Verse 16
Syria - These were always a mercantile people. For the precious stones mentioned here see the notes on [Exo 28:17] (note).
Verse 17
Judah, and the land of Israel - traded in thy market wheat - The words have been understood as articles of merchandise, not names of places. So the Jews traded with the Tyrians in wheat, stacte, balsam, honey, oil, and resin.
Verse 18
Damascus wine of Helbon - Now called by the Turks Haleb, and by us Aleppo.
White wool - Very fine wool: wool of a fine quality. Some think Milesian wool is meant.
Verse 19
Dan also and Javan - It is probable that both these words mean some of the Grecian islands.
Going to and fro - They both took and brought - imported and exported: but מאוזל meuzal, from uzal, may be a proper name. What place is signified I cannot tell, unless it be Azal, a name, according to Kamoos, of the capital of Arabia Felix.
Verse 20
Dedan - Possibly the descendants of Dedan, son of Raamah, see [Gen 10:7].
In precious clothes for chariots - Either fine carpets, or rich housings for horses, camels, etc., used for riding.
Verse 21
Arabia, and all the princes of Cedar - Arabia Deserta, on the confines of the Dead Sea. The Kedarenes inhabited the same country.
These brought lambs, rams, and goats for the consumption of the city.
Verse 22
Sheba and Raamah - Inhabitants of Arabia Felix, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, who were famous for their riches and spices.
Verse 23
Haran - In Mesopotamia; well known in Scripture.
Canneh - Or Chalane, see [Gen 10:10]. It is supposed to be a cape or port of Arabia Felix, on the Indian Sea.
Eden - Equally famous: supposed to have been situated near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.
Sheba - Different from that in [Gen 10:22]. This was probably near the country of the Edomites.
Asshur - Perhaps the Assyrians.
Chilmad - Possibly Cholmadora, on the Euphrates. Ptol. lib. v.. cap. 15. For several of these places, and the persons from whom they derived their names, see Genesis 10 (note), and the notes there; and see Calmet.
Verse 24
These were thy merchants in all sorts of things - The above people traded with the Tyrians in a great variety of the most valuable merchandise: blue or purple cloth, boxes of cedar, covered with skins, and bound with silken cords, and sealed with an engraved seal, finely cut, etc. See the Chaldee.
Verse 25
The ships of Tarshish - The ships of Tharsis, in Cilicia, were the chief of those which traded with thee.
Verse 26
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters - Tyre is still considered under the allegory of a ship; and all the vessels of different nations trading with her are represented as towing her into deep waters - bringing her into great affluence. But while in this state, a stormy east wind, or a destructive wind, meaning the Chaldeans, arises, and dashes her to pieces! See the ode from Horace, already quoted on [Eze 27:4] (note).
Verse 27
Thy riches - This vast ship, laden with all kinds of valuable wares, and manned in the best manner, being wrecked, all her valuables, sailors, officers, etc., went to the bottom.
Verse 28
The cry of thy pilots - When the ship was dashed against the rocks by the violence of the winds and the waves, and all hope of life was taken away, then a universal cry was set up by all on board. I have heard this cry, and nothing more dismal can be imagined, when the ship by a violent tempest is driving among rocks on a lee shore. Then "All lost! cut away the boat!" is more dreadful than the cry of fire at midnight.
Verse 30
Shall cry bitterly - All that were on the land, seeing this dreadful sight, a gallant ship perishing with all her men and goods, are represented as setting up a dismal cry at this heart-rending sight. But what must they have felt who were on board? Reader, wert thou ever shipwrecked? Wert thou ever in a hurricane on a lee rocky shore, where the helm had lost its power, and the sails were rendered useless? Dost thou remember that apparently last moment, when the ship drove up to the tremendous rocks, riding on the back of a mountainous surge? Then what was the universal cry? Hast thou ever heard any thing so terrific? so appalling? so death and judgment-like? No. It is impossible. These are the circumstances, this is the cry, that the prophet describes; disorder, confusion, dismay, and ruin. And this is a scene which the present writer has witnessed, himself a part of the wretched, when all hope of life was taken away, the yawning gulf opened, and nothing presented itself to support body or soul but that God who gave to both their being, and ultimately rescued him and his forlorn companions from one of the worst of deaths, by heaving the ship from the rocks by the agency of a tremendous receding wave. My soul hath these things still in remembrance, and therefore is humbled within me.
Verse 32
What city is like Tyrus - This, to the end of the chapter, is the lamentation.
Verse 36
Shall hiss at thee - שרקו shareku, shall shriek for thee. This powerfully expresses the sensation made on the feelings of the spectators on the shore when they saw the vessel swallowed up.
Introduction
The first part of this chapter relates to a King of Tyre, probably the same who is called in the Phoenician annals Ithobalus. He seems to have been a vain man, who affected Divine honors. The prophet treats his foolish pretensions with severe irony, and predicts his doom, [Eze 28:1-10]. He then takes up a funeral dirge and lamentation over him, in which his former pomp and splendor are finely contrasted with his fall, in terms that seem frequently to allude to the fall of Lucifer from heaven, (Isaiah 14), [Eze 28:11-19]. The overthrow of Sidon, the mother city of Tyre, is next announced, [Eze 28:20-23]; and the chapter concludes with a promise to the Jews of deliverance from all their enemies, and particularly of their restoration from the Babylonish captivity, [Eze 28:24-26].
Verse 2
Say unto the prince of Tyrus - But who was this prince of Tyrus? Some think Hiram; some, Sin; some, the devil; others, Ithobaal, with whom the chronology and circumstances best agree. Origen thought the guardian angel of the city was intended.
I am a god - That is, I am absolute, independent, and accountable to none. He was a man of great pride and arrogance.