Ezekiel 26 begins the extended oracle against Tyre (chs. 26-28), the most elaborate judgment oracle against any foreign nation in the book. Tyre, the great Phoenician trading city on the Mediterranean coast, rejoiced at Jerusalem's fall because it meant one less competitor for the trade routes of the ancient Near East. God responds with a prophecy of total destruction: many nations will come against Tyre like waves crashing against the shore. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is named as the first instrument of judgment — his armies will besiege Tyre by land. But the oracle extends beyond Nebuchadnezzar to envision Tyre's complete erasure: the proud city will become bare rock, a place for spreading fishing nets, never to be rebuilt.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The wave metaphor in verse 3 is one of the most striking images in prophetic literature: God will bring nations against Tyre 'like the sea raises its waves.' Since Tyre was an island city (its mainland component was called Ushu), the image of waves crashing against it is both metaphorical and geographically apt. The prophecy proved partially accurate — Nebuchadnezzar besieged mainland Tyre for thirteen years (585-572 BCE) but never fully captured the island city. Alexander the Great finally destroyed island Tyre in 332 BCE by building a causeway from the mainland. The detailed description of siege warfare in verses 8-11 (siege walls, ramps, battering rams, cavalry) reflects the actual Babylonian military technology of Ezekiel's era. The descent-to-sheol language in verses 19-21 connects this oracle to the underworld passages in chapters 31-32, where fallen empires join one another in the realm of the dead.
Translation Friction
The dating in verse 1 is incomplete — the Hebrew gives 'the eleventh year, on the first of the month' but does not specify which month. Scholars debate whether this is a scribal omission or a deliberate dating to the first day of some particular month. We retained the text as it stands and noted the ambiguity. The shift from Nebuchadnezzar (singular, vv. 7-11) to a general 'they' (plural, vv. 12-14) created a translation challenge — the antecedent shifts from one king to the collective nations of verse 3. We made this transition clear without adding words to the Hebrew. The word selah in verse 4 ('bare rock') is the same word used for Sela, the Edomite fortress — its use here for what Tyre will become creates an ironic inversion: the great city reduced to bare stone.
Connections
The Tyre oracle connects to Isaiah 23 (Isaiah's oracle against Tyre), Amos 1:9-10, and Zechariah 9:3-4. The thirteen-year siege by Nebuchadnezzar is referenced again in Ezekiel 29:17-20, where God compensates Nebuchadnezzar with Egypt because Tyre yielded him no plunder. The descent-to-the-pit language in verses 19-21 anticipates the Egyptian descent oracles in 31:14-18 and 32:17-32. The commercial wealth of Tyre catalogued here prepares for the elaborate trade-list of chapter 27 and the king-of-Tyre oracle in chapter 28.
In the eleventh year, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
KJV 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,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The dating formula is unusual — it specifies the year (the eleventh year of Jehoiachin's exile, approximately 587/586 BCE) and the day (the first) but omits the month. This is the only date formula in Ezekiel missing the month. Some scholars emend the text to supply a month (often the fifth or twelfth), but we follow the MT as it stands. The eleventh year places this oracle near the time of Jerusalem's fall, consistent with Tyre's reported gloating.
Son of man, because Tyre said about Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gateway of the peoples is broken — it has swung open to me! I will be filled now that she is laid waste' —
KJV Son 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:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Tyre's sin is commercial opportunism: Jerusalem served as the daltot ha-ammim ('gateway/doors of the peoples'), controlling overland trade routes between Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean coast. With Jerusalem destroyed, Tyre expected to absorb that trade. The exclamation he'ach ('Aha!') — the same word used of Ammon in 25:3 — expresses malicious satisfaction. The verb immale'ah ('I will be filled/enriched') reveals Tyre's purely mercantile calculus: Jerusalem's ruin equals Tyre's profit. The word choravah ('ruin, desolation') applied to Jerusalem becomes ironic — Tyre herself will be reduced to the same state.
Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: I am against you, Tyre. I will bring many nations up against you, as the sea raises its waves.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The wave metaphor (ke-ha'alot ha-yam le-gallav, 'as the sea raises its waves') is brilliantly chosen for an island city. Nations will crash against Tyre in successive waves — not one single assault but relentless, repeated attacks over time. The phrase hineni alayikh ('I am against you') is the most direct form of divine hostility in prophetic literature — God himself takes the position of adversary. The plural 'many nations' (goyim rabbim) extends the prophecy beyond any single attacker.
They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will scrape her soil from her and make her bare rock.
KJV And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: yea, I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The shift from 'they' (the nations) to 'I' (God) in mid-verse is significant — the nations are the instruments, but God is the agent. The verb sicheti ('I will scrape') describes a thorough, violent removal of all soil and debris down to the bedrock. The result — tsechichach sela ('bare/smooth rock') — is the same phrase used in 24:7-8 for the exposed rock where Jerusalem's blood was placed. The great city will be reduced to bare stone, stripped of everything that made it inhabitable.
