Ezekiel 26
The Destruction of Tyre
1In the eleventh year, in the first of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken! She who was the gateway of the peoples has been returned to me. I will be replenished, now that she is laid waste;’
3therefore the Lord GOD says, ‘Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
4They will destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
5She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the middle of the sea; for I have spoken it,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘She will become plunder for the nations.
6Her daughters who are in the field will be slain with the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’
7“For the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with chariots, with horsemen, and an army with many people.
8He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will make forts against you, cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you.
9He will set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
10By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city which is broken open.
11He will tread down all your streets with the hoofs of his horses. He will kill your people with the sword. The pillars of your strength will go down to the ground.
12They will make a plunder of your riches and make a prey of your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. They will lay your stones, your timber, and your dust in the middle of the waters.
13I will cause the noise of your songs to cease. The sound of your harps won’t be heard any more.
14I will make you a bare rock. You will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more; for I the LORD have spoken it,’ says the Lord GOD.
Lamentation Over Tyre
15“The Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Won’t the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made within you?
16Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground, and will tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.
17They will take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, “How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!”
18Now the islands will tremble in the day of your fall. Yes, the islands that are in the sea will be dismayed at your departure.’
19“For the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep on you, and the great waters cover you,
20then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
21I will make you a terror, and you will no more have any being. Though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again,’ says the Lord GOD.”
Ezekiel prophesies God's judgment against Tyre, the wealthy Phoenician trading city that rejoiced over Jerusalem's destruction, seeing it as an opportunity for economic gain. The Lord declares that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will lead a devastating assault that will reduce the mighty city to bare rock, ending its commercial dominance forever. The chapter concludes with a vivid portrayal of how the maritime nations will mourn Tyre's fall, trembling at the collapse of such a renowned and powerful city.
Context
This prophecy against Tyre continues Ezekiel's oracles against foreign nations that began in chapter 25, demonstrating God's sovereignty over all peoples.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-2Tyre's Gloating Over JerusalemGod's word comes against Tyre for rejoicing over Jerusalem's fall and expecting economic benefit.
- 3-6Divine Judgment PronouncedThe Lord declares He will bring many nations against Tyre like waves, reducing it to bare rock.
- 7-14Nebuchadnezzar's SiegeDetailed prophecy of Babylon's king destroying Tyre's walls, towers, and wealth, leaving it desolate forever.
- 15-18The Nations' MourningMaritime princes will tremble and lament over the fall of the once-mighty seafaring city.
The Destruction of Tyre
26:1–26:14God pronounces judgment against Tyre for rejoicing over Jerusalem's fall, declaring that Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the city completely. This prophecy demonstrates God's sovereignty over nations and His protection of His people's honor.
person_contrast
Nebuchadnezzar transforms from God's instrument of judgment into "king of kings" wielding autonomous military power, marking a rare shift from divine agent to independent conqueror.
Lamentation Over Tyre
26:15–26:21A lamentation describes the mourning of sea princes over Tyre's destruction and the city's descent to the pit of death. This passage emphasizes the finality of divine judgment and the terror it brings to surrounding nations.
structural
Ezekiel uniquely transforms Tyre's political allies—the "princes of the sea"—into mourners who strip off royal garments and don sackcloth, inverting typical ancient Near Eastern victory celebrations into funeral rites.
Ezekiel 26:1
Deuteronomy 1:3lexicalIn the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel accord…
Zechariah 1:7lexicalOn the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the LORD’s word…
1 Chronicles 27:14lexicalThe eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim. In his division wer…
Jeremiah 39:2lexicalIn the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city.
Jeremiah 1:3lexicalIt came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the…
Ezekiel 26:3
Ezekiel 27:3lexicaland tell Tyre, ‘You who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, the Lord GOD…
Ezekiel 28:2lexical“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a g…
Ezekiel 25:16lexicaltherefore the Lord GOD says, “Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites,…
Ezekiel 28:12lexical“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, ‘The Lord GOD says: “You were the seal of full m…
Ezekiel 26:4
Ezekiel 24:7lexical“‘“For the blood she shed is in the middle of her. She set it on the bare rock. She didn’t pour it on the ground, to cov…
Ezekiel 24:8lexicalThat it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be cover…
Ezekiel 26:5
Ezekiel 47:10lexicalIt will happen that fishermen will stand by it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim will be a place for the spreading of nets…
Ezekiel 34:8lexical“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of t…
Ezekiel 14:16lexicalthough these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They o…
Ezekiel 17:16lexical“‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, a…
Ezekiel 32:32lexical“For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain…
Ezekiel 26:7
Ezekiel 29:19lexicalTherefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off…
Jeremiah 25:9lexicalbehold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says the LORD, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king…
Ezekiel 39:20lexicalYou shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men, and with all men of war,” says the Lord GO…
Ezekiel 30:10lexical“‘The Lord GOD says: “I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
Ezekiel 29:18lexical“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made b…
Ezekiel 26:8
Ezekiel 17:17lexicalPharaoh with his mighty army and great company won’t help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cu…
Ezekiel 4:2lexicalLay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant batter…
Ezekiel 26:10
Job 38:34lexical“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
Jeremiah 47:3lexicalAt the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his whe…
2 Chronicles 9:25lexicalSolomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen that he stationed in the chariot…
Exodus 14:23lexicalThe Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his…
Exodus 14:9lexicalThe Egyptians pursued them. All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army overtook them encamping b…
Ezekiel 26:11
Amos 4:10lexical“I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horse…
Ezekiel 30:6lexical“‘The LORD says: “They also who uphold Egypt will fall. The pride of her power will come down. They will fall by the swo…
Lamentations 2:21lexical“The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You h…
Ezekiel 26:12
Leviticus 14:45lexicalHe shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house’s mortar. He shall carry them out of the ci…
Ezekiel 29:19lexicalTherefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off…
Ezekiel 39:10lexicalso that they will take no wood out of the field, and not cut down any out of the forests; for they will make fires with…
Ezekiel 28:16lexicalBy the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I have cast yo…
2 Kings 25:10lexicalAll the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 26:14
Ezekiel 47:10lexicalIt will happen that fishermen will stand by it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim will be a place for the spreading of nets…
Ezekiel 32:3lexicalThe Lord GOD says: “I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples. They will bring you up in my net.
Ezekiel 24:7lexical“‘“For the blood she shed is in the middle of her. She set it on the bare rock. She didn’t pour it on the ground, to cov…
Ezekiel 24:8lexicalThat it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be cover…
Ezekiel 26:15
Ezekiel 27:3lexicaland tell Tyre, ‘You who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, the Lord GOD…
Ezekiel 31:16lexicalI made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit.…
Ezekiel 32:32lexical“For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain…
Ezekiel 31:18lexical“‘To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the tre…
Ezekiel 11:7lexical“‘Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the ca…
Ezekiel 26:16
Numbers 20:28lexicalMoses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and…
Ezekiel 32:10lexicalYes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid for you, when I brandish my sword b…
Ezra 9:3lexicalWhen I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down…
Exodus 29:5lexicalYou shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clot…
Isaiah 61:10lexicalI will greatly rejoice in the LORD! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvati…
Ezekiel 26:19
Ezekiel 31:15lexical“The Lord GOD says: ‘In the day when he went down to Sheol, I caused a mourning. I covered the deep for him, and I restr…
Amos 7:4lexicalThus the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would…
Ezekiel 26:20
Ezekiel 31:14lexicalto the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, and don’t set their top among the…
Ezekiel 32:24lexical“There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncirc…
Ezekiel 31:16lexicalI made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit.…
Ezekiel 32:18lexical“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to t…
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