Ezekiel 27:8

Eze 27:8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise [men], O Tyrus, [that] were in thee, were thy pilots.

Ver. 8. The inhabitants of Zidon.] Famous all the world over for their skill at sea and otherwise.

Thy wise men were thy pilots.] Wise they had need to be that sit at the stern of a state. Let them not therefore be ignorant, or idle, or otherwise faulty, lest they mar all: let them be active Argonauts. They have their names here in the Hebrew from the ropes of the ship, which they as pilots must skilfully order, shifting sails according to the wind. Counsel also, in that tongue, hath its name from the same root. {a}

{a} תחבולה

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 27:8-11. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners — So great was the opulence and pride of the Tyrians, that they hired foreigners to do the more laborious and menial employments, and would do nothing else themselves than steer the vessels, priding themselves on being the most able pilots. Of Zidon, see note on Isa 23:4, and of Arvad, on Jer 49:23. The ancients of Gebal, &c., were thy calkers — Thou employedst the inhabitants of Gebal for calking thy ships, as being remarkably skilful in that trade. Concerning Gebal, which was a province of Phenicia, see note on Psa 83:7. All the ships of the sea were in thee — Ships from all parts came to trade with thee. They of Persia, &c., were in thine army — Thy citizens being all given to trading, thou madest use of foreign soldiers for thine army, when thy city was besieged. Bochart thinks that Lud denotes African Ethiopia; but Michaelis places this people westward in Africa. Both think Lud an Egyptian colony. The former, by Phut, understands the African Nomades: see Nah 3:9. They hanged the shield and helmet in thee — In thy garrisons, which were kept in time of peace. The men of Arvad, &c., were upon thy walls — They defended thy walls, when they were assaulted by the king of Babylon’s army. And the Gammadims were in thy towers — It is very uncertain what people are here meant by this name. Mr. Fuller and Bishop Newcome think it probable they were a people of Phenicia. The Hebrew word is derived from one which signifies to be contracted, narrowed, &c., and Parkhurst is of opinion that these people were the inhabitants of the country about Tripoli in Syria, formerly called the Αγκων, or Elbow, of Phenicia, from its being narrowed, and projecting into the sea in that form. Ludolphus conjectures they were Africans; the Chaldee paraphrase takes them to be Cappadocians. Dr. Spencer denominates them, “Parvula simulacra, plerumque cubitalia, in dominus aut turribus ethnicorum in earum tutelam, aut præsidium, collocata,” Little images, generally a cubit in length, placed upon the houses, or towers of the heathen, for their protections, or defence.

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

27:8-11 The ship of Tyre was manned by a crew gathered from the most famously skilled men in the world. • The locations described in this account cover most of the known world at the time. Tyre’s influence was vast.

27:8-9 Sidon, Arvad, and Gebal were Mediterranean coastal towns.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, shipmasters.

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

Arvad--a small island and city near Phœnicia, now Ruad: its inhabitants are still noted for seafaring habits.

thy wise men, O Tyrus . . . thy pilots--While the men of Arvad, once thy equals (Gen 10:18), and the Sidonians, once thy superiors, were employed by thee in subordinate positions as "mariners," thou madest thine own skilled men alone to be commanders and pilots. Implying the political and mercantile superiority of Tyre.

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 8. Zidon and Arvad] Or Arad. Two powerful cities on the Phoenician coast, in the neighbourhood of Tyre, from which Tyre had her sailors; and the best instructed of her own inhabitants were her pilots or steersmen.

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

(8) Arvad.—The description now turns to the sailors. The Arvadite is mentioned among the family of Canaan in Gen_10:18, and corresponds to the Greek Aradus. There were two islands of this name: one in the Persian Gulf, the other (the one here intended) a rocky island north of the coast of Tripoli, on which a city was built like Tyre. The Phœnician cities of Zidon and Arvad furnished the oarsmen, but Tyre itself the superior captains and pilots.

