Chapter Text
A Prophecy Against Tyre
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
8He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.
9And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
10By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
12And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
13And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
14And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
15Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
16Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
17And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
18Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
19For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
20When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
21I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.
Summary
God pronounces extensive judgment against the great maritime city of Tyre. Because Tyre rejoiced at Jerusalem's fall, hoping to profit from the redirected trade, God will bring many nations against her like waves of the sea. Nebuchadnezzar will besiege her with horses, chariots, and siege works. Her walls shall fall, her towers shall be broken, and her stones, timber, and dust shall be cast into the water. She shall become a bare rock for the spreading of nets, never to be rebuilt.
Meaning
Tyre's sin was commercial opportunism masked as political calculation. She viewed Jerusalem's destruction not as a tragedy but as an opportunity for economic gain. This reveals a worldview where human suffering is merely a market event.
The prophecy that Tyre would become a bare rock for spreading nets has been remarkably fulfilled in history. The destruction of a seemingly invincible city teaches that no human achievement, however impressive, endures when it stands against God's purposes. Commercial greatness without moral foundation is built on sand.
Background
Tyre was a Phoenician city of extraordinary wealth and strategic importance, built partly on the mainland and partly on an island fortress. Its double harbors made it the commercial hub of the Mediterranean world.
Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for thirteen years beginning around 585 BC. The complete fulfillment of the rock prophecy came when Alexander the Great scraped the ruins of mainland Tyre into the sea to build a causeway to the island city in 332 BC.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-2Tyre's Gloating Over Jerusalem
- vv. 3-6The LORD's Charge: Waves of Nations
- vv. 7-11Nebuchadnezzar's Siege Foretold
- vv. 12-14Total Demolition and Silence
- vv. 15-18The Isles Tremble at Tyre's Fall
- vv. 19-21Descent to the Pit, Never Found Again
Key Verses
“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.”— 26:3
The thesis of the oracle: Tyre's judgment will come in successive waves of invading nations, a vivid maritime image fitting the island city. The phrase 'many nations' anticipates the centuries-long fulfillment beyond Nebuchadnezzar.
“And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.”— 26:4
A startlingly specific prediction — the very dust scraped away — famously fulfilled when Alexander the Great cast the rubble of mainland Tyre into the sea to build a causeway to the island fortress.
“And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.”— 26:14
One of the most precise predictive prophecies in Scripture, often cited in apologetics for its literal fulfillment in the abandonment of the original site to fishermen.
“I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.”— 26:21
The closing declaration of total erasure — a sobering testimony that the LORD's word against the proud commercial empires of the earth stands sure.
People & Places
People
- Ezekiel — The exiled priest-prophet to whom the word of the LORD comes in the eleventh year.
- Nebuchadrezzar — King of Babylon, called 'a king of kings,' chosen as the LORD's instrument to begin the siege of Tyre.
Places
- Tyrus (Tyre) — The wealthy Phoenician maritime city-state on the Mediterranean coast, famed for trade and its island fortress.
- Jerusalem — The recently fallen city of Judah whose ruin Tyre celebrated as commercial opportunity.
- Babylon — The Mesopotamian empire from the north whose armies the LORD summons against Tyre.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
This chapter is one of the Bible's most striking predictive prophecies. Ezekiel foretells that Nebuchadnezzar would begin the assault (vv. 7-11), but then shifts pronouns to 'they' (v. 12), indicating that 'many nations' (v. 3) would complete the work. History records Nebuchadnezzar's thirteen-year siege of mainland Tyre, followed centuries later by Alexander the Great, who literally scraped the ruins into the sea (v. 4) to build a causeway to the island. The prediction that the site would become 'a place to spread nets upon' and 'be built no more' (v. 14) remains visibly fulfilled today.
Devotional
Tyre's sin was rejoicing over Jerusalem's fall because it meant more business — a chilling reminder that prosperity built on another's ruin invites the notice of God.
When we secretly profit from a rival's stumble or measure our gain by another's loss, we share in Tyre's spirit. The chapter calls us to examine our hearts for hidden satisfactions in others' troubles.
Yet there is comfort here too: the LORD sees and answers when His people are mocked. He is not indifferent to the pride of nations or the quiet cruelties of commerce. Walk humbly, rejoice with those who weep, and trust the God whose word never fails.
Literary Style
Prophetic oracle of judgment against a foreign nation, blending prose announcement with vivid poetic imagery. Features maritime metaphors, a funeral lamentation (vv. 17-18), divine first-person speech formulas, and a shift from singular to plural agents that distinguishes near and far fulfillment.