She will become a place for spreading fishing nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. She will become plunder for the nations.
KJV It 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The image of Tyre as a place for drying fishing nets (mishtach charamim) is one of the most vivid images of desolation in prophetic literature. The great commercial metropolis — the wealthiest trading city in the ancient world — reduced to a flat rock where fishermen spread their nets to dry. The phrase 'in the midst of the sea' (betokh ha-yam) emphasizes Tyre's island location, which made it seem impregnable but will ultimately define its emptiness. The divine speech formula 'for I have spoken' (ki ani dibbarti) underscores the irrevocability of the decree.
Her daughter-towns on the mainland will be killed by the sword, and they will know that I am the LORD.
KJV And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'daughters' (benoteha) of Tyre are not literal daughters but dependent towns and settlements on the mainland (ba-sadeh, 'in the field/open country') — the agricultural and suburban communities that supported the island city. These mainland dependencies would fall first to any invading army. The recognition formula closes this introductory section before the detailed description of Nebuchadnezzar's siege begins.
For this is what the Lord GOD says: I am bringing against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the north — a king of kings — with horses, chariots, cavalry, and a vast assembly of troops.
KJV For 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Nebuchadnezzar is named explicitly — the only foreign king named in Ezekiel's oracles against the nations. The title melekh melakhim ('king of kings') is a Mesopotamian royal title reflecting the imperial structure where vassal kings served under the great king. The phrase 'from the north' (mi-tsaphon) follows the convention that invasion comes from the north, since armies from Mesopotamia approached the Levant via the northern route through Syria (the direct eastern approach across the Arabian desert was impractical). The military catalogue — horses, chariots, cavalry, assembly, and many people — enumerates the full Babylonian military apparatus.
He will kill your daughter-towns on the mainland with the sword. He will build siege works against you, raise a siege ramp against you, and set up a wall of shields against you.
KJV He 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Three elements of siege warfare are described with technical precision: dayeq ('siege works, siege tower'), solelah ('siege ramp, earthen mound'), and tsinnah ('large shield, shield-wall'). The tsinnah here likely refers to a testudo-like formation — a wall of shields used to protect soldiers advancing under fire toward the city walls. Each term reflects actual Neo-Babylonian military technology. The repetition of 'against you' (alayikh) three times emphasizes the relentless pressure of the siege.
He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes.
KJV And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase mechi qovlo is literally 'the blow of his battering device' — the qovel is a battering ram or siege engine. The charavot ('swords' or possibly 'axes, picks') used to tear down towers may refer to the demolition tools used after walls were breached. The verse moves from breaching the walls (battering rams) to demolishing the towers (axes), describing the sequential destruction of Tyre's defenses.
The dust from his many horses will cover you. Your walls will shake at the sound of cavalry, wagon wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates as one enters a city whose walls have been breached.
KJV By 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sensory imagery is vivid: dust so thick it covers the city (visual), the thunderous noise of cavalry and chariot wheels shaking the walls (auditory). The word galgal ('wheel') may refer to siege wagon wheels or chariot wheels. The comparison 'as one enters a breached city' (ke-mevo'ei ir mevuqqa'ah) describes the unstoppable momentum of an army pouring through broken defenses — there is no longer any resistance.
With the hooves of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will topple to the ground.
KJV With 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The matsevot uzzekh ('pillars/monuments of your strength') are debated: they may be memorial pillars, sacred pillars (massebot), or structural columns of public buildings. Given Tyre's famous architecture — particularly the temple of Melqart — these are likely monumental columns that symbolized Tyre's power and grandeur. Their fall to the ground represents the collapse of everything Tyre built and stood for.
They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and demolish your fine houses. Your stones, your timber, and your rubble they will throw into the sea.
KJV And 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The subject shifts from 'he' (Nebuchadnezzar, vv. 7-11) to 'they' (the many nations of v. 3). The commercial vocabulary — chayil ('wealth'), rekhulah ('merchandise, trade goods') — targets what Tyre valued most. The phrase 'stones, timber, and rubble into the sea' (betokh mayim, 'into the midst of the water') proved remarkably prescient: Alexander the Great literally threw the rubble of mainland Tyre into the sea to build a causeway to the island in 332 BCE. The batei chemdatekh ('houses of your desire/delight') are Tyre's luxury residences — the homes of the wealthy merchants.
I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will be heard no more.
KJV And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The silence of music represents the end of civilization — songs and lyres (kinnorot) were markers of prosperity, celebration, and cultural life. The same motif appears in the Babylon oracle of Revelation 18:22 ('the sound of harpists and musicians will never be heard in you again'), which draws heavily on Ezekiel 26-27. The verb hishbatti ('I will cause to cease') is emphatic — God personally silences the music.
I will make you bare rock. You will be a place for spreading fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse repeats the key images from verses 4-5: bare rock (tsechichach sela) and fishing nets (mishtach charamim). The declaration 'you will never be rebuilt' (lo tibaneh od) is the most absolute form of judgment — not temporary exile or partial destruction but permanent, irreversible erasure. The double divine speech formula ('I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD') reinforces the finality. Ancient Tyre was never rebuilt in its original form — the modern city of Sur (Lebanon) occupies a different location from the original island fortress.
