Ezekiel 26, Fall of Tyre

What would happen if Canada attacked and defeated New York City? I’m not thinking here of the geo-political ramifications, but more what affect it would have on our psyches. Would any of us be happy? Would some be devastated? Would any think in terms of how to scavenge the city?

The city-state of Tyre was the “island capital” of Phoenicia in what is today Lebanon, and one of the most impressive, powerful, and wealthy cities in the world. They had a trading system that reached all around the Mediterranean Sea, with colonies in Cyprus, Tunisia, Sicily, Sardinia, and southern Spain. They were famous for their cypress and fir forests from which they supplied building materials, such as for Solomon’s temple. They were also slave traders and not above piracy to obtain wealth. Their fall to Babylon had a huge impact on Israel and all the nations around. 

1 In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ 3 therefore this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. 5 Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Yahweh. She will become plunder for the nations, 6 and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

The “treacherous merchants” of Tyre were excited about Jerusalem’s fall because they believed they could gather her spoils. But Yahweh would destroy her in judgment.

7 “For this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. 8 He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you. 9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons. 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. 11 The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. 13 I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I Yahweh have spoken, declares the Sovereign Yahweh.

Yahweh would use Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to destroy them. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds commentary mentions:

This book renders correctly the name of the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar (cf. niv note), reflecting his Akkadian name Nabû-kuddura-uṣur (“[the god] Nabû, protect the eldest son (or heir)!”). Other biblical books, however, make a disobliging pun on the name of this king who destroyed Jerusalem by spelling his name Nebuchadnezzar (so 2 Chron. 36:7, 10, 13; Ezra 2:1; Neh. 7:6; Jer. 27:6, 8, 20; Dan. 1:1). This spelling with a nun instead of a resh presupposes Akkadian Nabû-kudāna-uṣur (“Nabû, protect the mule!”). The mule, being a hybrid animal, is incapable of producing offspring. This so-called “scurrilous etymology,” therefore, expresses the opposite of what was intended with the original meaning of the name. Moreover, the absence of a descendant was a notorious curse in Assyrian treaties and ancient Near Eastern curse formulas.

Ezekiel is not making a stab at Nebuchadrezzar but seeing him as God’s tool to accomplish His judgment.

15 “This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you? 16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. 17 Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you:

“‘How you are destroyed, city of renown, peopled by men of the sea! You were a power on the seas, you and your citizens; you put your terror on all who lived there. 18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; the islands in the sea are terrified at your collapse.’

Tyre’s fall brought great fear on the nations. If they could fall to Babylon, no one was safe. Their fall also meant the fall of their trading, a huge blow to the region.

19 “This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Yahweh.” (Ezekiel 26)

The Expositor’s commentary says,

The siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar lasted for thirteen years (c. 586-573 B.C.). However, when Babylonia declined in power, Tyre regained her independence once again. This brief freedom lasted till the second “wave” of destruction brought her into submission to the Persians around 525 B.C. Tyre’s remaining history demonstrated the continuing “waves” of conquerors. God was faithful to bring the “many nations” against Tyre in successive “waves” of conquest. The Lord Jesus did bring his preaching and healing ministry to this heathen city (Mt 15:21; Mk 7:24-31; Lk 6:17). Her responsibility and judgment would be less than that of the Galileans who rejected Christ’s constant ministry to them (Mt 11:21-22; Lk 10:13-14).