Ezekiel 27

¹The word of the LORD came to me: ²Now you, mortal, raise a lamentation over Tyre, ³and say to Tyre, which sits at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, Thus says the Lord GOD:
O Tyre, you have said,
“I am perfect in beauty.”
⁴Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
your builders made perfect your beauty.
⁵They made all your planks
of fir trees from Senir;
they took a cedar from Lebanon
to make a mast for you.
⁶From oaks of Bashan
they made your oars;
they made your deck of pines
from the coasts of Cyprus,
inlaid with ivory.
⁷Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
was your sail,
serving as your ensign;
blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah
was your awning.
⁸The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad
were your rowers;
skilled men of Zemer were within you,
they were your pilots.
⁹The elders of Gebal and its artisans were within you,
caulking your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were within you,
to barter for your wares.
¹⁰Paras and Lud and Put
were in your army,
your mighty warriors;
they hung shield and helmet in you;
they gave you splendor.
¹¹Men of Arvad and Helech
were on your walls all around;
men of Gamad were at your towers.
They hung their quivers all around your walls;
they made perfect your beauty.
¹²Tarshish did business with you out of the abundance of your great wealth; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. ¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. ¹⁴Beth-togarmah exchanged for your wares horses, war horses, and mules. ¹⁵The Rhodians traded with you; many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. ¹⁶Edom did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies. ¹⁷Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat from Minnith, millet, honey, oil, and balm. ¹⁸Damascus traded with you for your abundant goods — because of your great wealth of every kind — wine of Helbon, and white wool. ¹⁹Vedan and Javan from Uzal entered into trade for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were bartered for your merchandise. ²⁰Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. ²¹Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. ²²The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices, and all precious stones, and gold. ²³Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. ²⁴These traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure; in these they traded with you. ²⁵The ships of Tarshish traveled for you in your trade.
So you were filled and heavily laden
in the heart of the seas.
²⁶Your rowers have brought you
into the high seas.
The east wind has wrecked you
in the heart of the seas.
²⁷Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,
your mariners and your pilots,
your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
and all your warriors within you,
with all the company
that is with you,
sink into the heart of the seas
on the day of your ruin.
²⁸At the sound of the cry of your pilots
the countryside shakes,
²⁹and down from their ships
come all that handle the oar.
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
stand on the shore
³⁰and wail aloud over you,
and cry bitterly.
They throw dust on their heads
and wallow in ashes;
³¹they make themselves bald for you,
and put on sackcloth,
and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,
with bitter mourning.
³²In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you,
and lament over you:
“Who was ever destroyed like Tyre
in the midst of the sea?
³³When your wares came from the seas,
you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
you enriched the kings of the earth.
³⁴Now you are wrecked by the seas,
in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew
have sunk with you.
³⁵All the inhabitants of the coastlands
are appalled at you;
and their kings are horribly afraid,
their faces are convulsed.
³⁶The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.”

This lament or dirge that Ezekiel is commanded to compose has been viewed in several manners. Historians have looked upon the list of goods and locations as a witness to the trade networks of the Tyrians of this time. Like many lists of goods and locations it contains many words rarely used in the Hebrew Bible and scholars have attempted to designate which type of wood or which city or nation is being referenced. Yet, for all the detail in portraying Tyre metaphorically as a trading ship filled with agricultural and luxury goods from across the known world its accumulated wealth and beauty are wrecked in a simple line, the east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the sea. Tyre, wealthy city of traders, is lamented by those who participated in trade with her.

Extracted from its placement in Ezekiel it would be easy to read this passage as a genuine lament from the author’s point of view because Tyre was a city of great resources and was a trading hub for the Mediterranean. Yet, within its placement in Ezekiel it is in the middle of a set of oracles against Tyre it is clear the author’s intent is satirical. Even so, with the detailed list of trade and trading partners, there may be a sense of envy for the wealth of the city. If this is written close to the oracles of the previous chapter, it also would share the bitterness of Tyre still standing after the fall of Jerusalem.