This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: Will the coastlands not tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter rages in your midst?
KJV Thus 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?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The iyyim ('islands, coastlands') are the Mediterranean trading partners who depended on Tyre's commerce. Their trembling is both economic (their trade networks are collapsing) and existential (if mighty Tyre can fall, no one is safe). The word mappaltekh ('your fall, your downfall') is from the root n-p-l ('to fall') and describes a catastrophic collapse. The groaning of the wounded (be-enoq chalal) and the raging slaughter (be-hareg hereg) create an auditory landscape of destruction.
Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling, sit on the ground, and tremble without ceasing, appalled at you.
KJV Then 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'princes of the sea' (nesi'ei ha-yam) are the rulers of the Mediterranean maritime states — Tyre's trading partners and fellow coastal powers. Their mourning rituals mirror ancient Near Eastern lament practices: descending from thrones (loss of authority), removing royal garments (stripping of status), sitting on the ground (posture of grief). The phrase charadot yilbashu ('they will clothe themselves with trembling') is a vivid metaphor — trembling becomes their garment, replacing their embroidered finery. The word riqmah ('embroidery, multicolored fabric') describes the luxury textiles for which Phoenician craftsmanship was famous.
They will raise a lament over you and say to you: 'How you have perished, you who were peopled from the seas — the renowned city that was mighty on the sea, she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror to all who lived near them!'
KJV And 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!
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The qinah ('lament, dirge') is a formal genre of funeral poetry — the same word used for David's lament over Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:17). The opening eikh ('how!') is the characteristic opening of the lament genre (cf. Lamentations 1:1, 'How lonely sits the city'). The phrase noshebet mi-yammim ('peopled/inhabited from the seas') describes Tyre's identity as a sea-based civilization — her population came from and lived by the sea. The word hallalah ('renowned, praised') may also echo challal ('pierced, slain'), creating a grim wordplay: the praised city is now the slain city.
Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; the islands in the sea are terrified at your end.
KJV Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The iyyim ('coastlands, islands') appear twice in this verse, emphasizing the far-reaching impact of Tyre's fall. The word mi-tse'tekh ('at your departure, at your going out') is ambiguous — it could mean 'at your departure' (from existence), 'at your end,' or 'at what comes from you' (the shockwaves of your destruction). We rendered it as 'at your end' to capture the finality. The repetition of trembling and terror throughout this section creates a portrait of a Mediterranean world in shock.
For this is what the Lord GOD says: When I make you a desolated city, like cities where no one lives, when I bring the deep up over you and the great waters cover you —
KJV For 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;
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
תְּהוֹםtehom
"the deep"—deep, abyss, primordial waters, ocean depths, chaos-water
The same word used in Genesis 1:2 for the formless deep before creation. When God brings the tehom over Tyre, it is an act of uncreation — returning the city to the primordial chaos.
Translator Notes
The word tehom ('the deep, the abyss') is the primordial chaos-water of Genesis 1:2 — the same word used for the formless deep before creation. Bringing the tehom over Tyre is an act of de-creation: God is reversing creation for this city, returning it to the primordial chaos from which order was drawn. The mayim rabbim ('great waters, many waters') reinforces this cosmic dimension. For an island city, the threat of being swallowed by the deep is both metaphorical (cosmic judgment) and viscerally real.
then I will bring you down with those who descend to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, in the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will never again be inhabited. But I will set beauty in the land of the living.
KJV When 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;
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
בּוֹרbor
"pit"—pit, cistern, grave, underworld, sheol
A synonym for sheol — the realm of the dead. The pit is the final destination of destroyed nations in Ezekiel's theology, particularly in the underworld passages of chapters 26, 31, and 32.
Translator Notes
The descent-to-sheol language here anticipates the elaborate underworld passages in chapters 31-32. The phrase am olam ('people of long ago, people of eternity') refers to the dead of all ages who already inhabit the underworld. The word tachtiyyot ('lowest places, depths') describes the deepest level of the underworld. The contrast between Tyre's descent into the pit and God setting tsevi ('beauty, glory, splendor') in the 'land of the living' (erets chayyim) is theologically significant — death for the proud city, life and beauty for God's people.
I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought but never found again — ever, declares the Lord GOD.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The final verse delivers the most absolute verdict possible. The word ballahot ('terrors, horrors') means Tyre will become a cautionary tale — an object of horror for other nations. The phrase ve-einekh ('and you are not, and you will be no more') is the language of total annihilation — not defeat or decline but nonexistence. The searching (tevuqeshi) without finding (lo timmatse'i) describes permanent disappearance: people will look for Tyre and find nothing. The temporal marker le-olam ('forever, for all time') and the divine speech formula ne'um Adonai YHWH seal the oracle with absolute finality.