Ezekiel 27:3

27:3 Say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance ¹  of the sea, ²  merchant to the peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘O Tyre, you have said, “I am perfectly beautiful.”

Ezekiel 27:12-36

27:12 “‘Tarshish ³  was your trade partner because of your abundant wealth; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products. 27:13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your clients; they exchanged slaves and bronze items for your merchandise. 27:14 Beth Togarmah exchanged horses, chargers, ⁴  and mules for your products. 27:15 The Dedanites ⁵  were your clients. Many coastlands were your customers; they paid ⁶  you with ivory tusks and ebony. 27:16 Edom ⁷  was your trade partner because of the abundance of your goods; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your products. 27:17 Judah and the land of Israel were your clients; they traded wheat from Minnith, ⁸  millet, honey, olive oil, and balm for your merchandise. 27:18 Damascus was your trade partner because of the abundance of your goods and of all your wealth: wine from Helbon, white wool from Zahar, 27:19 and casks of wine ⁹  from Izal ¹⁰  they exchanged for your products. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were among your merchandise. 27:20 Dedan was your client in saddlecloths for riding. 27:21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your trade partners; for lambs, rams, and goats they traded with you. 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah engaged in trade with you; they traded the best kinds of spices along with precious stones and gold for your products. 27:23 Haran, Kanneh, Eden, merchants from Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad were your clients. 27:24 They traded with you choice garments, purple clothes and embroidered work, and multicolored carpets, bound and reinforced with cords; these were among your merchandise. 27:25 The ships of Tarshish ¹¹  were the transports for your merchandise.

“‘So you were filled and weighed down in the heart of the seas.

27:26 Your rowers have brought you into surging waters.

The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.

27:27 Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains,

your ship’s carpenters, ¹²  your merchants,

and all your fighting men within you,

along with all your crew who are in you,

will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

27:28 At the sound of your captains’ cry the waves will surge; ¹³ 

27:29 They will descend from their ships – all who handle the oar,

the sailors and all the sea captains – they will stand on the land.

27:30 They will lament loudly ¹⁴  over you and cry bitterly.

They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes; ¹⁵ 

27:31 they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth,

and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning. ¹⁶ 

27:32 As they wail they will lament over you, chanting:

“Who was like Tyre, like a tower ¹⁷  in the midst of the sea?”

27:33 When your products went out from the seas,

you satisfied many peoples;

with the abundance of your wealth and merchandise

you enriched the kings of the earth.

27:34 Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters;

your merchandise and all your company have sunk ¹⁸  along with you. ¹⁹ 

27:35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands are shocked at you,

and their kings are horribly afraid – their faces are troubled.

27:36 The traders among the peoples hiss at you;

you have become a horror, and will be no more.’”

Isaiah 23:3-8

23:3 the deep waters! ²⁰ 

Grain from the Shihor region, ²¹ 

crops grown near the Nile ²²  she receives; ²³ 

she is the trade center ²⁴  of the nations.

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ²⁵  says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.” ²⁶ 

23:5 When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre. ²⁷ 

23:6 Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

23:7 Is this really your boisterous city ²⁸ 

whose origins are in the distant past, ²⁹ 

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, ³⁰ 

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries ³¹  of the earth?

Revelation 18:3

18:3 For all the nations ³²  have fallen ³³  from

the wine of her immoral passion, ³⁴ 

and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.” ³⁵ 

Revelation 18:12-15

18:12 cargo such as gold, silver, ³⁶  precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, ³⁷  scarlet cloth, ³⁸  all sorts of things made of citron wood, ³⁹  all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble, 18:13 cinnamon, spice, ⁴⁰  incense, perfumed ointment, ⁴¹  frankincense, ⁴²  wine, olive oil and costly flour, ⁴³  wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, ⁴⁴  slaves and human lives. ⁴⁵ 

18:14 (The ripe fruit ⁴⁶  you greatly desired ⁴⁷ 

has gone from you,

and all your luxury ⁴⁸  and splendor ⁴⁹ 

have gone from you –

they will never ever be found again!) ⁵⁰ 

18:15 The merchants who sold ⁵¹  these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep ⁵²  and mourn,

Revelation 18:19

18:19 And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning, ⁵³ 

“Woe, Woe, O great city –

in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth –

because in a single hour she has been destroyed!” ⁵⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “entrances.” The plural noun may reflect the fact that Tyre had two main harbors.

