchants have reason to thank God for merchants, because they bring to us the products of other lands, just as farmers bring us the produce of our own.

Fifth, besides the things needed for life, many items are named here that mainly please the eye or satisfy fashion and custom. Still, God allows people to use and trade in them, and to exchange things they can spare for things of far less real worth. Among these are ivory and ebony horns (Ezekiel 27:15), brought either as a gift, put up for sale, or offered in exchange. Some think they were presented to the city or to its leading men in order to gain their favor.

Here are emeralds, coral, and agate (Ezekiel 27:16), precious stones, and gold (Ezekiel 27:22). The world could better do without these than without iron and plain stones. There are also spices for taste and smell, the finest of all spices (Ezekiel 27:22), cassia and calamus (Ezekiel 27:19). For beauty, there are purple cloth, embroidered work, and fine linen (Ezekiel 27:16), rich garments for chariots (Ezekiel 27:20), blue cloth, which Tyre was famous for, embroidered work, and chests of rich clothing, tied with rich cords and made of cedar. Cedar gave off a sweet smell and would perfume the garments kept in them (Ezekiel 27:24).

When we look over this list of goods, we can fairly say, how many things are here that we do not need, and can live quite well without. Judah and the land of Israel also traded with Tyre. In that way, they were allowed to deal with the nations around them. But they traded mostly in wheat, a useful and necessary food, wheat from Minnith and Pannag, two places in Canaan known, as some think, for the best wheat. In fact, the whole land was a land of wheat (Deuteronomy 8:8), and it had the finest wheat (Deuteronomy 32:14). Tyre depended on grain from Israel. They also traded in honey, oil, and balm, or resin, all useful goods, and not things meant for pride or luxury.

The land that produced these things was the glory of all lands, the land God set apart for his own people, not a land known for spices and precious stones. So the Israel of God should count themselves well supplied if they have food they need. Those who know the true pleasures of God’s children will not set their hearts on the pleasures of the people of this world, or on the riches of kings and provinces. We also see that the New Testament Babylon trades in the same sort of things Tyre traded in (Revelation 18:12-13). Even with its claims to holiness, it is really ruled by worldly interests.

Though Tyre was a great trading city and made much money by buying and selling, bringing goods in from one place and sending them to another, manufacturing was not neglected. The goods they made themselves, and many of them, are mentioned here (Ezekiel 27:16, 18). It is wise for a nation to encourage skilled work and honest labor, and not press hard on craftsmen. A nation gains much wealth and honor when it sends out goods of its own making, and so brings in great riches.

All this made Tyre very great, and very proud. The ships of Tarshish sang of you in your market (Ezekiel 27:25). All the nations that traded with you praised you and spoke well of you, because you were full of wealth and people, beautiful, and very glorious in the middle of the seas. People who grow very rich are often praised as very glorious, because worldly people count riches as something grand (Genesis 31:1).