Scripture quotations on this page are from the World English Bible (public domain), shown in quotation marks; all commentary is written by Scripture Trove. Source: Ezekiel 26 · Commentary
Ezekiel chapter 26 marks a pivotal turning point within the Oracles Against the Nations unit (chapters 25-32) of the book's 48 chapters, transitioning from the short, tightly structured "Four-Nation Oracles" (chapter 25) into the extended three-chapter oracle against Tyre (chapters 26-28). This chapter bears a precise date marker: "the eleventh year, the first of the month" (approximately April 587 BC), placing it right around the time of Jerusalem's fall. Tyre, the wealthiest Phoenician commercial empire on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, is singled out for divine judgment because of her gloating, opportunistic economic calculation upon Jerusalem's collapse: "Jerusalem has fallen — all that trade money can now flow my way." This chapter stands as one of the most specifically detailed prophetic oracles in the entire prophetic corpus: the details of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon's siege of Tyre (siege engines, battering rams, the island scraped to bare rock) are remarkably concrete. This chapter also serves as the opening groundwork for the "Lament over the King of Tyre" in chapter 28 (the archetype of Satan's fall).
Second Division: Oracles Against the Nations (Ezek 25-32) — First Oracle Against Tyre (chapter 26)
This chapter's position: the first of the three-chapter Tyre oracle (26-28), delivering the judgment proclamation in prose form. Chapter 27 is the Ship-Song of Tyre (a lament depicting Tyre as a great merchant vessel capsizing), and chapter 28 is the Lament over the King of Tyre (the archetype of Satan's fall, which receives the most theological attention). Together, the three chapters form a progressive structure of "verdict — lament — personal focus." Within the broader Nations unit (25-32), this chapter is the first course of the main meal: the Four-Nation Oracles (chapter 25) served as the overture, while the Tyre and Egypt oracles (26-32), beginning here, represent the heart of the prophet's concern.
This chapter can be divided into the following four sections:
Tyre's Sin and the Theme of Judgment (26:1-6) — Because Tyre responded to Jerusalem's fall by saying "Aha! She is broken... I will be replenished": God will cause many nations to rise against Tyre like waves of the sea.
Nebuchadnezzar's Siege Proclaimed (26:7-14) — The king of Babylon comes from the north with cavalry and chariots, siege works, engines, and battering rams; ultimately Tyre is scraped down to bare rock, left as nothing more than a place for spreading nets.
The Horror of the Island Kings (26:15-18) — The princes of the coastlands descend from their thrones, remove their robes and embroidered garments, and raise a lament over Tyre: "How you are destroyed, O renowned city... !"
Tyre's Descent into Sheol (26:19-21) — God will bring Tyre down into the pit, to dwell with the people of old time; she will never be found again.
The entire chapter forms a complete judgment-oracle sermon, moving from indictment (Tyre's "Aha!") to the announcement of the judgment theme (nations like waves) to the specific sentence (Nebuchadnezzar's siege) to the international reaction (lament of the island kings) to the ultimate fate (descent into Sheol). The structure operates like a gradually tightening camera lens: first we hear Tyre's own mouth (the indictment), then we hear God's declaration (the theme), then we zoom into the specific siege details (the closest shot), and finally the lens pulls back again to the panoramic international reaction and the cosmic perspective of Sheol. This rhythmic shifting of perspective enables the reader to see both the concrete historical details and the overwhelming scale of cosmic judgment.
God's judgment falls not only on those who openly mock, but even more on those who treat another's disaster as their own opportunity. Tyre's sin was not hatred of Israel — it was the cold-blooded economic calculation: "Jerusalem has collapsed, so the money will flow to me." This is the sin most easily committed in an age of prosperity. Today, in the workplace, in business, in social circles — when we see a competitor fail, a colleague stumble, a friend go bankrupt — that fleeting thought of "Here's my chance": that is Tyre's "Aha!" God sees it. His judgment will ultimately come.
