Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 27

Verses 1-36

At the command of Jehovah, Ezekiel then took up a lamentation for Tyre. This took the form of a pictorial representation of her as a gallant ship trafficking among the nations and ultimately wrecked, to the consternation of all that beheld. The subjects set forth under the figure are her commercial supremacy, enterprises, and ruin. Her supremacy was ensured by the fact that she sat at the entrances of the sea, and the wealth of the nations round about had contributed to that result, until Tyre sat in pride, declaring, "I am perfect in beauty." Her commercial enterprises were far-reaching. Her own wise men acted as pilots, that is, directed these enterprises. Men from other nations served her both commercially and in her army. She dealt in raw material, in manufactured articles, and in things of beauty. Judah and Israel had been among those who had traded with her. It is a remarkable description of vast enterprises successfully carried on, until Tyre became very glorious in the heart of the seas.

In a passage full of picturesque beauty, the prophet described the whelming of Tyre in the great waters, and her breaking by the east wind, in a fall in which all those associated with her were involved. So terrible was the fall that the men of the surrounding nations gathered, and gazed in consternation, while they lamented and were afraid in the presence of the overthrow.