Ezekiel announces the Fall of Tyre
Tyre (Phoenician רצ, ṣūr, "rock"; Greek Τύρος; Latin Tyrus): port in Phoenicia and one of the main cities in the eastern Mediterranean.
In 598/596 BCE, king Jehoiachin and the Jewish elite had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia. In the eleventh year, shortly after the final capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (587/586), the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of the capture of Tyre.
As it happened, the city would not be captured at all: in the following year, king Ithobaal III of Tyre concluded a treaty with Nebuchadnezzar. The text, here offered in the Contemporary English Version, is valuable as a source for the splendor and wealth of Tyre.
[27.1-3a] The Lord said: "Ezekiel, son of man, sing a funeral song for Tyre, the city that is built along the sea and that trades with nations along the coast. Tell the people of Tyre that the following message is from me: |
[27.3b-11] Tyre, you brag about |
[27.12-25] Merchants from southern Spain traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products. The people of Greece, Tubal, and Meshech traded slaves and things made of bronze, and those from Beth-Togarmah traded work horses, war horses, and mules. You also did business with people from Rhodes, and people from nations along the coast gave you ivory and ebony in exchange for your goods. Edom traded emeralds, purple cloth, embroidery, fine linen, coral, and rubies. Judah and Israel gave you their finest wheat, fancy figs, honey, olive oil, and spices in exchange for your merchandise. The people of Damascus saw what you had to offer and brought you wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar. Vedan and Javan near Uzal traded you iron and spices. The people of Dedan supplied you with saddle blankets, while people from Arabia and the rulers of Kedar traded lambs, sheep, and goats. Merchants from Sheba and Raamah gave you excellent spices, precious stones, and gold in exchange for your products. You also did business with merchants from the cities of Harran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, and they gave you expensive clothing, purple and embroidered cloth, brightly colored rugs, and strong rope. Large, seagoing ships carried your goods wherever they needed to go. |
[27.26-36] You were like a ship |