ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Ezekiel 26

Ezek. 26:1–28:19 In terms of length, Ezekiel’s oracles against Tyre are second only to his oracles against Egypt (29:1–32:32). This is probably because, of the nations addressed by Ezekiel, only Tyre and Egypt had the power to withstand Babylon: Egypt’s power was military, Tyre’s was economic.

Ezek. 26:1–21 The destruction of Tyre by the Babylonians is described in four oracles grouped into two pairs: Verses 1–6 and 7–14 look toward Tyre’s destruction; vv. 15–18 and 19–21 look back after the destruction, describing reactions to Tyre’s defeat. The prophecy combines predictions that would be fulfilled in the attack by Nebuchadnezzar, who besieged Tyre for 13 years, from 585–572 b.c. (vv. 7–11). It also describes the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 (the complete destruction predicted in vv. 3–6 and vv. 12–14). Some parts of ch. 26 were not even fulfilled until after the time of Alexander (see note on v. 14). Old Testament prophecies often combine elements fulfilled in the near future with some that are not fulfilled till a more distant time.

Ezek. 26:3 The agents of destruction here are many nations. They are described as the crashing of the sea and its waves. The description that follows continues this figurative language. This threat was fulfilled partially by Nebuchadnezzar’s siege, and then more fully by Alexander the Great’s conquest in 332 b.c. Both Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander led military forces from “many nations,” whom they had conquered. Nebuchadnezzar’s title “king of kings” (v. 7) is confirmed in historical records from Assyria. When he attacked Tyre, Alexander the Great had the help of 80 ships from Persia and 120 from Cyprus, plus soldiers from other nations.

Ezek. 26:4–5 Tyre’s location in the midst of the sea, often seen in extrabiblical sources as a sign of its security, is now described in mocking language (see also v. 17). Tyre was indeed destroyed and made like a bare rock by Alexander’s conquest.

Ezek. 26:6 Her daughters on the mainland are the villages on the mainland near the island city of Tyre. They were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and again by Alexander.

Ezek. 26:12 That Tyre’s wealth should be subject to plunder is poetic justice, given the city’s greed (v. 2). However, by the time Nebuchadnezzar conquered Tyre, much of value had already been removed. Apparently little wealth remained after 13 years of siege (see 29:18). Later, Alexander the Great conquered Tyre by building a 2,600-foot (800-m) land bridge from the mainland out to the island fortress, thus fulfilling the prophecy of this verse, your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. These materials came from the destruction of the city’s settlements on the mainland (26:6, 8.)

Ezek. 26:14 You shall never be rebuilt. Tyre was rebuilt and reconquered several times after Alexander the Great, so the complete fulfillment of this prophecy did not come immediately. The modern city of Tyre is of modest size and is near the ancient site, though not identical to it. Archaeological photographs of the ancient site show ruins scattered over many acres. No city has been rebuilt over these ruins, thus fulfilling this prophecy.

Ezek. 26:19–21 These verses are a preview of the close of the entire foreign-nation oracle collection, which mourns the arrival of the nations in the underworld place of the dead (32:17–32). The repeated phrase those who go down to the pit (twice, 26:20; compare 32:18) refers to those whom death has separated from communion with God.