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

The ancients of Gebal,.... A promontory of the Phoenicians, the same with the Gabale of Pliny (n), and with the land of the Giblites, Jos 13:5. It was by the Greeks called Byblus; and so the Septuagint here render the words, the elders of Bybli or Byblus, a place once famous for the birth and temple of Adonis; it is now called Gibyle. Mr. Maundrell (o) says it is pleasantly situated by the seaside, and that at present it contains but a little extent of ground, yet more than enough for the small number of its inhabitants; it is compassed with a dry ditch, and a wall with square towers in it, at about every forty yards' distance; on its south side it has an old castle; within it is a church; besides which it has nothing remarkable; though anciently it was a place of no mean extent, as well as beauty, as may appear from the many heaps of ruins, and the fine pillars that are scattered up and down in the gardens near the town. The old experienced workmen of this place were employed by the Tyrians in mending and refitting their ships, and in the caulking of them, as follows:

the wise men thereof were in thee thy caulkers; or, "the strengtheners of thy breaches" (p), or "chinks"; the seams and commissures of the planks; which they stopped with tow, oakum, or such like stuff; at least this is what is used now, whatever might be by those wise men; and it seems by this that it was reckoned a very great art and mystery, and which only wise men were masters of, at least such the Tyrians employed. The Targum renders it,

"providing thy necessaries;''

as if they were the ships' husbands:

all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise; ships from all parts were in her harbours, which brought goods into her, and carried goods out of her, by way of merchandise. So the Targum,

"all that go down into the sea, and the ships; they were rowers, and they brought merchandise into the midst of thee;''

the goods of merchants from divers places; and carried back commodities again they traded for at Tyre; see Rev 18:19.

(n) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20. (o) Journey &c. p. 33, 34. (p) "roborantes scissuram tuam", Montanus; "instaurantes fissuras tuas", Munster, Tigurine version; "rimas tuas", Vatablus; "instauratores rupturaram tuarum", Piscator.

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

Arvad - See Gen 10:18. An island off the coast of Sidon, now called Ruad.

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

Aradians. Sidon and Arad were then subject to Tyre, and supplied rowers. --- Pilots. They studied no other science.

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).

Zidon; an ancient town and haven of Phoenicia, not far from Tyre.

Arvad; better known by its other name Aradus, an island belonging to Phoenicia, some say twenty, others say seven, furlongs from the continent. Thy mariners; rowers in thy galleys: the rich Tyrians would not employ their own in such servile works, they hired strangers. These Zidonians and Arvadeans, or Aredins, once thy equals, thou hast now outstripped, and makest thy servants, with pride enough.

Thy wise men; thy learned men; for navigation was the great study of the Tyrians, and who were best skilled in this were the learned or wise men among them, whom they had of their own, and trusted to be pilots, which employment carried honour in it to suit the proud humour of the Tyrians.

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

8. Zidon and Arvad — For Zidon see Eze_28:21. Arvad (Gen_10:18; 1Ch_1:16) is often mentioned in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets. It was the most northern Phoenician port, very populous, and with magnificent artificially constructed harbors and a living spring which secured the inhabitants a water supply in case of invasion or siege. The “ships of the land of Arvad” are celebrated in the Assyrian texts. It is evident that at this time both Zidon and Arvad were dependents of Tyre.

Mariners — R.V., “rowers.” For the need of wise pilots see note, Eze_26:2.

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

The two cities are named as tributaries of Tyro from which she drew her sailors, the Tyrians themselves acting as captains and pilots. Zidon (now Saida) is named in Gen_10:15 as the firstborn of Canaan, and was older than Tyre itself. (Isa_23:2, Isa_23:12) Arvad is identified with the Greek Aradus, the modern Ruad, an island about two miles from the coast, about two miles north of the mouth of the river Eleutheros (Nahr-el-Kebir ). It is scarcely a mile in circumference, but was prominent enough to be named here and in Gen_10:18; 1Ch_1:16. Opposite to it on the mainland was the town of Antaradus. For mariners, the Revised Version gives rowers.

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

Zidon - An ancient town and haven of Phoenicia, not far from Tyre. Arvad - Or Aradus, an island belonging to Phoenicia, twenty furlongs from the continent. Mariners - Rowers in thy galleys; the rich Tyrians would not employ their own in such servile works, they hired strangers. Wise men - Thy learned men: for navigation was the great study of the Tyrians.

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

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to Tyre. The city of Tyre continues to be described as if it were a beautiful ship. (See: Metaphor)

General Information:

The words "you" and "your" in these verses refer to Tyre.

Arvad

This is the name of a small island off the coast of Syria. (See: How to Translate Names)

sages of Tyre

"wise men of Tyre"

pilots

A pilot is a person who controls where a ship goes by steering the ship.

Byblos

This is the name of a city on the Syrian coast. Other versions call it by the name "Gebal." (See: How to Translate Names and Textual Variants)

filled your seams

"repaired your cracks" or "repaired your leaks"

sailors

A sailor is one of the team of workers on a ship.

translationWords

Sidon

Tyre

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

were your oarsmen [Heb. שָּׁטִים,] those who hold your oars to guide you.

your mariners those who hold the rudder to direct and straighten the ship.

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.