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Ezekiel

About this book
Chapter 26

1 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said about Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, now that she has been destroyed,’ 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. 8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, erect a siege ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. 9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons. 10 He will cover you with the dust kicked up by his many horses. Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, wheels, and chariots when he enters your gates like those who invade through a city’s broken walls. 11 With his horses’ hooves he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground. 12 They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw into the water.⁠ 13 I will silence the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. 15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Oh, how the coastlands will shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan at the massive slaughter in your midst! 16 All the princes of the sea will vacate their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you. 17 They will sing this lament over you: “‘How you have perished—you have vanished from the seas, O renowned city, once mighty in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror! 18 Now the coastlands will tremble on the day of your fall; the coastlands by the sea will be terrified by your passing.’ 19 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you desolate like the uninhabited cities, when I bring up the deep over you and the surging waters overwhelm you, 20 then I will bring you down to bygone people, to be with those who descend to the Pit. I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth among the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or stand in the land of the living.⁠ 21 I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more! Though you are sought after, you will never be found again, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Ezekiel 26:12 and Zechariah 9:4

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Zechariah 9 echoes Ezekiel 26 in its picture of Tyre’s fall, drawing on images like soil thrown into the sea and streets trampled by invaders. Zechariah adapts this by portraying silver as dust and gold as something muddy and crushed in the streets.

Passages

Ezekiel 26:12

Hebrew Bible
11 With his horses’ hooves he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground. 12 They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw into the water. 13 I will silence the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where fishing nets are spread. You will never be built again, for I, the Lord, have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

Zechariah 9:4

Hebrew Bible
1 This is an oracle, the Lord’s message concerning the land of Hadrach, with its focus on Damascus: The eyes of all humanity, especially of the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord, 2 as are those of Hamath also, which adjoins Damascus, Tyre, and Sidon, though they consider themselves to be very wise. 3 Tyre built herself a fortification and piled up silver like dust and gold like the mud of the streets. 4 Nevertheless the Lord will evict her and shove her fortifications into the sea—she will be consumed by fire. 5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be in great anguish, as will Ekron, for her hope will have been dried up. Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Zechariah

References

"... Tyre, who is so proud of the rampart defense of her island which she has built, is the same one who received in Ezekiel 26:14 the threat, 'you shall never be rebuilt'. Her gold which is like the 'mire of the streets' (Zechariah 9:3), a term of contempt in Micah 7:10 as, later, in Zechariah 10:5, ironically recalls the threat of Ezekiel 26 that the streets of Tyre will be trampled by the invader following the breaching of the walls, while her silver, which is 'like dust' (Zechariah 9:3) recalls the threat of Ezekiel 26:12 'your dust they will cast into the midst of the waters'. These allusions are strikingly echoed in Zechariah 9.3-4 ..."
Rex Mason, “The Use of Earlier Biblical Material in Zechariah 9–14: A Study in Inner Biblical Exegesis,” in Bringing Out the Treasure: Inner Biblical Allusion in Zechariah 9–14, ed. Mark J. Boda and Michael H. Floyd, JSOTSup 370 (London: Sheffield Academic, 2003), 18.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Ezekiel 26:12 and Zechariah 9:4

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