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Commentary on Ezekiel 27 verses 26–36
We have seen Tyre flourishing; here we have Tyre falling, and great is the fall of it, so much the greater for its having made such a figure in the world. Note, The most mighty and magnificent kingdoms and states, sooner or later, have their day to come down. They have their period; and, when they are in their zenith, they will begin to decline. But the destruction of Tyre was sudden. Her sun went down at noon. And all her wealth and grandeur, pomp and power, did but aggravate her ruin, and make it the more grievous to herself and astonishing to all about her. Now observe here, 1. How the ruin of Tyrus will be brought about, Eze 27:26. She is as a great ship richly laden, that is split or sunk by the indiscretion of her steersmen: Thy rowers have themselves brought thee into great and dangerous waters; the governors of the city, and those that had the management of their public affairs, by some mismanagement or other involved them in that war with the Chaldeans which was the ruin of their state. By their insolence, by some affront given to the Chaldeans or some attempt made upon them, in confidence of their own ability to contend with them, they provoked Nebuchadnezzar to make a descent upon them, and, by their obstinacy in standing it out to the last, enraged him to such a degree that he determined on the ruin of their state, and, like an east wind, broke them in the midst of the seas. Note, It is ill with a people when those that sit at the stern, instead of putting them into the harbour, run them aground. 2. How great and general the ruin will be. All her wealth shall be buried with her, her riches, her fairs, and her merchandise (Eze 27:27); all that had any dependence upon her, and dealings with her, in trade, in war, in conversation, shall ball with her into the midst of the seas, in the day of her ruin. Note, Those who make creatures their confidence, place their happiness in their interest in them and rest their hopes upon them, will of course fall with them; happy therefore are those that have the God of Jacob for their help, and whose hope is in the Lord their God, who lives for ever. 3. What sad lamentation would be made for the destruction of Tyre. The pilots, her princes and governors, when they see how wretchedly they have mismanaged and how much they have contributed to their own ruin, shall cry out so loud as to make even the suburbs shake (Eze 27:28), such a vexation shall it be to them to reflect upon their own bad conduct. The inferior officers, that were as the mariners of the state, shall be forced to come down from their respective posts (Eze 27:29), and they shall cry out against thee, as having deceived them, in not proving so well able to hold out as they thought thou hadst been; they shall cry bitterly for the common ruin, and their own share in it. They shall use all the most solemn expressions of grief; they shall cast dust on their heads, in indignation against themselves, shall wallow themselves in ashes, as having bid a final farewell to all ease and pleasure; they shall make themselves bald (Eze 27:31), with tearing their hair; and, according to the custom of great mourners, those shall gird themselves with sackcloth who used to wear find linen, and, instead of merry songs, they shall weep with bitterness of heart. Note, Losses and crosses are very grievous, and hard to be borne, to those that have long been wallowing in pleasure and sleeping in carnal security. 4. How Tyre should be upbraided with her former honour and prosperity (Eze 27:32, Eze 27:33); she that was Tyrus the renowned shall now be called Tyrus the destroyed in the midst of the sea. "What city is like Tyre? Did ever any city come down from such a height of prosperity to such a depth of adversity? Time was when thy wares, those of thy own making and those that passed through thy hands, went forth out of the seas, and were exported to all parts of the world; then thou filledst many people, and didst enrich the kings of the earth and their kingdoms." The Tyrians, though they bore such a sway in trade, were yet, it seems, fair merchants, and let their neighbours not only live, but thrive by them. All that dealt with them were gainers; they did not cheat or oppress the people, but did enrich them with the multitude of their merchandise. "But now those that used to be enriched by thee shall be ruined with thee" (as is usual in trade); "when thou shalt be broken, and all thou hast is seized on, all thy company shall fall too," Eze 27:34. There is an end of Tyre, that made such a noise and bustle in the world. This great blaze goes out in a snuff. 5. How the fall of Tyre should be matter of terror to some and laughter to others, according as they were differently interested and affected. Some shall be sorely afraid, and shall be troubled (Eze 27:35), concluding it will be their own turn to fall next. Others shall hiss at her (Eze 27:36), shall ridicule her pride, and vanity, and bad management, and think her ruin just. She triumphed in Jerusalem's fall, and there are those that will triumph in hers. When God casts his judgments on the sinner men also shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place, Job 27:22, Job 27:23. Is this the city which men called the perfection of beauty?