The initial imagery of Tyre as a ship is bracketed by the statements, “I am perfect in beauty” and “they have made perfect your beauty.” Between these two statements is a list of the materials used to construct this metaphorical ship, the crew of the ship and the soldiers who protect this vessel. Without getting into the weeds of types of wood, these are high quality timbers used for purposes appropriate to their strengths. For example, the mast made of a tall cedar tree from Lebanon, oars made of hard wood. The practical use of these fine materials is also combined with luxury when the deck is also inlaid with ivory, the sail which also serves to identify the ship comes from finely embroidered material and the coverings for the deck are made with royal colors. The crew come from Phoenicia: Sidon, Arvad, Gebul (Byblos) all cities along the coast and allies with Tyre. The defense of the ship comes from across the world: soldiers from Paras (Persia?), Lud and Put (Asia Minor and Libya) as well as archers from Arvad, Helech and Gamad.[1]

The poetic metaphor of the beautiful ship is temporarily interrupted by a list of nations and their resources which are filling the ship. Perhaps Ezekiel viewed the ship as in port taking on goods and it is surprising that Ezekiel would have the knowledge of trade that a list like this would require. Yet, Ezekiel has in other places shown an eclectic array of knowledge. Tarshish, Jonah’s hoped destination in Jonah 1:3, is probably a Phoenician port in southern Spain at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.[2]Juvan, Tubal and Meshech are listed as traders in both vessels of bronze but also slave trafficking. Slave trafficking was an accepted part of the commerce of the ancient world and there is no indication that Ezekiel is highlighting these three trading partners or Tyre for their participation in this trade. However, Joel 3:6 accuses the people of Tyre and Sidon of selling the people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves to the people of Juvan.[3] Judah and Israel are in the middle of the list as vendors of agricultural goods, and the rest of the list comprises a mixture of luxury and agricultural goods from across the region.  As the list concludes the metaphor resumes with the ship weighed down from goods brought in by land and sea and stored in the ship holds.

The east wind in the Mediterranean Sea has a reputation for destruction in the bible. Psalm 48:7 has the east winds shattering the ships of Tarshish, and we have seen Ezekiel use the east wind twice previously in metaphors to dry up the vine of Israel.[4] Now this wind proves disastrous for the ship of Tyre heavily laden with both crew and the wealth of the nations. All Tyre has accumulated in the metaphor are gone in an instant and the people who traded with her mourn. Tyre had been a central hub in the trading of the region, and many had made their profits in her harbors, and in the metaphor those who were once her patrons are now appalled by the fate of this city. The metaphorical destruction of Tyre upsets not only the merchants and people of the coastlands, but even kings are horribly afraid. The fear of kings may relate to the perceived impregnability of Tyre, and if this island fortress can fall to Babylon what hope do they have before this unstoppable force.

Tyre functioned like New York or Los Angeles, bringing goods into port for distribution throughout the region and as a location where the goods of the region were sent to the Mediterranean. The trading network of this time is smaller than modern cross ocean trade, but Tyre’s trade network spread across North Africa, the Middle East, and Southern Europe as far a Spain. The city would be a rich treasure if captured by any army, but being an island nation, it also proved a difficult city to conquer. Historically we know that Babylon was easily able to capture the sister cities on land who provided the food that normally fed the city, but without a blockade Tyre was able to sustain itself during the siege. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Babylon never captures Tyre. They are reported to have the city under siege for thirteen years and at the end they take the king of Tyre into captivity, but the city remains, in terms of the metaphor, seaworthy. Ironically the lament for Tyre here, and the briefer lament in the previous chapter, provide a pattern for Revelation’s lament over Babylon in Revelation 18.[5]

[1] Arvad is mentioned above. Helech may be Cilicia and the location of Gamad is uncertain.

[2] Jeremiah 10:9 refers to beaten silver brought from Tarshish. (NIB VI:1378)

[3] NRSV translates this are Greeks in Joel 3:6. The Juvans were the Ionians, the Greeks of western Asia Minor.

[4] Ezekiel 17:10; 19:12.

[5] Babylon in Revelation is a cypher for Rome, but the irony of using a lament for a city besieged by Babylon as a model for the lament of Babylon remains.