Ezekiel 26:5 Komentář

The prophet had soon done with those four nations that he set his face against in the foregoing chapters; for they were not at that time very considerable in the world, nor would their fall make any great noise among the nations nor any figure in history. But the city of Tyre is next set to the bar; this, being a place of vast trade, was known all the world over; and therefore here are three whole chapters, this and the two that follow, spent in the prediction of the destruction of Tyre. We have "the burden of Tyre," Isa. 23. It is but just mentioned in Jeremiah, as sharing with the natives in the common calamity, Jer 25:22; Jer 27:3; Jer 47:4. But Ezekiel is ordered to be copious upon that head. In this chapter we have, I. The sin charged upon Tyre, which was triumphing in the destruction of Jerusalem (Eze 26:2). II. The destruction of Tyrus itself foretold. 1. The extremity of this destruction: it shall be utterly ruined (Eze 26:4-6, Eze 26:12-14). 2. The instruments of this destruction, many nations (Eze 26:3), and the king of Babylon by name with his vast victorious army (Eze 26:7-11). 3. The great surprise that this should give to the neighbouring nations, who would all wonder at the fall of so great a city and be alarmed at it (Eze 26:15-21).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 26 This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of Tyre. The time of the prophecy, Eze 26:1, the cause of the destruction of it, rejoicing at the ruin of Jerusalem, Eze 26:2, the instruments of it, many nations, particularly the king of Babylon, Eze 26:3, the manner in which it shall be done, Eze 26:8, the lamentation of other isles, and the princes of them, on account of it, Eze 26:15, the utter destruction of it, so as never to be found any more, Eze 26:19.

It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea,.... Where only fishermen would be seen washing their nets, and then spreading them upon this rock, where Tyre stood, to dry them and this has been confirmed by travellers, who have seen fishermen spreading and drying their nets, and having no other habitations on it but the huts of these men. Huetius (c) relates, that he remembered one Hadrian Parvillarius, a Jesuit, a candid and learned man, particularly in the Arabic language, who lived ten years in Syria; and to have heard him say, that when he saw the ruins of Tyre, its rocks to the sea, and scattered stones on the shore, and made clean smooth by the sun, waves, and wind, and only used for drying fishermen's nets, it brought to his mind this passage of the prophet; as it did to Mr. Maundrell (d) when on the spot, a few years ago; who says, "you see nothing here but a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c. there being not so much as one entire house left; its present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches, harbouring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly upon fishing; who seem to be preserved in this place by divine Providence, as a visible argument how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, viz. "that it should be as the top of a rock", &c.'': so Dr. Shaw (e) says, this port, small as it at present, is choked up to that degree with sand and rubbish, that the boats of these poor fishermen, who now and then visit this once renowned emporium and "dry their nets upon its rocks and ruins", can with great difficulty only be admitted: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and therefore it should certainly come to pass, as it has: and it shall become a spoil to the nations; the army of many nations, that besieged it for thirteen years under Nebuchadnezzar. (c) Evangel. Demonstrat. prop. 6. p. 328. (d) Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 48, 49. Ed. 7. (e) Travels, p. 273. Ed. 2.

(Chapter 26) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, because Tyre (or Sidon) has said of Jerusalem: Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it is turned to me, I shall be filled, it has become desolate; therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Tyre (or Sidon), and I will bring many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. And they will break down the walls of Tyre, and destroy its towers, and I will sweep away its dust from it, and make it a shining rock. The drying up of the fishing nets will be in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, says the Lord God, and it will be a plunder to the nations. Also, her daughters in the field will be killed by the sword, and they will know that I am the Lord. Accordingly, the order of prophecies is woven together. He spoke against the sons of Ammon and Moab and Seir, who are also Edomites, and against the Philistines who are on the coast, and who hold the same boundary on the shore of the sea. After the Philistines, the region of Phoenicia follows, whose metropolis is the city of Tyre, which is called Sor in Hebrew and Syriac. And because Jerusalem was captured, it also rejoiced and insulted, saying: The gates of the peoples are broken, I have the safest harbor, and when they are destroyed, all the multitude turns to me, which was ruled by its authority, and because it is deserted, therefore I will be filled, and whatever was full before will be turned into a wilderness. Therefore, because you have spoken these things and insulted the ruins of Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the judgement of God because of its sins, I will not come against you through messengers or through anyone else, but I myself will be against you, Tyre, and I will cause the Babylonians to rise up like the waves of the sea against you, along with many nations, with which the walls and towers of your city will be destroyed to the point where they will fall to the ground and its dust will be scraped off or blown in various directions, and it will be humiliated to the point where it will be compared to the shiniest rocks. And there will be such great desolation in the once most populous city that fishing nets will be spread out a For I, the Lord, have spoken, and my words cannot be made void, and I will deliver them to be plundered by the nations. Also her daughters, who are in the countryside or in the field, that is, on the coast of Phoenicia, cities and towns, villages and castles, will be killed by the sword: metaphorically, because he called them daughters, he puts the killing by the sword, so that they may know by the end of things that I am the Lord, who commanded these things to happen. According to the tropology, since the Hebrew word Sor is translated into distress, every soul that is occupied with disturbances can be called Sor, which, when she sees Jerusalem being overthrown by the judgment of God for her sins and vices, in which the temple and the vision of peace were, she exults and thinks that the once famous empire of the city is to be transferred to herself. And this is also accepted in conflicting doctrines and in worldly men, when they see a holy man fall through negligence and rejoice and exult, as if their own resurrection were the downfall of others. Therefore the Lord threatens that He Himself will fight against such men and cause many nations, like sea waves, to rise up against them, destroying in them everything that seems most fortified and strong, and thus overturning all their arguments, so that they are reduced to dust. He should also cause the nets and fishing equipment by which the multitude was previously deceived to cease, and to be spread out and dried in the deserted soil of the city, so that other fishermen may take their place, whom the Lord has sent to fish. Moreover, he should cause his daughters, who were previously kept as if in a bridal chamber and were not easily believed by anyone in mystical and more secret teachings, to go forth and be extended in public, and to be cut down with the sword of the Church, so that they may understand that He himself is the Lord, who both temporarily left Jerusalem on account of its sins and destroyed the defenses of Tyre on account of its insolence and joy.

