The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 66

Hebrow or the Vulgllle while the LXX. che.ngee, apparent revival followed by inserts the ''first mont1i./• In eh. xxxii. 17 another period of decay, the present condi- we hllve o. like omission, e.nd in both co.sea it tion of Tyre strikingly corresponds with it. is nnturnl to o.ssume e.n error of trllnecription. The travellers of the seventeenth and eigh- The tidings of the capture mny he.ve ree.cbed teenth centuries repon the.t "its inhabitants both Tyre and Tel-A bib, o.nd Ezekiel may are only a few poor wretches that harbour in he.ve hee.rd. of the temper in which the ve.ulte and subsist upon fishing" (Mandrell. former he.d received them, just e.a he had in 169i); that the number of those inhabit- hee.rd how the ne.tiona ne.med in the pre- ants was "only ten, Turks and Christians" vious che.pter had exulted in the fe.ll, immi- (Haseelquist, in 1751); that there were, a nent and, as they thought, inevite.ble, of the little later on, "fifty or sixty poor families" holy city. (Volney, in 1766). Dnring the present Ver. 2.-Beoe.me that Tyrus, etc. As the century there has been a partial revival, and nearest gree.t commercial city, the Venice of Porter, in 1858, estimates its population at the ancient world, Tyre, from the de.ye of from three to four thouaa.nd. The present David (2 Sam. v. 11) and Solomon (1 Kings elllte of its harbour, as compared with that v. I) onward, had been prominent in the of Beyront, is against any future expansion eyes of the statesmen and prophets of Judah; of its commerce(' Diet. Bible,' 1.1,. "Tyre"). nnd Ezekiel follows in the footsteps of Joel Ver. 6.-The daughters in the field are, iii. 4; .Amos i. 9, 10; Isa. xxiii., in dealing according to the nano.I symbolism of pro• with it. The description in vers. 5 and 14 pbecy, the subjed or allied cities on the points, not to the city on the mainland, the mainland. old Tyre of Josh. xix. 29, which had been Ver. 7.-1 will bring against thee, etc. taken by Shalmaneaer and was afterwards There is a special emphasis of abruptness in destroyed by Alexander the Great, but to the we.y in which Ezekiel brings in the the island-city, the new Tyre, which was, at name of the great Che.ldean conqueror (we this time, the emporium of the ancient world. note, by the way, tbat he adopts the lees The extent of her commerce will meet us in common spelling of the name), of whom he rh. xxvii. Here, too, as in the case of the speaks as "king of kings." The iitle is nations in eh. xxv., Ezekiel'a indignation is need by Daniel (ii. 37) of Nebuchadnezzar, I roused by the exulting aelfishneSB with which and by Arlo.xerxes of himself (Ezra. vii. 12), Tyre had looked on the downfall (actuo.l or by Darius in the No.kehi Rustllm inscription imminent, as before) of Jerusalem. "Now," (' Records of the Po.et,' v. 151), by Tiglath- her rulers seem to have said, "we shall Pileeer, with tbe addition of" lord of lords" be tbe only power in the land of Canaan." (ibid., v. 8). Jerusalem, that had been the gate of the Vere. 8-10.-(For the nBUal operations of peoples, we.a now broken. The name thus a siege, see notes on oh. iv. 1, 2.) The buokler given may imply either (I) that Jerusalem , was the roof of shields under which the we.a regarded e.s to a considerable extent a besiegers protected themselves from the commercial city, co.rrying on much inter- missiles of the besieged. For engines of war, course with the nations with which she was read battering-rams ; for wheels, waggom. in e.lliance '.(eh. xxiii. 40, 41; 1 Kings ix. The fine.I result will be that the brench will 26-28; xxii. 48; Ieo.. ii. 7; Herod., iii. 5, of be made, with results such as those described Co.dytis, i.e. probably Jerusalem); or (2) that in ver. 11. its temple he.d, under Hezekiah and Josie.h, Ver. 11.-Thy strong garrisons; literally, drawn many proselytes from the neighbour- the pillars of thy strengtl~ (Revised Version). ing nations, os in l's. lxxxvii. 4--6, and was So the Vulgate, nobila etatuai. So the word looking forward to II yet fuller confluence of is used in Isa. xix. 19 ; J er. xliii. 13 ; men of e.11 r11ces, nR in the prophecies of 2 Kings iii. 2. The words probe.bly refer to Micah iv. 1, 2 and Isa. ii. 2, 3--expecte.tione the two famous columns standing in the which mo.y well have become known to a temple of the Tyrio.n Hercules, one of gold city like Tyre, in frequent interoouree with aud one of ernemld (poBBihly malachite or Judo.h. "Now," the Tyrie.us might say, lapie-lazuli), as symbols of strength, or e.s "that hope is shattered." I she.11 be re- pedeste.le surmounted by a statue of Baal plenished. The interpolated ''now" indi- (Herod., ii. 44). • ce.tea what is, of oourse, implied, that Tyre Ver. 12.-Thy pleuant houae■ ; Hebrew, expects her prosperity to increase in propor- houaea of desire. The palaoes of the mer. tion lo the deoliue and fall of J eruso.lem. chant-princes of Tyre, stately as those ol Ver. 3.-As the sea ce.useth, etc. We note Genoa or Venice. In the midst of the water. the speoiol approprio.tenoss of the comparison We are age.in reminded the.tit is the island- to the position of the island oity. oity of which the prophet speaks. Ver. 5.-It she.II be a place for the spread- Ver. 13.-The noise of thy songa. As in ing of nets, etc. The prediction is repeated the imagery of lea. xxiii. 16, Tyre seems to in ver. 14, and after m11ny che.nces 11ud have been famous for its music-the opero.tio  68 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. [on. XXVI. 1-21.