² sn Rome, another economic power, is described in a similar way in Rev 17:1.

³ sn Tarshish refers to a distant seaport sometimes believed to be located in southern Spain (others identified it as Carthage in North Africa). In any event it represents here a distant, rich, and exotic port which was a trading partner of Tyre.

⁴ tn The way in which these horses may have been distinguished from other horses is unknown. Cf. ASV “war-horses” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, CEV all similar); NLT “chariot horses.”

⁵ tn Heb “sons of Dedan.”

⁶ tn Heb “they returned as your gift.”

⁷ tc Many Hebrew mss, Aquila’s Greek translation, and the Syriac version read “Edom.” The LXX reads “man,” a translation which assumes the same consonants as Edom. This reading is supported from the context as the text deals with Damascus, the capital of Syria (Aram), later (in v. 18).

⁸ sn The location is mentioned in Judg 11:33.

⁹ tc The MT leaves v. 18 as an incomplete sentence and begins v. 19 with “and Dan and Javan (Ionia) from Uzal.” The LXX mentions “wine.” The translation follows an emendation assuming some confusions of vav and yod. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:82.

¹⁰ sn According to L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 2:82), Izal was located between Haran and the Tigris and was famous for its wine.

¹¹ tn Or perhaps “Large merchant ships.” The expression “ships of Tarshish” may describe a class of vessel, that is, large oceangoing merchant ships.

¹² tn Heb “your repairers of damage.” See v. 9.

¹³ tn Compare this phrase to Isa 57:20 and Amos 8:8. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:561.

¹⁴ tn Heb “make heard over you with their voice.”

¹⁵ tn Note a similar expression to “roll in the ashes” in Mic 1:10.

¹⁶ tn Heb “and they will weep concerning you with bitterness of soul, (with) bitter mourning.”

¹⁷ tn As it stands, the meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. The translation follows the suggestion of M. Dahood, “Accadian-Ugaritic dmt in Ezekiel 27:32,” Bib 45 (1964): 83-84. Several other explanations and emendations have been offered. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:83, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:85-86, for a list of options.

¹⁸ tn Heb “fallen.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “in the midst of you.”

²⁰ tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.

²¹ tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.

²² tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”

²³ tn Heb “[is] her revenue.”

²⁴ tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.”

²⁵ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

²⁶ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

²⁷ tn Heb “they will be in pain at the report of Tyre.”

²⁸ tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.

²⁹ tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.”

³⁰ tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.

³¹ tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”

³² tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

³³ tc ‡ Several mss (א A C 1006* 1611 1841 2030 Ï^K), including the best witnesses, read “have fallen” (πεπτώκασιν or πέπτωκαν [peptwkasin or peptwkan]). The singular πέπτωκεν (peptwken), which is better grammatically with the neuter plural subject πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (panta ta eqnh, “all the nations”), is read by 1854 2062 pc; 2042 pc read πεπότικεν (pepotiken). A few mss (1006^c 2329 pc latt sy^h) read “have drunk” (πέπωκαν/πεπώκασιν, pepwkan/pepwkasin); the singular πέπωκεν (pepwken) is read by P 051 1 2053* al. The more difficult reading and that which has the best ms support is “have fallen.” That it is not too difficult is evidenced by the fact that the great majority of Byzantine minuscules, which have a tendency to smooth out problems, left it stand as is. Nonetheless, it is somewhat difficult (TCGNT 683 says that this reading is “scarcely suitable in the context”), and for that reason certain mss seem to have changed it to “have drunk” to agree with the idea of “wine” (οἴνου, oinou). One can understand how this could happen: A scribe coming to the text and seeing the term “wine” expects a verb of drinking. When he sees “have fallen” and knows that in Greek the verbs “have fallen” and “have drunk” are spelled similarly, he concludes that there has been a slip of the pen in the ms he is using, which he then seeks to correct back to the “have drunk” reading. This appears to be more reasonable than to conclude that three early uncials (i.e., א A C) as well as a great number of other witnesses all felt the need to change “have drunk” (πέπωκαν) to “have fallen” (πέπτωκαν), even if “fallen” occurs in the immediate context (“fallen, fallen, [ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν, epesen epesen] Babylon the great” in the preceding verse). The preferred reading, on both external and internal grounds, is “have fallen,” and thus the Seer intends to focus on the effects of wine, namely, a drunken stupor.

