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 1.2 IV:25 and Ezekiel 26:3

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

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.

Passages

KTU 1.2 IV:25

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
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!
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

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

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. ...”
Marvin A. Sweeney, Reading Prophetic Books: Form, Intertextuality, and Reception in Prophetic and Post-Biblical Literature (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 211.

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 1.2 IV:25 and Ezekiel 26:3

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library