Ezekiel 27:25

Eze 27:25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

Ver. 25. Thou wast replenished and made very glorious.] Or, Very heavy: {a} as a ship, though not top full, may yet have freight enough to sink it; so had this metaphorical ship Tyre enough to sink it, though not enough to satisfy it.

{a} Aggravata es.

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.

Eze 27:25. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee, &c. — Ships of Tarshish signify sometimes in Scripture any trading or merchant ships; and in this general sense the expression seems to be used here: the prophet, having already reckoned up the principal countries which traded with Tyre, now adds, in comprehensive terms, that all merchants, or traders, sung or spake great things of her riches: see note on Isa 2:16. In the midst of the seas — Through all the islands of the sea, the sea-coasts, and from one part to another.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, came in company toward thee.

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

sing of thee--personification; flay great merchant ships were palpable proofs of thy greatness. Others translate from a different Hebrew root, "were thy (mercantile) travellers." FAIRBAIRN translates, "Were thy walls." But the parallelism to "thou wast glorious" favors English Version, "sing of thee."

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 25. The ships of Tarshish] The ships of Tharsis, in Cilicia, were the chief of those which traded with thee.

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

(25) Ships of Tarshish means simply, ships of the largest size, such as were fitted for the voyage to Tarshish: as we now say, “East Indiaman.” (Comp. 1Ki_22:48; Psa_48:7.) “Did sing of thee in thy market” is, literally, thy—, thy trade, the blank being an uncertain word, supposed by our translators to mean singers. Opinion is now divided as to whether the meaning is bulwarks or caravans; either gives a good sense. “Thy great ships were at once thy defence and the means of thy commerce,” or “were thy caravans of the sea, &c.” The former is preferable.

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

25. The “ships of Tarshish” here are deep-sea ships, great ships trading to the most distant coasts, Isa_2:16; Psa_48:7.

did sing of thee] For this Ges. suggested “were thy caravans” from a verb signifying to travel (Isa_57:9). The camel has been called the ship of the desert, but conversely to call an east indiaman a caravan is too brilliant for the prophet. Probably by a slight change of reading: the ships of Tarshish did serve thee with (in) thy wares (Eze_27:13; Eze_27:17 &c.), cf. Isa_60:9-10, and above Eze_27:9. So Aquila (Field).

made very glorious] Rather: and wast heavily laden. The figure of a mistress served by all nations, who bring wares and riches to her from all lands, passes here again into the idea of the vessel deeply laden with cargo, and therefore more easily shipwrecked and broken in dangerous waters.

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.

Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters,.... Here the city of Tyre is compared to a vessel at sea, with great propriety, it being built in the sea, and its trade chiefly there; and its rulers and governors, or the inhabitants of it, to rowers; literally the men of Zidon and Arvad were her rowers, Eze 27:8, the straits, difficulties, and distresses these brought Tyre into, are compared to great waters; who, by some unadvised step or another, provoked the king of Babylon to come against them with his army, and lay siege unto them:

the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas; a wind very fatal to ships and mariners; see Psa 48:7, by it are meant Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army; so called, because of their great force and fury; and because Babylon, from whence they came, lay somewhat to the east of Tyre. So the Targum,

"a king who is strong as the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.''

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

Did sing of thee - Or, were thy bulwarks, i. e., bulwarks of thy traffic. Others render it: “were thy caravans,” thy merchandise.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sea. Hebrew Tharsis, in Cilicia; or large, and fit for long voyages. Thine were the best. (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).

Ships of Tarshish; the ships from all parts of the sea, which came to thee, and traded with thee, praised thee, boasted of thee.

Did sing of thee; had their songs of praise, which were made to commend thy state.

In thy market; as mariners, in the ports where they arrive, usually do with mirth and songs entertain one another, so at Tyre.

Thou wast replenished; all trading came to thee, none like thee in thy warehouses or public stores.

Made very glorious; and, to do thee right, thou wert very glorious, magnificent, and beautiful, none like thee. Hitherto the prophet hath recounted Tyre’s greatness, now cometh her fall, foretold as if already come.

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

25. Ships of Tarshish — See note Eze_27:12.

Did sing of thee — Several versions have “served thee.” R.V., “were thy caravans.”

Glorious — LXX., heavy. The ship Tyre was laden to the water’s edge with treasure.

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

The verse beaus a new section, and glides back into the original metaphor of the ship, as in Vers. 4-9. The ships of Tarshish are used generically for merchant-ships. The catalogue of the commerce ends with Ver. 24, and the more poetic imagery reappears. It was, as centering in herself all that they brought to her that the merchant-city was very glorious in the midst of the waters. For sing of thee, read, the ships of Tarshish were thy caravans (Revised Version). The word has also the sense of "wall," as in Jer_5:10 and Job_24:11; and this, describing the ships as the "wooden wails" of Tyre, gives a tenable sense here.

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

The ships - The ships from all parts of the sea. Did sing - Had their songs to commend thy state.

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

Ships...your plains [Heb. שָּׁרוֹתַיִךּ.] They were to you as a plain and a flat terrain. Just as the flat terrain is a paved road, upon which to bring merchandise to a city situated on dry land, the ships of Tarshish were for you instead of them (sic) as a highway for bringing your merchandise into your midst.

your plains [Heb. שָּׁרוֹתַיִךּ,] an expression for Sharon and flat terrain. A similar instance is (Jer. 5:10): “Ascend upon its rows בְּשָׁרוֹתֶיהָ.”

and you were filled and you became very heavy They brought a great burden into your midst and made your load too heavy.

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.