| Element | Verses | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Oracle formula + date | 26:1 | The eleventh year, a certain month, a certain day |
| Indictment | 26:2 | Tyre's "Aha!": treating Jerusalem's disaster as her own wealth opportunity |
| Judgment theme | 26:3-6 | Wave imagery: many nations like waves of the sea; bare rock; plunder for the nations; recognition formula (1) |
| Specific sentence (siege tactics) | 26:7-14 | Nebuchadnezzar comes from the north; siege ramps, mounds, battering rams; horses trampling streets; stones, timber, and rubble cast into the water; never to be rebuilt; recognition formula (2) |
| International reaction | 26:15-18 | Islands tremble; island princes descend from thrones and remove robes; lament for Tyre — "How you are destroyed!" |
| Ultimate fate | 26:19-21 | Covered by the deep waters; descent into Sheol; dwelling with the people of old time; never found again; recognition formula (3) |
Brothers and sisters, let me ask you to honestly face one question: When was the last time that fleeting "Aha!" flickered through your heart?
I am not talking about open applause at someone's downfall (that is the Ammonite style). I mean the private, hidden, even self-denied flash: "He got fired — my chance for promotion just opened up." "That competitor went bankrupt — clients will surely come my way now." "That other church had a scandal — we look more godly by comparison." "That family fell apart — at least it wasn't mine."
If you are honest, you will discover that this kind of "Aha!" appears in your heart far more frequently than you would like to admit. This is precisely Tyre's sin.
Look closely at Tyre's situation. She did not hate Israel. She had been Solomon's commercial partner; King Hiram supplied cedar wood for building the temple (1 Kings 5, 7). Nor was hers a religious hostility — Tyre had her own Baal worship, but she rarely clashed directly with Israel's worship of Yahweh. Her sole sin was cold-blooded economic calculation: Jerusalem has fallen — where does the money flow? To me.
What makes this sin so terrifying is that it wears the clothing of "rationality." Unlike the Ammonites' obvious malice, it can be defended as "market forces." "Jerusalem is finished, so trade naturally shifts to more stable locations — what's wrong with that?" That is what Tyre would say. And that is what we say today. "A competitor has fallen; the market still needs to be served — why shouldn't I be the one to fill it?"
But what God sees is not market forces. What He sees is that fleeting "Aha!" The problem is not the objective outcome (you got the promotion, you won the clients, your church grew in numbers). The problem is the excitement in your heart over someone else's disaster. When another person is injured and falls, is your first instinct to rush over and help them up, or to start calculating, "Now that he's down, my lane just got wider"?
This is the central temptation of a prosperous age. In times of scarcity, people tend to support one another — everyone lacks, so sharing a little goes far. In times of prosperity, people tend to compete with one another — another's loss becomes my gain. Tyre's prosperity made her forget that "Jerusalem is also a neighbor." She reduced the world to a commodity supply chain and stopped seeing flesh-and-blood people.
God's response is 26:14: "I will make you a bare rock. You will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more." Notice the precision of the prophecy — Alexander fulfilled it with real history 250 years later. Today's Tyre (the city of Sour in Lebanon) is a small fishing village. All the glory of that ancient maritime empire — the purple dye workshops, the colony of Carthage, the Mediterranean trade routes — has vanished, never to be found again.
Brothers and sisters, prosperity without empathy descends into Sheol. This is not a curse; it is a consequence. When we treat other people's tears as our own market opportunity, we are casting our own vote for a "descent into the pit."
But hear at the same time the gospel in the second half of 26:20: "I will set glory in the land of the living." Even as Tyre descends into Sheol, God is opening a way for His people in the land of the living. This is why Christians need not envy Tyre-style prosperity, nor need they be anxious about being "marginalized." God's mercy is not distributed to those who are skilled at calculation — it is given to those who remain faithful even while being calculated against.
Return to that fleeting "Aha!": bring it before the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit shine a light on your abacus. Let us become the kind of people who, upon hearing that someone is hurt, rush over to help — not the kind who first calculate, "He's down, so my lane just got wider." This is the most difficult and most important repentance for Christians living in a prosperous civilization today.
Section Overview: This section is the chapter's opening, containing the date marker, the indictment, and the announcement of the judgment theme. God directly quotes Tyre's own words as prosecution evidence and declares a core judgment theme: "I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up." This "wave" imagery runs throughout the entire chapter — the means by which God judges Tyre is precisely the "sea" she knew best.