(Verse 35, 36, and following) And I will bring you into a desert of peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. Just as I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, says the Lord. And I will subject you to my scepter, and I will bring you into the bonds of the covenant, and I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked: from their place of residence I will bring them out, and they will not enter the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord: I will do for you who are in Babylon, and now serve idols, what I did for your ancestors in Egypt. I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will judge you face to face, just as I contended with them in judgment when they came out of Egypt. And after I have judged you, I will subject you to my scepter and rule, and I will make a covenant with you and bring you into your land with the bonds of love, so that bound by my love, you will never be able to depart from me. But I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked, who persist in the hardness of their hearts in evil deeds, not for possession, but for rejection. And I will indeed bring them out of the land of their dwelling, so that when they are brought out, they will not enter the land of Israel; but they will perish in various regions. And by the distinction between good and evil, you shall know that I am the Lord, who judges all things. The rest of the discourse hastens, and we briefly go through each point, in order to provide only the meaning to the readers.
(Verse 26) Your rowers have brought you into many waters. Above the rowers, we read about the Tyrians of the city of Sidon, and the Aradians, of whom the former are interpreted as hunters and the latter as passers-by. Indeed, they hunt the souls of those whom, amidst the waves of this world, they lead according to their own judgment and do not raise up to lofty heights, but plunge them into the depths. They do not imitate those who, sailing until the morning watch, broke the raging waves of the sea and deserved to receive the Lord and Savior. And immediately, with such a guide and companion, they arrived at the harbor of rest. About which is more fully written in the Gospel.
The south wind tossed you in the heart of the sea (Matthew 14). All the riches of Tyre, scattered by the blowing south wind. They are significantly called Cadim, which is interpreted in Greek as καύσων; we can translate it as a burning wind. Concerning this wind, the holy David said: The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night (Psalm 121:6). Jacob was burned by this wind, yet not consumed, as he speaks: By day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night (Genesis 31:40). Those also who were hired from the first hour endured the heat and burning of the whole day, and yet they receive a denarius, because they were scorched and not defiled. Hence the bride says in the Song of Songs: I am black, but beautiful, because the sun has looked upon me (Cant. I, 4): or, as it is better expressed in Hebrew, the sun has made me pale.
Your riches and treasures, and your abundant wealth. Many read it this way: In the heart of the sea are your riches and treasures, and your abundant wealth; so that all the riches and treasures of Tyre, and all its substance, are set in the heart of the sea, and are overwhelmed by the waves of time, and its inhabitants have nothing stable and lasting, with that Gospel fulfilled: 'Fool, tonight they will take your soul from you, and whose will be what you have prepared?' (Luke XII, 20). And to that apostle: Those who want to become rich, fall into temptation and many snares, and are dragged into the abyss (I Tim. VI, 9). The story is clear; therefore, we join together brief sentences with almost single verses. For the speech is already hastening towards the end of the book.
(Verse 27, 29 onwards) Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them: Thus says the Lord God: Moreover, your fathers have blasphemed against me and have treated me with contempt, even as they spurned me. And I brought them into the land that I had lifted my hand to give them ((Vulgate adds: that land)): they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices and presented there the irritation of their offerings, and they placed there the fragrance of their sweetness, and they poured out their ((Vulgate is silent on this)) libations there. And I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you are going?' And its name was called the High Place until this day. Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: As for your fathers, they have provoked Me to anger by their iniquities, by the fact that they have fallen away from Me. So I brought them into the land that I had lifted My hand in an oath to give them.' They saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices. They also presented there the provocation of their gifts, and they set there their pleasing aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. And I said to them: What is abbana, because you enter there? And they called its name abbana until this day. I wanted, he said, to scatter them in the wilderness, and to give them not good precepts, so that they would sacrifice to idols what they should have offered to me, and consecrate all their first-fruits to them by fire, so that I might kill them and destroy them. But when he says, I wanted, he shows that he did not do what he wanted. And that which follows: 'And they shall know that I am the Lord,' is not found in the Septuagint. For it did not seem fitting to them to know after their destruction that he himself is the Lord. But you, son of man, speak again to them, that is, to the elders of the house of Israel, who have come to inquire of you: Your fathers, from whom you have descended, have also blasphemed against me and held me in contempt; after I brought them into the land which I had given them to possess, they turned against me to provoke me. For when they saw every high hill and leafy tree, they would sacrifice on the mountains and in the groves and thickets, and offer victims to the idols, and pour out libations. And when I saw this, I said to them: What is this, Bama? for it is called high: or why do you enter into such a place which you have chosen for yourselves in all the hills, so that even today these places are called Bamoth, and the ancient error retains its original name? Regarding Bama, which we translate as excelsum, there is an error in the Septuagint edition, where it is written as ἀββανὰ, which does not resonate in the Hebrew language. Bama can mean 'in which' if the two syllables are divided into two words, but in the present context, that sense does not fit. However, wherever it is written in the Books of Kings and Chronicles: 'The people still sacrificed and offered incense on the high places,' Bama in the singular and Bamoth in the plural mean 'high places.'
