Ezekiel 26:9

Eze 26:9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.

Ver. 9. He shall set engines of war.] Helepoles inieciet. A graphic description of a siege.

And with his axes.] Or, Battering rams, or slings. Heb., With his swords; Gr., With his lances, ferramentis mueronatis helepoleos. Vide Am. Marcell, lib. xxiii.

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.

engines of war--literally, "an apparatus for striking." "He shall apply the stroke of the battering-ram against thy walls." HAVERNICK translates, "His enginery of destruction"; literally, the "destruction (not merely the stroke) of his enginery."

axes--literally, "swords."

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

(9) Engines of war.—This is now generally understood to mean battering-rams, although the word is a different one from that used in Eze_4:2; Eze_21:22. There are two words here which may form one compound word.

Axes in the original is swords. It may either be used, the specific for the general, swords for all instruments of war; or it may be a poetic hyperbole, to express the power of the swords of Nebuchadnezzar’s army—they shall even break down the towers.

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

9. engines of war] or, engines of assault, i.e. battering engines. “Axes” is lit. swords, i.e. irons.

10 seq. The assault and capture and sack of the city. The description is graphic in the extreme. When the conqueror enters the dust following the march of his cavalry shall cover the city; the walls shall shake at the rushing of his chariots in the streets; and the city shall be given up to slaughter and plunder.

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.

And he shall set engines of war against thy walls,.... Which some Jewish writers understand of crossbows, out of which stones or arrows were cast; but rather, according to Kimchi and Jarchi, they were warlike machines, invented to throw large stones against the walls of a place, to beat them down. Some think they were the same with the battering rams, used in sieges for the demolishing of walls; which was a late invention of those times, Ezekiel being the first writer, it is said, that makes mention of them:

and with his axes he shall break down thy towers; the word here used signifies anything made of iron, as swords, spears, hammers, and axes; the latter, being more proper to demolish towers, is here pitched on by our translators. The Targum renders it, "with stones of iron"; that is, with iron balls cast out of their engines.

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

Engines. Literally, "vine." (Haydock) --- A covert was thus made for the soldiers, (Veget. iv. 15.) when they approached the walls. (Menochius)

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).

Engines of war: these were mighty engines, whatever form made of, and had their description here from the irresistible force wherewith they cast stones, and beat down all before them.

Axes; whatever made of iron, and framed to demolish buildings: see Eze 16:39.

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

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to Tyre.

General Information:

The words "he" and "his" in these verses refer to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and represent the soldiers in Nebuchadnezzar's army doing these actions. The word "your" refers to the city of Tyre. (See: Metonymy)

He will place his battering rams to hit against your walls, and his tools will tear down your towers

Although the battering rams and tools are spoken of as acting against the walls and towers of Tyre, they would have been used by the soldiers in Nebuchadnezzar's army against the walls and towers. (See: Metonymy)

battering rams

"Battering rams" are large trees or poles that many men in an army would pick up and hit against a wall or door so they could break it down and get inside. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 4:2.

tools

Weapons or instruments made of iron used to tear down the towers

When he enters your gates, he will enter as men come into a city whose walls have been broken down

Here Yahweh uses a simile to describe how Nebuchadnezzar's army will enter into the city of Tyre. (See: Simile)

whose walls have been broken down

This can be stated in active form. AT: "after breaking down its walls" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

horse

chariot

gate

hoof

sword

column

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

And...his catapult [Heb. וּמְחִי קָבָלוֹ.] This is one of the devices of the siege, to throw huge rocks and to strike opposite it, e la hone de sa pereyre in Old French, and the striking of his stone-throwing machine. Others render קָבָלוֹ as desarbalete in Old French, of his war-machines.

with his instruments of destruction [Heb. בְּחַרְבּוֹתָיו,] with tools of destruction that he will bring with him.

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.