Ezekiel 26

Ezekiel 25–32 is a collection of judgment prophecies against the nations surrounding Israel. Following the prophecies against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia in Ezekiel 25, chapter 26 opens the series of prophecies against Tyre that continues through chapter 28.

Outline

• Verses 1–2: The word of the Lord comes on the first day of a month in the eleventh year. Tyre sees that Jerusalem has fallen and rejoices, saying, "she is broken that was the gates of the people … I shall be replenished."
• Verses 3–6: God brings many nations against Tyre, as the sea causes its waves to come up. Tyre is to become "like the top of a rock" and "a place for the spreading of nets."
• Verses 7–14: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, comes from the north with his army, breaks down the walls and towers, and plunders the city's wealth. Its stones, timber, and dust are cast into the water, and Tyre is to be built no more.
• Verses 15–18: The isles shake at the sound of Tyre's fall. The princes of the sea lay aside their robes, sit upon the ground, and take up a lamentation (a song of mourning).
• Verses 19–21: Tyre is covered by the great deep and brought down to the pit (the place of the dead), never to exist again.

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 26:2: "Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me." Tyre's attitude of treating its neighbor's downfall as gain is presented as the reason for judgment.
• Ezekiel 26:7: "Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings." The verse names the man who will be the instrument of judgment.
• Ezekiel 26:14: "And I will make thee like the top of a rock … thou shalt be built no more." This verse is frequently discussed in debates over the fulfillment of the prophecy.

People and Places

• Ezekiel: God addresses him as son of man.
• Tyre: A Phoenician port city on the eastern Mediterranean coast that prospered through maritime trade. It consisted of a mainland city and an island city.
• Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon.
• Jerusalem: The city whose fall Tyre celebrated.

Points for Reflection

• Dating: The "eleventh year" is generally understood to be counted from the year King Jehoiachin was taken into exile. On this reckoning, the prophecy falls around the time of Jerusalem's capture. The Hebrew text does not specify the month, and the Korean Revised Version accordingly renders it "a certain month."
• The question of fulfillment: Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for a long time (Josephus reports thirteen years), but he is generally thought not to have completely destroyed the island city. Ezekiel 29:18 likewise states that he received no wages from Tyre. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great built a causeway from the rubble and captured the island city. Interpretations of these events differ.
• One interpretation sees a long-term fulfillment in which the "many nations" of verse 3 come against Tyre in succession, and understands the casting of debris into the water in verse 12 as accomplished in Alexander's time.
• Another interpretation emphasizes the poetic and hyperbolic language of the prophecy and the nature of the judgment.
• Interpreters also differ on how to relate verse 14 to the fact that a city stands on the same site today.
• Connection to the New Testament: The imagery of the princes of the sea and merchants mourning the fallen city, and of its music being heard no more, is echoed in the scene of Babylon's destruction in Revelation 18. Jesus compared the unrepentant cities to Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 11:21–22).