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SUMMARY
Ezekiel 27:26 vividly portrays the catastrophic demise of Tyre, a once-mighty maritime power, through the powerful and poignant metaphor of a shipwreck. The verse declares that Tyre's own agents and policies, metaphorically represented as "rowers," have navigated the city into treacherous "great waters," ultimately leading to its complete and irreversible destruction by a powerful "east wind" in the open sea. This striking imagery underscores the divine judgment against Tyre's pervasive pride and arrogant self-sufficiency, powerfully highlighting the inherent transience of all human power, wealth, and perceived invincibility when confronted by the sovereign will of God.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ezekiel 27:26 is profoundly rich in Metaphor, as it is the climactic point of an extended metaphor portraying Tyre as a magnificent merchant ship. This central metaphor, meticulously developed throughout Ezekiel 27, allows for a vivid, relatable, and deeply poignant depiction of the city's rise, splendor, and ultimate catastrophic fall, making its destruction all the more impactful. Personification is also evident, as Tyre, an inanimate city-state, is imbued with human attributes and actions, having "rowers" and being "broken" by a wind. This device enhances the emotional and dramatic impact of the prophecy, allowing the reader to perceive the city's dramatic demise as a living tragedy. Furthermore, Symbolism is heavily employed throughout the verse: "great waters" powerfully symbolize overwhelming peril, immense distress, and the depths of divine judgment, while the "east wind" serves as a potent symbol of a destructive, often divinely-sent force of judgment, highlighting the irresistible and absolute nature of God's wrath. The image of being "broken in the midst of the seas" symbolizes total, irreversible, and inescapable ruin, far from any possibility of salvation or recovery.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ezekiel 27:26 stands as a profound theological statement on divine sovereignty, the inevitable consequences of human pride, and the transient nature of all earthly power. It teaches that no earthly power, no matter how wealthy, influential, or seemingly impregnable, is beyond the reach of God's righteous judgment. Tyre's self-inflicted peril, exacerbated by its pervasive hubris, its insatiable pursuit of worldly gain, and its arrogant self-sufficiency, serves as a timeless and sobering warning against placing ultimate trust in human endeavors, material possessions, or perceived invincibility. God's justice is shown to be absolute and inescapable, and His judgment, like an irresistible east wind, can shatter even the mightiest empires and bring them to utter ruin, demonstrating unequivocally that true security and lasting prosperity can only be found in humility, righteousness, and submission to the Creator of all things.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Ezekiel 27:26 compels us to deeply reflect on the true foundations of our own security, identity, and ultimate hope. In a world that often values material wealth, societal power, and self-sufficiency above all else, this verse serves as a stark and necessary reminder that all earthly glories are inherently transient, vulnerable, and ultimately perishable. It challenges us to critically examine where our ultimate trust and allegiance truly lie: is it in our own abilities, our financial stability, our professional achievements, our social standing, or in the unfailing and sovereign power of God? The "rowers" who might be steering us into "great waters" can be our own misguided ambitions, our unchecked pride, our refusal to acknowledge divine guidance, our relentless pursuit of fleeting pleasures, or our reliance on human wisdom. The "east wind" can represent the sudden, unforeseen, and often overwhelming crises of life—economic downturns, health challenges, relational breakdowns, or global upheavals—that expose the inherent fragility of our self-made kingdoms and the inadequacy of our self-reliance. This powerful prophecy encourages a posture of profound humility, a recognition of God's ultimate and absolute control over all circumstances, and a redirection of our hearts and lives towards enduring spiritual values and eternal treasures rather than perishable earthly gains. It calls us to build our lives on a foundation that cannot be shattered by any storm, a foundation of faith and obedience to God.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does the "east wind" symbolize in this verse and other biblical passages?
