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Ezekiel 26 turns the sea power opposed by Baal in the Baal Cycle into God's weapon against Tyre, showing that the city's sea defenses cannot protect it from divine judgment.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.2 IV:25
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
You, your name is 'All-Driver' All-Driver, drive Yamm away, drive Yamm from his throne, Nahar from the siege of his dominion! You must leap from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers. Strike the skull of Prince Yamm (Ocean), the brow of Ruler Nahar (River)! Let Yamm collapse in a heap, and let him fall to the ground!' Then the mace leapt from the hand of Baal, like a falcon from his fingers. It struck the skull of Prince Yamm, the brow of Ruler Nahar. Yamm collapsed in a heap; he fell to the ground. His joints trembled, and his visage was discomposed. Baal gathered Up and drank Prince Yamm to the dregs, he exterminated Ruler Nahar. By name Athtart chided him Dry him Up, O Valiant Baal!
Ezekiel 26:3
Hebrew Bible
3 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She will be a place where fishing nets are spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 6 and her daughters who are in the field will be slaughtered by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people.
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Notes and References
“... Likewise, Uga-
ritic mythology portrays the sea, personified as the god Yamm, as the chief
opponent to Baal, who likewise defeats Yamm in battle and thereby stabi-
lizes the world of creation. [...] Ezekiel’s use of the sea motif to portray YHWH’s actions against Tyre
appears at the outside of the Tyrian block in the first oracular report in
Ezek 26:1–21. In the course of announcing an attack against Tyre, YHWH
proclaims plans in Ezek 26:3–5 to bring nations against Tyre like the
crashing of waves against its walls and reduce the island city to bare rock
set in the midst of the sea fit only for drying nets. Such an equation of
attacking nations with the sea is hardly surprising in mythology. [...] Biblical tradition is also well known for equating threatening nations with
the sea, as indicated by YHWH’s defeat of Egypt at the Red Sea in Exodus
15; Sisera’s coalition in Judges 5; and Babylon in Isaiah 51. ...”
Sweeney, Marvin A.
Reading Prophetic Books: Form, Intertextuality, and Reception in Prophetic and Post-Biblical Literature
(p. 211) Mohr Siebeck, 2014
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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