Ezekiel 22:9

22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. ¹  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ²  they commit obscene acts among you. ³ 

Ezekiel 25:4

25:4 So take note, ⁴  I am about to make you slaves of ⁵  the tribes ⁶  of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

Ezekiel 27:9

27:9 The elders of Gebal ⁷  and her skilled men were within you, mending cracks; ⁸ 

all the ships of the sea and their mariners were within you to trade for your merchandise. ⁹ 

[22:9]  ¹ tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:9]  ² tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.

[22:9]  ³ sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.

[25:4]  ⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something and has been translated here with a verb (so also throughout the chapter).

[25:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look I am about to give you for a possession to.”

[25:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “sons.”

[27:9]  ⁷ sn Another Phoenician coastal city located between Sidon and Arvad.

[27:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “strengthening damages.” Here “to strengthen” means to repair. The word for “damages” occurs several times in 1 Kgs 12 about some type of damage to the temple, which may have referred to or included cracks. Since the context describes Tyre in its glory, we do not expect this reference to damages to be of significant scale, even if there are repairmen. This may refer to using pitch to seal the seams of the ship, which had to be done periodically and could be considered routine maintenance rather than repair of damage.

[27:9]  ⁹ sn The reference to “all the ships of the sea…within you” suggests that the metaphor is changing; previously Tyre had been described as a magnificent ship, but now the description shifts back to an actual city. The “ships of the sea” were within Tyre’s harbor. Verse 11 refers to “walls” and “towers” of the city.