Answer: The "east wind" (Hebrew: qâdîym rûwach, H6921 H7307) in Ezekiel 27:26 symbolizes a powerful, destructive, and often divinely-sent force of judgment. In biblical contexts, the east wind is frequently associated with drought, scorching heat, blight, and sudden devastation. For instance, God used an east wind to bring the devastating locust plague upon Egypt and later to miraculously dry up the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross (Exodus 14:21). In this passage concerning Tyre, it represents the irresistible and overwhelming nature of God's wrath, bringing about the complete and irreversible ruin of the city.
Who are "Thy rowers" mentioned in Ezekiel 27:26, and what is their significance?
Answer: "Thy rowers" metaphorically refer to Tyre's own leaders, its influential merchants, its skilled mariners, and the strategic policies or choices they implemented. In the extended metaphor of Tyre as a ship, the rowers are those directly responsible for its navigation, its commercial success, and its overall trajectory. Their significance lies in the profound implication that Tyre's catastrophic downfall was, in part, self-inflicted. The city's relentless pursuit of wealth, its arrogant self-sufficiency, its exploitative trade practices, and its hubris ultimately steered it into a precarious and vulnerable position, making it susceptible to the final, devastating blow of divine judgment. It suggests that internal factors and the city's own choices contributed significantly to its ultimate and complete ruin.
How does the message of Ezekiel 27:26 apply to contemporary societies or individuals?
Answer: The message of Ezekiel 27:26 remains profoundly relevant for contemporary societies and individuals. It serves as a timeless and potent warning against excessive pride, arrogant self-reliance, and the unbridled pursuit of material wealth and power without moral grounding or acknowledgment of divine sovereignty. For nations, it cautions against national hubris, economic exploitation, and a false sense of invincibility, reminding them that even the most powerful economies or military forces are ultimately transient and subject to God's ultimate authority. For individuals, it encourages humility, a clear-eyed recognition of the fleeting nature of earthly possessions and achievements, and a call to place ultimate trust in God rather than in personal accomplishments, financial security, or worldly status. It underscores the certainty of God's justice and the inevitable consequences of rejecting His ways, urging a focus on eternal values and a life built on a foundation that cannot be shattered by any earthly storm.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Ezekiel 27:26, with its vivid portrayal of a mighty ship (Tyre) broken by a divine storm, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the stark and profound contrast between the world's transient, self-reliant kingdoms and the eternal, unshakable Kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ. While Tyre's "rowers"—its leaders and policies—led it to destruction in "great waters," humanity's true "rowers"—our inherent sin, rebellion, and self-sufficiency—have brought us all into the "great waters" of divine judgment and separation from God. Yet, Christ is the ultimate Captain and Pilot who navigates us through the storms of life and the judgment of sin. He is the one who demonstrated His sovereign power over creation by calming the literal storms (Mark 4:39) and, infinitely more importantly, conquered the spiritual storms of sin and death. Unlike Tyre, which found no refuge or hope of salvation in the "midst of the seas," those who place their trust in Christ find an anchor for their souls, "firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). The "east wind" of divine judgment that utterly broke Tyre ultimately broke upon Christ at the cross, where He willingly bore the full wrath of God for humanity's sin, becoming a curse for us (Isaiah 53:5; Galatians 3:13). Thus, while earthly empires will inevitably rise and fall, and all human endeavors will ultimately be "broken" by the winds of time and judgment, those who build their lives on the "Rock" of Christ will stand firm against any storm, for His words are an unshakeable foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). His is the Kingdom that "will never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44), offering eternal security and an unshakeable hope where no "east wind" of judgment can prevail against His redeemed people.