26:1 "In the eleventh year, in the first of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,"
Ezekiel 26:1（World English Bible）
The eleventh year: Hebrew בְּעַשְׁתֵּי־עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (be-'ashtei-'esreh shanah). The eleventh year of Jehoiachin's exile corresponds to approximately 587 BC. The Hebrew text of this verse actually reads only "the eleventh year, a certain month, the first day" — the month designation has been lost (likely a scribal omission; the Septuagint and certain manuscript traditions supply "the first month," consistent with most ancient commentators). If the first month is correct, this would be approximately April 587 BC, when Jerusalem's siege was entering its final months and the temple had not yet fallen. If the eleventh month (the month of Tevet in the Hebrew calendar) is meant, this could be January 586 BC, when Jerusalem was in the throes of its final siege. Regardless of which date is correct, the Tyre oracle was delivered on the eve of or concurrent with Jerusalem's fall.
Precise date marking is a hallmark of the book of Ezekiel. This news-report-like precision means Ezekiel's oracles can be tested against history — he was not speaking after the fact, but declaring these things in advance.
26:2 "“Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken! She who was the gateway of the peoples has been returned to me. I will be replenished, now that she is laid waste;’"
Ezekiel 26:2（World English Bible）
Son of man: Ezekiel's standard form of address (see the commentary on chapter 25 for detailed discussion).
Tyre said against Jerusalem, "Aha!": This "Aha!" (Hebrew הֶאָח, he'ach) is the very same word the Ammonites used when mocking the destruction of the sanctuary in 25:3. Tyre shares the same sin as Ammon: an exclamation of malicious glee. But Tyre's "Aha!" carries a deeper content:
"She who was the gateway of the peoples has been returned to me": Hebrew דַּלְתוֹת הָעַמִּים נִשְׁבְּרוּ… (daltot ha-'ammim nishberu nasebbah elay). "The gateway of the peoples" (daltot ha-'ammim) — Jerusalem was regarded in ancient international trade as the "gateway" to the East and the South. Tyre's implication is clear: once this gate is broken, all trade will redirect to me (Tyre).
"I will be replenished, now that she is laid waste": Hebrew אִמָּלְאָה הָחֳרָבָה (immale'ah ha-chorvah), literally "I will be filled because of her desolation." This is cold-blooded economic calculation: Jerusalem's "desolation" directly equals Tyre's "fullness."
Look closely at the nature of Tyre's sin:
The Old Testament's repeated indictments of Tyre consistently focus on this very point: greed (Isa 23), ruthless slave trading (Joel 3:4-6 — selling Judeans to the Greeks as slaves), the breach of treaty relationships (Amos 1:9 — Tyre "did not remember the brotherly covenant"). This chapter continues along the same line: Tyre's sin is the quintessential sin of a prosperous civilization — reducing the world to a commodity supply chain and treating other people's tears as a market opportunity.
This sin is more pervasive today than it was in 587 BC. In the workplace, seeing a competitor lose their job and feeling that flash of "my promotion just opened up." In business, watching a competitor go bankrupt and immediately calculating "where will the clients go?" In the church, hearing about another congregation's scandal and secretly rejoicing "we look better." All of this is Tyre's "Aha!" God sees it.
26:3 "therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up."
Ezekiel 26:3（World English Bible）
"I am against you": Hebrew הִנְנִי עָלַיִךְ (hineni 'alayikh), literally "Behold, I am against you." This is one of the most solemn declarations in all of prophetic literature — God Himself announces, "I am against you." It appears multiple times in Ezekiel (13:8, 20; 21:3; 28:22; 29:3, 10; 30:22; 38:3; 39:1), and each occurrence signals the highest level of judgment.
"I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up": This is the chapter's central judgment image: the waves. Tyre was an island city; every day she watched the tides rise and fall. The sea was both her environment and her protection. God says: You think the waves are your shield? I will use "waves" to judge you. Many nations (Babylon, then Persia, then Greece, then Rome) will surge against you, wave after wave. The wave imagery runs throughout the entire chapter: 26:5, 12, 19 all feature images of sea and water. This is ironic judgment: the very environment you most depended on becomes the instrument of your judgment.
