city, as it were, of the anoient world-emi- exult in their deliverance, but mourn over nent no less for its oultnre than its commerce the captured city whose commeroe had con- (comp. eh. :uviii. 13). The description of tributed to their prosperity. The "terror" tne desolation of the captured city is summed of ver. 17 is rather the impression of a.we and up once more in the words of ver. 5. It shall wonder made on all who ea.me to it. be a place to "spread nets upon." Ver. 19.-When I sha.11 bring up the sea. Ver. 15.-Sha.ll not the isles, etc.? The The piotnre of desolation is completed. The Hebrew word is used in a wider sense, as sea washes over the be.re rook that was once including all settlements on the sea-coast as covered with the pa.laces of the meroba.nt- well as islands. So it is nsed of Philistio. princes. (Isa. xx. 6), and of the maritime states of Ver. 20.-When I shall bring thee down, Asia Minor (Da.n. xi. 18), of the east and eto. The pit is sheo1,, Hades, the unseen south coasts of .Arabia (eh. xxvii. 15). world of the dead. The image may have been Looking to the extent of commerce described suggested by Isa. xiv. 9, where it is used in eh. xxvii., it probably includes all the of Babylon. It was obviously one on which Mediterranean settlements of the Tyrians, the mind of Ezekiel dwelt, e.nd is reproduced possibly also those in the Indian Ocean and in eh. xxxii. 17-32. Here, apparently, the the Persian Gulf. The report of the fall of sinking in the depth of the waters (ver. 19) Tyre was to spread far and wide. is thought of as lee.ding to the.t world of the Ver. 16.-The princes of the sea. are not dead that lay beneath them. The people of the kings of the isles, but the merchant- old time may possibly include the races of princes of the city (Isa.. xxiii. 8). They the old world that were submerged in the shall lay a.side their robes of sta.te-Tyrian waters of the Flood. The imagery of Ps. purple embroidered with gold and silver- lxxxviii. 3-7 seems to have been doe.ting and shall put on the garments of mourners. before the E_rophet's mind. I aha.11 set glory; Jonah iii. 6 presents an interesting pe.ralleL better, will set. The contrast drawn is that The word thrones is used, a.s in I So.m. iv. between the shadow-world of the dead, and 13, for any chair of state, as that of priest or the earth with its living inhabitants. There judge (Prov. ix. 14; Esth. iii 1), as well as Jehovah would estiiblish his glory, would, for the speci.fica.Ily kingly throne. For the sooner or later, manifest his kingdom, while most part, however, the later mee.!llllg is Tyre and its pomp should be no more, dominant. belonging only to the past. Conjectural Ver. 17.-Inhabited of sea.faring, eto.; readings e.nd renderings have been suggested Hebrew, from the llllCll. The sense is the as follows: (1) Hitzig, "And thou no longer same, but we lose the poetry of the original shioest with glory in the land of the lii-ing." in the pare.phrase. Possibly, however, the (2) H'li.vernick and Kliefoth, "That I no phre.se may represent the position of Tyre longer produce anything glorious from thee as rising out of the sea. or as deriving its in the land of the living." (3) Ewald," That wealth from it. Ewald adopts a. conjectural thou mayest not remain (or stand) in the reading, which gives "destroyed from the land of the living." I have adopted Keil's seas;" or, with another conjecture, "She interpretation of the Authorized Version. that was settled from the days of the remote Ver. 22.-I will make thee a terror. past." Ewe.Id translates, "To sudden death will I Ver. 18.-It is noticeable that the com- bring thee," whioh corresponds with the mercial policy of Tyre is not represented as margin of the Revised Version, I will males ha.nng been oppressive. The isles do not thee a destruction.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-3.-Tyre, the Engl,and of antiquity. We have here an outline of the great, desolating judgment that was to fall upon 'l'yre; it is more fully described in the succeeding verses of the chapter, and lamented over in the next chapter. There are several points in the condition and history of Tyre that call for especial attention to the fate of this famous city; but the resemblance between Tyre and England is so striking, that we may feel much more interest in Ezekiel's utterances when we consider their bearing on our own country in the present day. L THE BlllILAR PROSPERITY OF TYRE AND ENGLAND. 1. In wealth. Tyre was one of the richest cities of the East, if not the very richest. Her splendour was renowned, and the wealth of her merchants was proverbial Like England to-day, she was envied by other peoples for her worldly prosperity. 2. Through com?Mrce. 'l'he wealth of Tyre was not drawn from rich mines or fertile soil of her own territory. It was not booty taken in war, like that of Babylon. Her riches came by trade. Her princes OB. xxvt. i-21.] THE nook OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 69