Ezekiel 26:11

Eze 26:11 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.

Ver. 11. And thy strong garrisons.] Or, Statues, or idols. Their chief idols were Apollo, Hercules, and Astarte. {a} See on Eze 26:3.

{a} Curt., lib. iv.; Plut. Probl.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For Tyre was much built by art and by labor of men was won out of the Sea. Some refer this unto the images of the noble men which they had erected up for their glory and renown.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

thy strong garrisons--literally, "the statutes of thy strength"; so the forts which are "monuments of thy strength." MAURER understands, in stricter agreement with the literal meaning, "the statues" or "obelisks erected in honor of the idols, the tutelary gods of Tyre," as Melecarte, answering to the Grecian Hercules, whose temple stood in Old Tyre (compare Jer 43:13, Margin).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) Thy strong garrisons.—This is the only instance in the Bible in which this common word is so translated, although a word closely akin to it is rendered garrison throughout the Books of Samuel. Both words mean a pillar set up as a monument or memorial. Translate, therefore, the pillars of thy strength. It is probable that the pillars intended are those mentioned by Herodotus (Bk. 2:44) as standing in the Temple of Hercules at Tyre, one of gold and the other of emerald.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. thy strong garrisons] thy strong (or, proud) pillars. The word is almost always used of a pillar having religious meaning, particularly the obelisk dedicated to Baal (2Ki_10:26). The rendering “pillars of thy strength,” those in which Tyre confided and thought her strength to lie (Ges.), is rather out of the way here; more naturally, her proud or majestic pillars, cf. Eze_24:21; Eze_24:25.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets,.... Such a number of horses running to and fro in the streets, and prancing upon the pavements, shall break them up, and destroy them, so that they shall be mere mire and dirt:

he shall slay thy people by the sword; such as would not lay down their arms and submit; or their principal ones, who encouraged the inhabitants to hold out the siege to such a length of time as they did; which might provoke Nebuchadnezzar to use them with more severity:

and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground: where their soldiers were placed for defence; their citadel and other towers: or, "the statues of thy strengths" (k); their strong statues made of marble, &c. erected as trophies of victories obtained by them; or to the honour of some worthy magistrates, and principal citizens; or of their confederates and allies; or rather of their deities, such as Hercules and Apollo, their tutelar gods; which, though chained as they were, that they might not depart, shall now fall to the ground, unable to protect themselves or their worshippers: all that is here said, concerning the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, seems to be understood of old Tyre, which was upon the continent; for this account agrees not with the isle.

(k) "statuae fortitudinis tuae", Pagninus, Montanus; "columnas tuas robustas", Cocceius; "columnas ruboris tui", Starckius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Statues. The citizens chained the golden statue of Apollo to the altar of Hercules, for fear of its leaving them, when Alexander [the Great] attacked the town. (Curtius iv.) --- Hiram placed a pillar of gold in the temple of Hercules. (Josephus, contra Apion i.) --- Herodotus (ii. 44.) saw another also of emerald stone, (Greek: smaragdon) which illuminated the temple in the night. On such the Tyrian might depend; though some render, "the substance or guard of thy strength," denoting the soldiers (Calmet) and towers. (Haydock) --- The gods were treated like the people, and their precious ornaments plundered.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In proud, stately, and menacing posture shall the king of Babylon ride through all the streets of thy city, to the grief and sorrow of the Tyrians; and so shall his troops do too.

He shall slay thy people; in the wars some of thy people shall fall by his sword; but that is no wonder; I rather think that it is meant of giving judgment against some of the most valiant, constant, and active citizens, which were the cause of the city’s holding out so long against Nebuchadnezzar, as he did with some of the nobles of Jerusalem.

Strong garrisons; bastions, or forts about the city, or triumphal arches built by Tyrians, or statues erected in honour to some eminent citizens, or to the kings of Egypt, their ancient allies, enemies to the Chaldeans; or the statues of their gods Hercules and Apollo chained, that neither in nature and angry, nor yet charmed with other men’s songs, should depart, and leave their pupils without a guard.

Shall go down to the ground; shall be all cast down together.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Thy strong garrisons; literally, the pillars of thy strength (Revised Version). So the Vulgate, nobiles statuae. So the word is used in Isa_19:19; Jer_43:13; 2Ki_3:2. The words probably refer to the two famous columns standing in the temple of the Tyrian Hercules, one of gold and one of emerald (possibly malachite or lapis-lazuli) as symbols of strength, or as pedestals surmounted by a statue of Baal (Herod., 2:44).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Garrisons - Bastions, or forts, or triumphal arches.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.