Ezekiel 27:33 Komentář

Still we are attending the funeral of Tyre and the lamentations made for the fall of that renowned city. In this chapter we have, I. A large account of the dignity, wealth, and splendour of Tyre, while it was in its strength, the vast trade it drove, and the interest it had among the nations (v. 1-25), which is designed to make its ruin the more lamentable. II. A prediction of its fall and ruin, and the confusion and consternation which all its neighbours shall thereby be put into (Eze 27:26-36). And this is intended to stain the pride of all worldly glory, and, by setting the one over-against the other, to let us see the vanity and uncertainty of the riches, honours, and pleasures of the world, and what little reason we have to place our happiness in them or to be confident of the continuance of them; so that all this is written for our learning.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 27 This chapter contains a lamentation on Tyre; setting forth her former grandeur, riches, and commerce; her ruin and destruction; and the concern of others on that account. The prophet is bid to take up his lamentation concerning it, Eze 27:1, observing her situation and magnificence, of which she boasted, Eze 27:3, describing the excellency of her shipping and naval stores, Eze 27:5, declaring who were her mariners, pilots, and caulkers, Eze 27:8, her military men, Eze 27:10 her several merchants, and the things they traded in with her in her fairs and markets, Eze 27:12, then follows an account of her destruction, Eze 27:26, the lamentation of pilots and mariners because of it, Eze 27:28, and of the kings and inhabitants of the isles, and merchants of the people, Eze 27:33.

In the time when thou shall be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters..... By the Chaldean army, which came upon them like the waves of the sea, Eze 26:3 by which they were overpowered and destroyed; just as a ship on the mighty waters is dashed and broke to pieces by the waves thereof: thy merchandise, and all thy company in the midst of thee, shall fall; trade shall cease, and the mixed multitude of traders from all parts shall be seen no more; the natives of the place shall perish; mariners and soldiers, and persons of every rank and degree, age, and sex. The Targum renders it, "all thine armies.'' Abendana suggests that this respects the destruction of Tyre by Alexander the great.

(Verse 33 and following) What is like Tyre, that has become silent (or has been silenced) in the middle of the sea? (Which is not found in the Septuagint.) Who, in the outcome of your dealings (or what reward you received) from the sea, enriched many peoples? In the abundance of your wealth, and with the multitude of your people, you made many kings wealthy. Now you are broken by the sea (or in the sea) in the depths of the waters, your wealth (or your trading) and all your multitude, which was in your midst, have fallen. All the inhabitants of the islands were astonished (or crushed) over you, and all their kings were struck (or turned mad) by the tempest, they changed their countenance (or wept). The merchants of the nations (or peoples) hissed at you, you were brought down to nothingness (or made into ruins), and you will no longer exist (Vulg. remains silent) forever (or for eternity). Captains, sailors, helmsmen, and passengers, in the mourning of Tyre, will remember these things, which so silenced other cities that they had no confidence to speak; and they heard that Gospel saying, Be silent, and be dumb (Mark 4:39). And concerning the Psalms: But to the sinner God said, Why do you declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth? (Ps. XLVI, 16) How rich has Tyre become with so many goods! And why have you sought so much with such great labor, that you gather perishable things through days and nights of shipwreck? Indeed, you have filled many peoples and enriched kings with your wealth, of whom it is written: The kings of the earth stood, and the princes met together against the Lord and against his Christ (Psalm II, 2). But now you are crushed in the sea, and in the depths of the waters, just as it is written about Pharaoh: The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has cast into the sea (Exodus XV, 4). He was submerged in the deep like a stone, and he could say: I have come into the deep of the sea, and the tempest has submerged me (Psalm XIV, 4). All the islands, or the inhabitants of the islands, that are battered by the waves of this world, will be astonished at you, and their kings, struck by the storm, will sense their own demise. They will imitate the voice of the snake, hissing and saying: You have been reduced to nothing, or you have been made into destruction; so that you have not had the nature of destruction, but the will. And you will not be. But if he had said this until now, a great question would arise, how it was not, which we now see as built. But from what follows, 'Forever', it shows the time of one age, which is reckoned to be around 70 years in the circle of a man's life. Whether you will not be to God, as the Apostle says: 'He calls things that are not as though they were' (Rom. 4:17). And the prophet Isaiah: 'Behold, they shall be confounded and ashamed, all your adversaries.' (Isaiah 41:11). For they will be as if they were not (Isa. XLI, 11): And Esther according to the Seventy Interpreters: Do not give your scepter to those who are not (Esther XIV, 11). And in the psalm: Let me be refreshed before I go away, and I shall be no more (Ps. XXXV, 14). We have already mentioned in what sense these testimonies should be understood. However, all these things can be referred to the person of heretics, who, in the contrition of Tyre and the shipwreck, feel their error and, placed in the midst of the sea, desire to free their souls and mourn the ill-gotten riches, with which they have enriched many kings, namely their patriarchs, and the common people, whose wealth will be destroyed in the midst of the sea. The inhabitants of all the islands (if, however, we want to interpret what has been said in a positive way) will also be astonished at the destruction of Tyre, and the kings of all the islands, being as it were struck by a storm, will change their faces, or at least show the grief of their hearts with weeping and tears, and they will testify to the magnitude of their astonishment with wonder and hissing, declaring how she has become nothing and perished, she who promised salvation to many nations. And furthermore, it will not be, at any certain time, that we interpret αἰῶνα as meaning 'age'; but forever, because the same word signifies both.

This chapter may be considered as the second part of the prophecy concerning Tyre. The prophet pursues his subject in the manner of those ancient lamentations or funeral songs, in which the praeficiae or mourning women first recounted whatever was great or praiseworthy in the deceased, and then mourned his fall. Here the riches, glory, and extensive commerce of Tyre are enlarged upon, vv. 1-25. Her downfall is then described in a beautiful allegory, executed in a few words, with astonishing brevity, propriety, and perspicuity, Eze 27:26; upon which all the maritime and commercial world are represented as grieved and astonished at her fate, and greatly alarmed for their own, Eze 27:27-36. Besides the view which this chapter gives of the conduct of Providence, and the example with which it furnishes the critic and men of taste of a very elegant and highly finished piece of composition, it likewise affords the antiquary a very curious and interesting account of the wealth and commerce of ancient times. And to the mind that looks for "a city that hath foundations," what a picture does the whole present of the mutability and inanity of all earthly things! Many of the places mentioned in ancient history have, like Tyre, long ago lost their political consequence; the geographical situation of others cannot be traced; they have sunk in the deep waters of oblivion; the east wind hath carried them away.

TYRE'S FORMER GREATNESS, SUGGESTING A LAMENTATION OVER HER SAD DOWNFALL. (Eze. 27:1-36) lamentation--a funeral dirge, eulogizing her great attributes, to make the contrast the greater between her former and her latter state.

out of the seas--brought on shore out of the ships. filledst--didst supply plentifully with wares. enrich . . . kings--with the custom dues levied on the wares.