26:7-9 In an explanatory prophecy about Tyre's destruction, the Lord promised to send Nebuchadnezzar as an invader from the north (cf. 2 Kings 25:21; Jer. 52:9). He was a "king of kings"in that many rulers were subject to him (cf. Dan. 2:37). This would be the first "wave"of conquest, and the Lord described it more fully than the later ones. Nebuchadnezzar would come against Tyre with a great army, besiege the city, break down its walls, and slay many of the Tyrians. After defeating Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar proceeded north and attacked Tyre and its neighboring towns for thirteen years beginning that same year.
26:10-11 Nebuchadnezzar's many horses would raise much dust and cause a loud commotion as they breached the walls, entered the city, and trampled the streets of the mainland town. Many people would die, and Tyre's strong pillars would fall. The pillars may refer to the leading inhabitants of the town and or to the prominent pillars in the temple of Melkart there (cf. 1 Kings 7:15).360
"Nebuchadnezzar destroyed mainland Tyre . . ., but not the island stronghold. However, other evidence indicates that the island surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar in 573-572 B.C."361
26:12 Tyre's enemies ("they") would take much spoil from the city and would push its physical remains into the sea (cf. Zech. 9:3-4). God accomplished this by the hand of Alexander the Great who used the rubble from the mainland town to widen the causeway (mole) to the fortress.
26:13-14 The Lord would silence the singing and music in Tyre (cf. Isa. 23:16; Rev. 18:22). He would turn its site into a bare rock suitable for the drying of fishnets. Moreover the city would not rebuild on that site again, a very unusual phenomenon in ancient times. This is the fate that Yahweh decreed for Tyre.
"Shall never be rebuilt' might be better translated will not be built-up again,' that is, will not go back to its former state,' and does not imply that the island of Tyre would never again have any buildings or inhabitants at all."362