26:4 "They will destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock."
Ezekiel 26:4（World English Bible）
Bare rock: Hebrew צְחִיחַ סָלַע (tzechiach sela'), literally "bald rock." The name Tyre itself, צוֹר (Tzor), means "rock" — the island itself was essentially a great rock. God's irony here is razor-sharp: You are called "Rock"? I will strip you down to "bare rock" — a slab of stone with no inhabitants and no buildings, nothing but exposed reef. This prophecy was fulfilled in 332 BC by Alexander the Great: to capture the island city of Tyre, he spent seven months building a causeway from the mainland to the island (using rubble from the ruins of mainland Tyre as building material), and ultimately breached the island's defenses, killing 8,000 and selling 30,000 into slavery. The city was razed to the ground. Archaeologically, the ruins of Tyre remain to this day a place where fishermen spread their nets on the rocks — a precise fulfillment of the prophecy.
26:5 "She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the middle of the sea; for I have spoken it,’ says the Lord Yahweh. ‘She will become plunder for the nations."
Ezekiel 26:5（World English Bible）
Spreading of nets: Hebrew מִשְׁטַח חֲרָמִים (mishtach charamim), "a place where fishing nets are spread out to dry." From international trade center to a spot where fishermen dry their nets — what a humiliation.
26:6 "Her daughters who are in the field will be slain with the sword. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’"
Ezekiel 26:6（World English Bible）
"Her daughters who are in the field" refers to the mainland settlements: "Old Tyre" on the continent and Tyre's dependent towns. Both the main island city and the subsidiary mainland settlements are included in the judgment.
"Then they will know that I am Yahweh": This is the first occurrence of the recognition formula in this chapter. The chapter contains it three times in total (26:6, 14, 21). Combined with the four occurrences in chapter 25, these form a high-density cluster of the recognition formula within the Oracles Against the Nations unit.
Section Overview: This section is the concrete application of the judgment proclamation, naming King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as the instrument of execution and describing in detail the siege tactics, the scene of the city's fall, and the final outcome. This is one of the most militarily specific passages in all of prophetic literature. The "as specific as it can possibly get" prophetic detail of this passage is a quintessential example of prophecy that is "testable against history."
26:7 "“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, with chariots, with horsemen, and an army with many people."
Ezekiel 26:7（World English Bible）
"King of kings": Hebrew מֶלֶךְ מְלָכִים (melekh melakhim). This was the official title of Assyrian-Babylonian emperors; the Akkadian form šar šarrāni ("King of Kings") appears multiple times on Assyrian clay tablets. Ezekiel uses the standard Ancient Near Eastern imperial title to designate Nebuchadnezzar, acknowledging his supreme status at that time. But notice: this same title is exclusively claimed by Christ in the New Testament — Revelation 17:14, 19:16: "He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, 'KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'" Today's "King of kings" is the Lamb who was crucified and rose again. The sixth-century BC Nebuchadnezzar was merely a "temporary borrower" of that title.
"From the north": Babylon was actually located to the east of Israel, but the standard ancient military route followed the Euphrates River northward, through northern Syria, and then turned south into Israel and Phoenicia. In terms of how it was experienced geographically, Babylonian armies always came "from the north" — a recurring directional motif in Ezekiel (the vision of 1:4 also came from the north).
Horses, chariots, horsemen, and an army — Nebuchadnezzar's forces were fully equipped. But notice one ironic detail: horses and chariots were nearly useless for capturing an island city like Tyre. The capture of island Tyre required combined land-and-sea engineering operations (building causeways, siege towers, naval blockade), not cavalry charges. The prophet's description here corresponds more closely to the capture of mainland Old Tyre, while the prophecy concerning island Tyre unfolds progressively in the verses that follow. This layered quality of the prophecy (mainland first, then island) reflects the actual historical progression.
26:8-9 "He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will make forts against you, cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you. He will set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers."
Ezekiel 26:8-9（World English Bible）
Forts, mounds, bucklers, battering engines, axes — a catalog of standard Ancient Near Eastern siege tactics:
Assyrian and Babylonian reliefs (such as those excavated at Nimrud and Nineveh) depict these tactics in detail, and Ezekiel's description matches the archaeological record exactly. The prophet is not engaging in poetic exaggeration — he is being technically precise.