³⁴ tn See the notes on the words “passion” in Rev 14:8 and “wrath” in 16:19.

³⁵ tn According to BDAG 949 s.v. στρῆνος and στρηνιάω, these terms can refer either to luxury or sensuality. In the context of Rev 18, however (as L&N 88.254 indicate) the stress is on gratification of the senses by sexual immorality, so that meaning was emphasized in the translation here.

³⁶ tn Grk “and silver,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before most of these terms since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more

³⁷ tn On this term BDAG 924-25 s.v. σιρικός states, “per. to silk from Ser, subst. τὸ σιρικόν silk cloth or garments w. other costly materials Rv 18:12.”

³⁸ tn On the translation of κόκκινον (kokkinon) as “scarlet cloth” see L&N 6.170.

³⁹ tn On the phrase πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον (pan xulon quinon) L&N 3.63 states, “pertaining to being made or consisting of citron wood (that is, from a citron tree) – ‘of citron wood.’ καὶ πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐλεφάντινον ‘and all kinds of things made of citron wood and all kinds of objects made of ivory’ Re 18:12. The citron tree belongs to the citrus family of plants, and it produces a pale yellow fruit somewhat larger than a lemon, the rind of which is often candied. In Re 18:12, however, the focus is upon the fine quality of the wood.”

⁴⁰ tn On the term ἄμωμον (amwmon) L&N 5.23 states, “a generic term for any kind of spice, though often a specific reference to amomum, an Indian type of spice – ‘spice, amomum.’ κιννάμωμον καὶ ἄμωμον καὶ θυμιάματα ‘cinnamon and spice and incense’ Re 18:13. In most translations ἄμωμον is interpreted as spice in general.”

⁴¹ tn Or “myrrh,” a strong aromatic ointment often used to prepare a body for burial (L&N 6.205).

⁴² tn The Greek term λίβανος (libano") refers to the aromatic resin of a certain type of tree (L&N 6.212).

⁴³ tn On σεμίδαλις (semidali") L&N 5.10 states, “a fine grade of wheat flour – ‘fine flour.’ οἶνον καὶ ἔλαιον καὶ σεμίδαλιν καὶ σῖτον ‘wine and oil and fine flour and wheat’ Re 18:13. In some languages ‘fine flour’ may be best expressed as ‘expensive flour.’ Such a rendering fits well the context of Re 18:13.”

⁴⁴ tn Or “and wagons.” On the term ῥέδη (rJedh) see L&N 6.53: “a four-wheeled carriage or wagon used for travel or the transportation of loads – ‘carriage, wagon.’ The term ῥέδη occurs only in Re 18:13 in a list of products bought and sold by merchants.”

⁴⁵ tn Grk “and bodies and souls of men.” This could be understood (1) as a hendiadys (two things mentioned = one thing meant), referring only to slave trade; (2) it could be referring to two somewhat different concepts: slavery (bodies) and the cheapness of human life – some of the items earlier in the list of merchandise were to be obtained only at great cost of human life; or (3) a somewhat related idea, that the trade is in not just physical bodies (slavery) but human souls (people whose lives are destroyed through this trade).

⁴⁶ tn On ὀπώρα (opwra) L&N 3.34 states, “ἡ ὀπώρα σου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ψυχῆς ‘the ripe fruit for which you longed’ Re 18:14. In this one occurrence of ὀπώρα in the NT, ‘ripe fruit’ is to be understood in a figurative sense of ‘good things.’”

⁴⁷ tn Grk “you desired in your soul.”

⁴⁸ tn On λιπαρός (liparo") BDAG 597 s.v. states, “luxury Rv 18:14.”

⁴⁹ tn On τὰ λαμπρά (ta lampra) BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπρός 4 states, “splendor…in which a rich man takes delight (cp. Jos., Ant. 12, 220 δωρεὰς δοὺς λαμπράς) Rv 18:14.”

⁵⁰ tn Verse 14 is set in parentheses because in it the city, Babylon, is addressed directly in second person.

⁵¹ tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”

⁵² tn Grk “her torment, weeping.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “They will” here.

⁵³ tn Grk “with weeping and mourning, saying.” Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

⁵⁴ tn On ἡρημώθη (Jhrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”