This prophecy, beginning here and ending in the twentieth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter, is a declaration of the judgments of God against Tyre, a very famous commercial city of antiquity, which was taken by Nebuchadnezzar after an arduous siege of thirteen years. The prophet begins with introducing Tyre insulting Jerusalem, and congratulating herself on the prospect of accession to her commerce now that this city was no more, Eze 26:1, Eze 26:2. Upon which God denounces utter destruction to Tyre, and the cities depending on her, Eze 26:3-6. We have then a particular account of the person raised up in the course of the Divine providence to accomplish this work. We see, as it were, his mighty hosts, (which are likened to the waves of the sea for their multitude), raising the mounds, setting the engines, and shaking the walls; we hear the noise of the horsemen, and the sound of their cars; we see the clouds of smoke and dust; we see the sword bathed in blood, and hear the groans of the dying. Tyre, (whose buildings were very splendid and magnificent, and whose walls were one hundred and fifty feet in height, with a proportionable breadth), immediately disappears; her strong (and as she thought impregnable) towers are thrown down; and her very dust is buried in the sea. Nothing remains but the bare rock, Eze 26:7-14. The scene is then varied. The isles and adjacent regions, by a very strong and beautiful figure, are represented to be shaken, as with a mighty earthquake by violent concussion occasioned by the fall of Tyre. The groans of the dying reach the ears of the people inhabiting these regions. Their princes, alarmed for themselves and grieved for Tyre, descend from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and clothe themselves with - sackcloth? - no, but with trembling! Arrayed in this astonishing attire, the prophet introduces them as a chorus of mourners, lamenting Tyre in a funeral song or dirge, as customary on the death of renowned personages. And pursuing the same image still farther, in the person of God, he performs the last sad office for her. She is brought forth from her place in solemn pomp; the pit is dug for her; and she is buried, to rise no more, Eze 26:15-21. Such is the prophecy concerning Tyre, comprehending both the city on the continent and that on the island, and most punctually fulfilled in regard to both. That on the continent was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, b.c. 572, and that on the island by Alexander the Great, b.c. 332. And at present, and for ages past, this ancient and renowned city, once the emporium of the world, and by her great naval superiority the center of a powerful monarchy, is literally what the prophet has repeatedly foretold it should be, and what in his time was, humanly speaking, so highly improbable - a Bare rock, a place to spread nets on!

A place for the spreading of nets - A place for the habitation of some poor fishermen, who spent the fishing season there, and were accustomed to dry their nets upon the rocks. See on Eze 26:11 (note).

THE JUDGMENT ON TYRE THROUGH NEBUCHADNEZZAR (TWENTY-SIXTH THROUGH TWENTY-EIGHTH CHAPTERS). (Eze. 26:1-21) The specification of the date, which had been omitted in the case of the four preceding objects of judgment, marks the greater weight attached to the fall of Tyre. eleventh year--namely, after the carrying away of Jehoiachin, the year of the fall of Jerusalem. The number of the month is, however, omitted, and the day only given. As the month of the taking of Jerusalem was regarded as one of particular note, namely, the fourth month, also the fifth, on which it was actually destroyed (Jer 52:6, Jer 52:12-13), RABBI DAVID reasonably supposes that Tyre uttered her taunt at the close of the fourth month, as her nearness to Jerusalem enabled her to hear of its fall very soon, and that Ezekiel met it with his threat against herself on "the first day" of the fifth month.

in the midst of the sea--plainly referring to New Tyre (Eze 27:32).