Go to Related Reading
About this book

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 KTU 1.5 VI:9 and Ezekiel 26:20

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

In Ezekiel 26, Tyre's descent into death recalls Baal's fall in the Baal Cycle but removes the hope of return, making the city's judgment final.

Passages

KTU 1.5 VI:9

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
They lifted up their voices and cried: We travelled to the ends of the earth, to the edge of the abyss; we came to Paradise the land of pasture, to Delight, the steppe by the shore of death. We came upon Baal fallen to the earth: dead was Valiant Baal, perished was the Prince, Lord of the earth! Then the Wise One, the perceptive god, went down from his throne: he sat on his footstool. And from his footstool he sat on the ground. He poured the ashes of affliction on his head, the dust of grovelling on his skull For clothing he put on a loin-cloth His skin with a stone he scored, his side-locks with a razor; he gashed cheeks and chin.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Ezekiel 26:20

Hebrew Bible
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.”
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

References

“... rulers of the sea mourn and intone dirges over the island nation upon hear- ing of Tyre’s demise in Ezek 26:15–18. Such a motif constitutes a reversal of the normal course of events in the sea combat mythologies of the ancient Near Eastern world; normally, the protagonist wins the struggle, the victory is celebrated, and temples to the hero god are built. Here, quite the opposite takes place as Tyre sinks into the very sea that once formed the basis of her power. [...] At this point, a new mythological motif enters the mix, viz., the descent into the Netherworld, well-known from the mytho- logical patterns of the dying and rising gods, particularly Inanna’s or Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld, the Baal Cycle, and possibly the Legend of Aqhat. [...] Again, the usual mythological pattern of overcoming death – at least partially – is absent in Ezekiel 26. Tyre descends to the Pit to become a horror in the sight of the coastlands and the rulers of the sea, but no hope for Tyre’s return from the dead emerges. ...”
Marvin A. Sweeney, Reading Prophetic Books: Form, Intertextuality, and Reception in Prophetic and Post-Biblical Literature (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 212.

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

Your feedback

KTU 1.5 VI:9 and Ezekiel 26:20

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library