Ezekiel 27:32

Eze 27:32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, [saying], What [city is] like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

Ver. 32. What city.] An elegant mimesis.

Like the destroyed.] Quae obmutuit, like her that lost her voice and life together.

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 32. What city is like Tyrus] This, to the end of the chapter, is the lamentation.

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

32–36. Lament over Tyre

The lament appears to be in elegiac metre. The word “wailing” is a contracted form (ni = nehi).

What city] Rather: who is like Tyre.

like the destroyed] The form is very obscure, but nothing better has been proposed.

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.

When thy wares went forth out of the seas,.... When they were took out of ships, which came to Tyre from all parts, and were landed on the shore, and put up in warehouses, and exposed in markets and The Targum is,

"when thy merchandise went out from among the nations;''

being brought from all parts thither:

thou filledst many people; by selling them in their markets commodities they wanted, for which they came from all quarters; and by sending them to others in ships, where they knew they stood in need of them, and would fetch them a good price; and they had enough to answer the demands of all, and to supply them to the full:

thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and pithy merchandise; by taking off the goods of their subjects, whereby they were able the better to pay their taxes, and support them in their grandeur and dignity; as well as by furnishing them gold and silver, and precious stones, which they gave for the produce of their country; or by the toll and custom of the goods imported or exported.

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

In their wailing; in their sorrowful speeches of Tyre. Shall take up into their mouths, or with a composed, significant, and comprehensive form of speech, to show much grief in few words.

What city is like Tyrus? a few years since no city like her in beauty, riches, glory, and joy, now none like her in all the contraries.

The destroyed; now no more Tyre the flourishing, the renowned, the mart of nations, and the stately built; but now the destroyed, the silent, overwhelmed with grief, which was full of songs.

In the midst of the sea: alas! what was once her safeguard is now her grave, what enriched her once hath now swallowed all up at once.

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

As in other instances of extreme sorrow, the inarticulate signs of grief pass after a time into spoken words. What city is like Tyrus, etc.? What parallel can be found in the world"s history, either for her magnificence or her fall? The shipwreck of her fortunes (we are still in the region of the prophet"s metaphors) would be utter and irretrievable.

An incomparable doom.

The dreadful doom of Tyre is regarded as without parallel. Consider why this is so.

I THE GREATEST SIN BRINGS THE GREATEST DOOM. All men do not sin equally, and all will not be punished to the same extent some with few stripes, others with many stripes. Tyre sinned grievously, therefore Tyre was to be punished grievously. It is not the man who thinks himself the lightest sinner who will certainly be let off with the smallest amount of punishment. We are not to be our own judges and the assessors of our own guilt. There will be many great surprises in the day of judgment. The heaviest doom will be for those who knew the right way and yet did not walk in it. (Luk_12:47, Luk_12:48) Therefore there will be heavier penalties even than those earned by Tyre. Christ says it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for Bethsaida and Chorazin, for the heathen Phoenician cities had not the opportunities that were afforded to the Galilaean towns in which Christ had labored. (Luk_10:13) If London sins like Tyre, London"s doom must be greater than Tyre"s, for a city of Christendom has privileges which the pagans never enjoyed.

II THE GREATEST DOOM WILL BE FELT IN CONTRAST TO THE HIGHEST PROSPERITY. The fall of Tyre was most appalling because her previous splendor had been most imposing. Dives writhing in agony in Hades arrests attention because he was previously enjoying the greatest luxury. The contrast is not merely a striking dramatic effect for the outside observer. It produces the most intense results in the feelings of the sufferer. We feel by contrast, and the greater the contrast the keener are our feelings. Thus a millionaire brought down to destitution feels the hardships of the poor-house far more acutely than the beggar who has never been accustomed to more sumptuous fare. Souls that have tasted of Christ"s grace must suffer more agonies, if they become castaways at last, than souls that have never experienced its blessedness.

III THE GREATEST DOOM MAY BE AVERTED. These things are written for our instruction to warn us to flee from the approaching wrath, not to paralyze us with hopeless dismay. Tyre was overthrown, and its foundations became drying-grounds for the fisherman"s nets exactly as Ezekiel had predicted. (Eze_26:5) The threats of future punishment are equally certain so long as the sin that rouses them remains. But Christ has come to destroy the curse of sin and to free the soul from its doom. It is foolish to seek some faint encouragement from risky attempts to minimize the prospect of future punishment, and so to lull the soul to sleep in its peril. There can be no use in exaggerating the statements of Scripture, nor can there be any wisdom in making the least of them. True wisdom lies in recognizing the unspeakable horror of sin and its doom to the full, and then turning to Christ for deliverance from the sin as much as from its penalties.

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

In the sea - Alas! what was once her safeguard, is now her grave.

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

And they will lift up over you with their wailing [Heb. בְּנִיהֶם,] with their wailing.

“as Dummah” [Heb. כְּדֻמָּה.] This was the name of the heads of Edom, as the matter is stated (Isa. 21: 11): “The harsh prophecy about Dumah (דּוּמָה).” Jonathan renders: There is none like (דָמֵי) as one of her likeness (כַּדוֹמָה).

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.