26:10 "By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he enters into your gates, as men enter into a city which is broken open."
Ezekiel 26:10（World English Bible）
The abundance of horses, dust covering the city, walls shaking — this is the sensory impact of a besieging army arriving. The prophetic poetry employs sound (the noise of shaking), sight (dust covering everything), and sensation (walls trembling) to place the reader right in the middle of the siege.
"As men enter into a city which is broken open": This simile is profound. A city already breached is a city that offers no resistance whatsoever. Nebuchadnezzar will enter Tyre as effortlessly as entering a city whose walls have already been broken through.
Historical detail: From 587/586 to 574 BC, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years (as recorded by Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews 10.11.1 and the Chaldean historian Menander). He captured mainland Old Tyre, but the main island city was never completely taken — Nebuchadnezzar accepted some form of negotiated settlement and did not occupy the island. This is the "partial fulfillment" issue of this chapter's prophecy, discussed in detail below.
26:11 "He will tread down all your streets with the hoofs of his horses. He will kill your people with the sword. The pillars of your strength will go down to the ground."
Ezekiel 26:11（World English Bible）
The pillars of your strength: Hebrew מַצְּבוֹת עֻזֵּךְ (matzevot 'uzzekh). This likely refers to the landmark structures of the city of Tyre. The Greek historian Herodotus records that Tyre had two famous pillars — one of gold and one of emerald (one adorning the royal palace, the other the temple of Dagon) — which served as symbols of national glory. "The pillars of your strength will go down to the ground": your national pride will be shattered.
26:12 "They will make a plunder of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise. They will break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses. They will lay your stones, your timber, and your dust in the middle of the waters."
Ezekiel 26:12（World English Bible）
"They will lay your stones, your timber, and your dust in the middle of the waters": The prophetic detail in this verse is extraordinarily specific. This is precisely what Alexander the Great did in 332 BC when he captured island Tyre: in order to reach the island from the mainland, he needed to build a causeway across the sea, and the material for the causeway was the demolished rubble of Old Tyre (on the mainland) — its stone blocks, timber, and earth. He threw the entirety of Old Tyre "into the middle of the waters": tearing down the mainland city and transporting the stone into the sea to build a road to the island. This causeway remains to this day — modern-day Tyre is a peninsula precisely because of Alexander's ancient causeway, which permanently joined the island to the mainland.
This detail is a classic case of the precision of prophetic utterance: Ezekiel's prophecy in 587 BC that "stones, timber, and dust would be laid in the middle of the waters" had to wait more than 250 years to be fulfilled (in 332 BC) at the hands of Alexander. Human history is the theater in which God's prophecy unfolds.
26:13 "I will cause the noise of your songs to cease. The sound of your harps won’t be heard any more."
Ezekiel 26:13（World English Bible）
Songs and harps — Tyre's thriving culture, her Silk Road music, the evening feasts of merchant caravans — all silenced. This is the image of the end of a civilization. Compare Isaiah 24:8: "The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases." In prophetic literature, "the cessation of music" is a standard metaphor for the finality of judgment.
26:14 "I will make you a bare rock. You will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more; for I Yahweh have spoken it,’ says the Lord Yahweh."
Ezekiel 26:14（World English Bible）
"You will be built no more": Hebrew לֹא תִבָּנֶה עוֹד (lo tibbaneh 'od). This is the ultimate judgment pronouncement: never to be rebuilt.
Historical verification: Today's Tyre (the city of Sour in Lebanon) is indeed a small fishing town, incomparable in scale to the ancient city. The full sense of "never to be rebuilt" was fulfilled after Alexander's destruction: he completely demolished the island city. While there were small settlements during the Roman period afterward, Tyre as a Mediterranean trade empire vanished forever.
Regarding the "partial fulfillment" issue — this is the key theological question of this chapter's prophecy:
The facts: Nebuchadnezzar's 13-year siege (587-574 BC) did not fully capture the main island city of Tyre. He captured mainland Old Tyre and reached some form of negotiated agreement with the island city. Ezekiel himself openly acknowledges this in 29:17-20: "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: 'Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army.'"
