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26:1–28:19 The oracles against foreign nations began with Judah’s immediate neighbors to the northeast (Ammon), east (Moab), southeast (Edom), and southwest (Philistia). All nations addressed in 25:1–17 represented small local nation-states whose power and influence extended only as far as their political boundaries. Ezekiel directs his series of three oracles and prophecies in 26:1–28:19 toward the entire Phoenician civilization, Israel’s neighbors to the northwest. They are represented in the oracles by their most powerful city-states, Tyre and Sidon. With great rhetorical skill, Ezekiel blurs reality with myth and metaphor to exaggerate Tyre’s glory and announce its coming destruction. |
Oracles Against the Nations Table
26:1–21 Like Ammon in 25:3–7, Tyre |
26:1 on the first day of the month The Hebrew text does not indicate the month (it may have been omitted by scribal error), so a precise date is uncertain. The text likely referred to the eleventh or twelfth year and the eleventh or twelfth month. The repetition of numbers would have made it easy to overlook one in copying; also eleven and twelve are spelled similarly. If the timing correlates with Nebuchadnezzar’s historical siege of Tyre, that event began in 586 or 585 bc. The year seems to follow Ezekiel’s standard of dating from Jehoiachin’s exile (see note on Ezek 1:2).
26:2 Tyre The most powerful and influential of Phoenicia’s city-states, located along the Mediterranean coast. Tyre
was occupied continuously throughout the biblical period.
A Phoenician city-state whose main city was an island approximately a half-mile wide, located about a half-mile off the coast. The island location saved the main city from total destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, who razed the portion of the city on the coast. Nebuchadnezzar turned to besiege Tyre after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. His siege of Tyre carried on for 13 years. Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t reach Tyre |
Tyre 26:3 many nations The Babylonian army included mercenaries and soldiers from other nations. The same was true for the siege of Tyre conducted by Alexander the Great in 332 bc.
26:5 in the midst of the sea Ezekiel’s description of Tyre fits the city’s island location.
a place for spreading out dragnets Tyre will be razed until the island is barren—useless for anything except drying fishnets. No trace of the city’s former glory and wealth will be left.
26:6 daughters who are in the field The coastal portion of the city, the surrounding villages, and their inhabitants.
26:7 Nebuchadnezzar The Hebrew text reflects the king’s proper Akkadian name, Nebuchadrezzar, meaning “Nabu, protect the eldest son.” Nabu was a popular Babylonian deity.
Nebuchadnezzar EDB
Ezekiel 26:7 ZIBBC OT 4
the king of kings A title used by Assyrian and Persian kings. Its use by Neo-Babylonian kings such as Nebuchadnezzar is unattested outside the Bible (compare Ezra 7:12; Dan 2:37).
26:8–12 Ezekiel accurately depicts standard siege tactics in the ancient Near East. A siege wall protects the attackers below. The mound or ramp gives battering rams and troops access to the city wall. Siege towers give the attackers a high vantage point, so that archers could protect the soldiers who were building the siege ramp or manning the battering rams. Shields protect the siege engines. Once the city was breached, the inhabitants would be killed by the sword or rounded up for slavery or deportation. The city’s wealth was plundered and the walls and houses were demolished.
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26:8 he will place against you siege works Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years, from 586–573 bc. He was able to destroy the coastal city and villages but couldn’t reach the main island city. The siege finally ended when a treaty was negotiated and Tyre’s royal house was deported. Although the city was significantly weakened, it remained standing.
Ezekiel 26:8 ZIBBC OT 4
and he will build against you a siege ramp See note on 4:2.
26:9 his battering ram See note on 21:22.
26:12 stones and your timbers and your earthen dirt they will cast Alexander the Great used the rubble from the mainland city of Tyre to build a causeway out to the island city to conquer it.
26:14 You will not be built again Ezekiel’s vision of a decisive victory should be understood as rhetorical exaggeration (or hyperbole) based on the symbolism of v. 5. Based on 29:18, Ezekiel was aware that Nebuchadnezzar’s siege was less successful than anticipated. See note on v. 8.
26:15 coastlands The prophets often use this word (iyyim, meaning “island” or “coastland” in Hebrew) to refer to the known reaches of the inhabited world (compare Isa 11:11; 40:15; Jer 31:10). Ezekiel records the world’s reaction to the news of Tyre’s demise. See Isa 23:14.
26:16 all the princes of the sea Refers to the wealthy merchants of Tyre (see Isa 23:8).
26:17 a lament Hebrew qinah—a specific poetic genre. See note on Ezek 19:1.
How Formally marks the poem as a lament (compare Lam 1:1).
26:19 , the great surging waters will cover you Tyre was master of the sea, but the sea has washed away all trace of the city. This exaggeration emphasizes the poetic justice of Tyre’s judgment.
26:20 with those who are going down to the grave Depicts Tyre’s arrival in the underworld. Similar imagery is used in the taunt against Babylon in Isa 14:9–18.
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