Ezekiel 26:8

Eze 26:8 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.

Ver. 8. He shall slay with the sword.] See on Eze 26:6.

He shall lift up the buckler.] Or, A continued series of bucklers,

“ - ut omnes

Ferre queant subter densa testudine casus. ”

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.

Verse 8. Thy daughters in the field] This seems to be spoken of Palaetyre, or Tyre on the main land; for forts, mounts, engines of war, horses, and chariots could not be brought to act against the other.

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

(8) A fort . . . a mount.—These and the following particulars of the siege indicate the use of the ordinary methods as in the attack of a city on the mainland. The explanation of this is doubtless partly in the fact that Palæotyrus, Old Tyre, upon the mainland, was approached in the ordinary way, and partly that Nebuchadnezzar must have contrived a bridge of boats, or some other method of approaching the island across the shoal and narrow channel (1,200 yards), which at that time separated it from the mainland. That if he built a mole it was afterwards removed, is plain from the fact that when Alexander built one, 250 years later, sand accumulated upon it, until the island has now become a peninsula, connected with the shore by a beach of considerable width.

The buckler is that sort of roof made with shields used in ancient warfare by besiegers to defend themselves from the missiles of the besieged. Herodotus (ix. 61, 99, 102) mentions its use among the Persians.

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

8. The cities and villages, dependencies of Tyre in the mainland, naturally are the first to suffer. Then the siege of the insular city itself is taken in hand. The order is precise: first the “fort” or moveable tower from which the archers shot so as to counteract the defensive efforts of the besieged (cf. Eze_4:2); then the “mount” or embankment, which in this case was a dam thrown across the narrow strait, in order to gain access to the walls; then the “buckler” or shield, i.e. probably the testudo or roof of shields under cover of which the besiegers operated, and finally (Eze_26:9) the battering engines.

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.

He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field,.... The first thing he would do would be to destroy the cities, towns and villages on the continent, near to Tyre, and dependent on it, as in Eze 26:6, and so the Targum is here, as there:

and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee; a fort built of wood, and a mount made of earth, from which stones might be cast out of their engines, and arrows shot from their bows into the city, to the damaging of the houses, and the hurt of the inhabitants:

and lift up the buckler against thee; or "shield"; that is, as the Targum paraphrases it,

"set against thee such who are armed with shields;''

to repel the arrows shot out from the city, and so defeat the design of them.

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

Daughters. Many towns were subject to Tyre: almost all Phœnicia acknowledged her dominion, as well as (Calmet) the seas to which her fleets went, ver. 15. (Selden, Mare i. 6.; Curtius iv.) --- These smaller cities shall fall, and the town shall be of no service except to dry nets. (Worthington)

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).

See Eze 26:6.

Make a fort against thee: see Eze 4:2; 17:17.

Cast a mount against thee: he shall draw a line round about thee, and build bastions, raise sconces to defend the lines, to keep in the besieged, and secure the besiegers; or he shall pour out the shot, mighty stones or the like, out of the engines framed and placed on the forts before mentioned; for so did they of old build mighty wooden towers, and there placed engines, out of which they could fling mighty stones or darts against the besieged, who were much annoyed from these high towers, overlooking their walls and streets that none could stir out.

Lift up the buckler: see Eze 23:24.

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

8-14. The description is startingly vivid, the outlying villages (“daughters”)

suffer first, then the well-known “fort” and “mount” are erected, and under cover of “the buckler” (a barricade of wickerwork covered with skins) the “engines of war” (R.V., “battering engines”) come into position and the axes (literally, swords) begin their deadly work. A breach is made in the wall, and then comes the charge of the cavalry and chariot force, the dust fills the air, and the fleeing people fall under the hoofs of the horses and the stroke of the swords. Even the temple of Baal is invaded and his sacred pillars (unfortunately translated “garrisons”) are cast to the ground. (Compare 2Ki_10:26.) The city is sacked, and the riches of her temples, her pleasant palaces, and bazaars become the spoil of her conqueror. The city is destroyed, never to be built again, and the music for which she was famous (Isa_23:16) sinks into a groan. Now it is certain that a complete destruction of the city such as Eze_26:12-14 contemplate was not wrought by Nebuchadnezzar, for after this campaign Tyre was able to sustain a very protracted siege under Alexander the Great (see also Eze_29:17-21); but it seems most probable that the prophet’s description of the Nebuchadnezzar campaign melts into the more awful destruction, which he has formerly said would be wrought by “many nations,” which should dash up against the proud city “as I bring up the sea, wave after wave” (Eze_26:3). This fusion of various events is not unusual in prophecy. (Compare particularly Matthew 24; Mark 13.)

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

Vers. 8-10 (For the usual operations of a siege, see notes on Eze_4:1, Eze_4:2) The buckler was the roof of shields under which the besiegers protected themselves from the missiles of the besieged. For engines of war, read battering-rams; for wheels, wagons. The final result will be that the breach will be made, with results such as those described in Ver. 1.

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

and will station against you shields [Heb. צִנָה,] and will station against you those armed with shields.

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.