Ezekiel 26:5

Eze 26:5 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.

Ver. 5. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets.] Of fishers’ nets, hung up in the sun to be dried. The prophets usually fetch their comparisons from things the people were most acquainted with and accustomed to as here. Let ministers now do the like.

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.

in the midst of the sea--plainly referring to New Tyre (Eze 27:32).

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

Verse 5. A place for the spreading of nets] A place for the habitation of some poor fishermen, who spent the fishing season there, and were accustomed to dry their nets upon the rocks. See on Eze 26:11.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) The spreading of nets.—Such has been the chief use of insular Tyre for ages, and although a miserable village of 3,000 people has sprung up, chiefly within the present century, upon a part of its site, other parts have still no more important use. The Tyre upon the mainland has so utterly disappeared that even its site cannot be exactly identified.

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

5. The threat is repeated Eze_26:14.

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.

It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea,.... Where only fishermen would be seen washing their nets, and then spreading them upon this rock, where Tyre stood, to dry them and this has been confirmed by travellers, who have seen fishermen spreading and drying their nets, and having no other habitations on it but the huts of these men. Huetius (c) relates, that he remembered one Hadrian Parvillarius, a Jesuit, a candid and learned man, particularly in the Arabic language, who lived ten years in Syria; and to have heard him say, that when he saw the ruins of Tyre, its rocks to the sea, and scattered stones on the shore, and made clean smooth by the sun, waves, and wind, and only used for drying fishermen's nets, it brought to his mind this passage of the prophet; as it did to Mr. Maundrell (d) when on the spot, a few years ago; who says,

"you see nothing here but a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c. there being not so much as one entire house left; its present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches, harbouring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly upon fishing; who seem to be preserved in this place by divine Providence, as a visible argument how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, viz. "that it should be as the top of a rock", &c.'':

so Dr. Shaw (e) says, this port, small as it at present, is choked up to that degree with sand and rubbish, that the boats of these poor fishermen, who now and then visit this once renowned emporium and "dry their nets upon its rocks and ruins", can with great difficulty only be admitted:

for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and therefore it should certainly come to pass, as it has:

and it shall become a spoil to the nations; the army of many nations, that besieged it for thirteen years under Nebuchadnezzar.

(c) Evangel. Demonstrat. prop. 6. p. 328. (d) Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 48, 49. Ed. 7. (e) Travels, p. 273. Ed. 2.

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

Sea. St. Jerome explains this of New Tyre; Marsham of the Old. To reconcile the different texts, we only need to suppose that both cities were connected by a road thrown up in the sea by Hiram, and repaired by Nabuchodonosor with great labour, (chap. xxix. 18.) after it had been destroyed by the inhabitants of New Tyre, when they saw the old city on the continent fall a prey. (St. Jerome) (Calmet)

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).

As barren sandy islets in the midst of the sea, good for nothing but to dry fishermen’s nets, shalt thou be. A spoil; a prey: though the contexture of the words place this after its being made so bare and poor, yet we are to observe, that these last words give us account how this poverty and barrenness shall come upon thy rich city; the nations shall spoil her with thirteen years’ long siege, interruption of trade, living on the quick stock, and finally taken on surrender. To the nations; Babylonians, and their confederates, who made the Tyrians pay the reckoning.

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

5. A place for the spreading of nets (also Eze_26:14) — The prophecy is that the merchant city of the world, the London of ancient times, shall lose its position and population and sink to the insignificance of a fishing village. When spoken, these words seemed as absurd as Macaulay’s suggestion concerning the forgotten ruins of London bridge; but they have been literally fulfilled.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It shall be a place for the spreading of nets, etc. The prediction is repeated in Ver. 14, and after many chances and changes, apparent revival followed by another period of decay, the present condition of Tyre strikingly corresponds with it. The travelers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries report that "its inhabitants are only a few poor wretches that harbor in vaults and subsist upon fishing" (Mandrell, in 1697); that the number of those inhabitants was "only ten, Turks and Christians" (Hasselquist, in 1751); that there were, a little later on, "fifty or sixty poor faro nee (Volney, in 1766). During the present century there has been a partial revival, and Porter, in 1858, estimates its population at from three to four thousand. The present state of its harbor, as compared with that of Beyrout, is against any future expansion of its commerce ("Dict. Bible," s.v. "Tyre").

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

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to give Ezekiel his message to Tyre.

She will become

The city of Tyre is spoken of here as if it were a woman. AT: "Tyre will become" or "It will become" (See: Personification)

a place for nets to dry out in the midst of the sea

Part of Tyre was an island. This expression is a metonym for the results of Tyre's destruction. AT: "an empty island used for drying fishing nets" or "a deserted island where people dry out their fishing nets" (See: Metonymy)

this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:11. AT: "this is what the Lord Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

she will become plunder for the nations

"Plunder" means things that people steal or take by force. Here Tyre becoming plunder represents its wealth being carried off by other nations. AT: "the armies of the nations will take away every valuable thing from Tyre" (See: Metonymy)

Her daughters who are in the fields will be slaughtered by the swords

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The enemy armies will slaughter with swords her daughters who are in the fields" (See: Active or Passive)

Her daughters who are in the fields

Possible meanings are 1) "Her daughters" were the young women of Tyre who were working in the fields or 2) "Her daughters" is a metonym for nearby towns and villages on the mainland that supported the main city of Tyre. AT: "Her daughter communities who are on the mainland" (See: Metonymy)

know that I am Yahweh

When Yahweh says that people will know that he is Yahweh, he is implying that they will know that he is the one true God who has supreme authority and power. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 6:7. AT: "understand that I am Yahweh, the one true God" or "realize that I, Yahweh, have supreme power and authority" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

declare

sword

know

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

a place to spread out nets On the rock the fishermen will spread out their fishing nets, to dry them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.