Ezekiel himself states that Babylon did not receive the expected reward from Tyre, so God granted Egypt as compensation.
Complete fulfillment came in 332 BC, when Alexander the Great completely destroyed the island city, and the prophecy of 26:12 — "stones, timber, and dust cast into the middle of the waters" — was precisely fulfilled at Alexander's hands.
Theological significance: This "progressive fulfillment" pattern is common in prophetic literature:
Why we need not shy away from this "problem":
Pastoral application: You may be waiting right now for the fulfillment of a promise from God, and it is taking far longer than you expected. Remember: Nebuchadnezzar's "incomplete fulfillment" was not God's failure — it was God's patience. Complete fulfillment did come, but in a way you did not expect (Alexander) and on a timeline you did not imagine (250 more years). God's word has never failed, but the feeling that it has is a common experience — and that is the exercise of faith.
Section Overview: This section paints the picture of the international reaction following the judgment. The kings of the coastal nations and islands hear of Tyre's fall and, in their terror, descend from their thrones, remove their robes and fine garments, and sit on the ground weeping. In prophetic literature, this kind of "lament of the nations" signals that judgment has been accomplished — the impact of judgment extends not only to the one judged, but ripples through the entire international order.
26:15 "“Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: ‘Won’t the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made within you?"
Ezekiel 26:15（World English Bible）
"Won't the islands shake" — Tyre's collapse is like an international earthquake. All the small states along the coast that participated in Phoenician trade (Cyprus, Crete, the Aegean islands, North African colonies) are shaken. This image foreshadows the chain-reaction shock wave of a globalized economy's collapse: when a central node goes down, the entire network trembles.
26:16 "Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground, and will tremble every moment, and be astonished at you."
Ezekiel 26:16（World English Bible）
Descending from thrones, laying aside robes, stripping off embroidered garments, clothing themselves with trembling, sitting on the ground, trembling every moment — six consecutive actions create a powerfully vivid tableau. This is the standard mourning ritual of Ancient Near Eastern kings:
Why do the kings of the nations grieve for Tyre? Because their fates were intertwined with hers. When Tyre fell, their trade networks collapsed with her. This is a lament born of economic self-interest bound together by commerce, not of genuine affection.
26:17-18 "They will take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, “How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!” Now the islands will tremble in the day of your fall. Yes, the islands that are in the sea will be dismayed at your departure.’"
Ezekiel 26:17-18（World English Bible）
Lamentation: Hebrew קִינָה (qinah). This is the standard lament form of prophetic literature. The lament within this chapter (26:17-18) serves as the prelude to the extended lament in chapter 27 (the Ship-Song of Tyre).
"The renowned city": Hebrew הָעִיר הַהֻלָּלָה (ha-'ir ha-hullalah), "the praised city." Tyre was a star of world civilization in her time — her craftsmanship (purple cloth, glassware, cedar timber), her seafaring technology, her colonial empire (Carthage) — all made her a city that the world admired and aspired toward. Today's "Silicon Valley," "Wall Street," and "the City of London" are, in a certain sense, modern versions of Tyre: centers of civilizational pride.
"Who was strong in the sea": Hebrew חֲזָקָה בַיָּם (chazaqah va-yam). Tyre's "strength" was twofold — both in her city fortifications (the island, the high walls) and in her economy (a diversified trade network). But the two things in which she was strongest ultimately both collapsed: the island was scraped down to bare rock, and the trade network fell apart.
"How you are destroyed!": This is the central rhetorical question of the lament. The Hebrew אֵיךְ (eikh, "how") is the signature opening word of the lament genre (thematically linked to the הָה of the Moab oracle in 25:8). The opening word of the entire book of Lamentations is אֵיכָה (eikhah). By employing this word, Ezekiel has the nations raise a "Babylonian-era Lamentations" for Tyre — and the irony is exquisite: Tyre, who once said "Aha!" at Jerusalem, now has others singing a lament over her.
Section Overview: This section presents the chapter's final scene of judgment — Tyre descending into Sheol. In prophetic literature, this is the deepest level of judgment: not merely political downfall or urban destruction, but a cosmic plunge. Sheol (שְׁאוֹל, She'ol) is a distinctive theme in Ezekiel that will reach its fullest expression in the oracles about Pharaoh's descent into Sheol in chapters 31-32.
