The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 73

power al}d his resources were such as to render him formidable even to the mightiest, Flushed with previous successes, confident in the irresistible force of his arms, this puissant monarch, in unconscious obedience to Divine behests, turned his sword against the proud mistress of the seas. II. Tm: HOSTILE ABMY AND THE APPARATUS OF WAB. Ezekiel describes, with the accuracy and minuteness of one who beheld it, the force which the King of Babylon directed against Tyre. We see the dreaded conqueror or the nations advance from the north-east "with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company of much people." The undertaking was only possible to a power which commanded abundance of military resources, and which was able to bring up successive reinforce- ments, and to continue warlike operations through the changing fortunes and the long delays often incident to ancient campaigns, All that was necessary for his purpose, Nebuchadnezzar knew, before he commenced operations, that he could command. III. THE SIEGE, The several stages of this enterprise are described as by an eye- witness. First, engagements take place with the neighbouring powers dependent upon and in alliance with Tyre, These are defeated, and their opposition is subdued. Then forts are constructed and a mount is raised from which the besiegers can direct their attack against the beleaguered city, Further, battering-engines are brought forward to play against the walls, and the towers are assaulted by the battle-axes of the besiegers. The dust raised by the galloping horses marks where the cavalry repel the sally from the garrison. The sights of warfare rise before the eye, its sounds salute and deafen the ear. Through long years these military ms.namvres go for\Vard with changing fortune; yet leaving the city weaker and less able, even with the 6pen com- munication seawards, to sustain the siege. IV. THE ASSAULT, CONQUEST, AND SUBJUGATION, At length the fatal breach is made in the city wall, and we seem to see the victorious army rush forward to overpower the gallant but now disheartened defenders. The walls shake at the noise of the horse- men, the waggons, and the chariots, as the conquerors pour into the streets of the city. The conquering troops, mad with long-delayed success, ride over and cut down every armed man they meet, and even slay the defenceless inhabitants with the sword. The famous city, which bad boasted itself invincible and impregnable, is taken and occuvied by the Babylonian forces. V. THE SPOILING AND DESTRUCTION. The riches and merchandise fall a prey into the hands of the victors, who are satiated with booty. The monuments of Tyrian pride and grandeur are levelled in the dust. The fortifications are demolished, the pleasant houses, luxurious a.bodes of merchant-princes, are pulled down, and the stone and timber are flung into the sea. Precious goods are appropriated or wantonly destroyed. As ever in warfare, so here, the spoils go to the conquerors. Val victis ! VI. TBE DESOLATION AND WASTE. Iu those palaces and ha.Us were once heard the songs of joy and of Jove, or feasting and of mirth-the strains of music vibrating from harp and lyre, and breathing from the tuneful flute. Now a mournful silence reigns, broken only by the cry of the sea-bird or the plash of the wind-smitten waves. In those harbours rode but lately the fleets laden with the commerce of the world, aDll Tyrian merchants gazed with pride upon their noble and richly laden argosies. Now the fisherman spreads his nets upon the deserted rocks, and looks wistfully over the forsaken roadsteads and the woste of waters where no sail curves before the wind or glitters in the sunshine, "The Lord has spoken it," and what he has said hM come to pass. The Tyrian splendour and opulence were of this world, and they are no more. Sic transit gloria m11,ndi 1-T, . Vers. 15-21.-Glory departed. A more imaginative and pathetic picture than that painted in these words will scarcely be found in revelation, or indeed in all literature, The anticipation of Tyre'11 destruction seems to have awakened all the poetry of the prophet'a nature. And uo wonder; for never was a contrast more marked and more sianificant than that between Tyre in its grandeur and Tyre in its desolation. The isles shake with the resounding crash of the city's fall. The groans of the wounded and the dying are heard afar. Princes exchange their splendour for trembling and astonishment. The city strong in the sea has fallen weak and helpless in the day of Divine judgment. And the seamen who ,vere Tyre's glory and security are no moro  THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL, [oH, :x..x.vt. 1-21.