26:19 "“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I bring up the deep on you, and the great waters cover you;"
Ezekiel 26:19（World English Bible）
"The deep," "great waters": Hebrew תְּהוֹם (tehom). This is the same word as the "deep" of Genesis 1:2 — the primordial, uncreated waters of chaos. God casts Tyre into the tehom: a return to primordial chaos. This is the narrative of creation running in reverse — God is not "creating (bringing forth from tohu)" but "un-creating (consigning back to tehom)."
26:20 "then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living."
Ezekiel 26:20（World English Bible）
"Bring you down... into the pit": Hebrew הוֹרַדְתִּיךְ אֶל־בּוֹר (horadtikh el-bor), literally "I will bring you down to the pit." The pit (bor) is a synonym for Sheol. This is the ultimate direction of judgment: downward.
"The people of old time": Hebrew אֶל־עַם עוֹלָם (el-'am 'olam), "to the people of eternity." This refers to the nations and generations that perished long ago — the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Assyrians, all the ancient empires that have passed away. Tyre joins this "death roster."
"The lower parts of the earth, the places that are desolate of old": This is a geographical depiction of Sheol. In the Ancient Near Eastern worldview, Sheol was located in the depths beneath the earth, the dwelling place of the dead. Ezekiel adopts this cosmological framework (without endorsing its mythological content) and employs it as theological rhetoric.
"I will set glory in the land of the living": Hebrew וְנָתַתִּי צְבִי בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים (ve-natatti tzevi be-eretz chayyim), literally "I will give beauty/glory in the land of the living." This is the starkest contrast: Tyre descends into Sheol, while Israel receives glory in the land of the living. This is a crucial pastoral message: at the very moment God judges His enemies, He is opening a way for His people. This echoes the hope of Israel's restoration found later in the book in chapters 36-37: Tyre falls so that Israel may rise — making room.
26:21 "I will make you a terror, and you will no more have any being. Though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”"
Ezekiel 26:21（World English Bible）
"Never be found again": Hebrew לֹא־תִמָּצְאִי עוֹד (lo-timmatze'i 'od). This is the ultimate seal on the judgment: vanished so completely that no one can find her. Today, archaeologists in Sour, Lebanon, can still find traces of Tyre (a Roman-era hippodrome, Crusader-period fortifications), but Tyre as a Mediterranean trade empire — the city that called herself "rock of the sea, gateway of the peoples" — has indeed vanished forever. Prophetic utterance is precisely fulfilled across the long arc of history.
A contrast: Israel, though her nation fell in 587 BC, was not "never found again." Jerusalem was resettled after the Babylonian exile (538 BC), the Second Temple was completed (516 BC), and the Jewish people endured through AD 70 when Rome destroyed the temple. After 1,900 years of dispersion, the Jewish nation was reestablished in 1948 — the only ancient people in history to be restored after national extinction. This is the miraculous fulfillment of 26:20, "I will set glory in the land of the living": God caused Tyre to vanish and Israel to survive.
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Verse(s) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre | צוֹר | Tzor | 26:2 etc. | Literally "rock"; the island city's name |
| The eleventh year, a certain month, the first day | בְּעַשְׁתֵּי־עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ | be-'ashtei-'esreh shanah be-'echad la-chodesh | 26:1 | The 11th year of Jehoiachin's exile, approximately April 587 BC |
| Aha! | הֶאָח | he'ach | 26:2 | An exclamation of malicious glee (same word as 25:3) |
| The gateway of the peoples | דַּלְתוֹת הָעַמִּים | daltot ha-'ammim | 26:2 | Jerusalem's function as a "gateway" in the trade network |
| I will be replenished | אִמָּלְאָה | immale'ah | 26:2 | "I will be filled": cold-blooded economic calculation |
| I am against you | הִנְנִי עָלַיִךְ | hineni 'alayikh | 26:3 | One of the most solemn pronouncements in prophetic literature |
| Waves of the sea coming up | כְּהַעֲלוֹת הַיָּם לְגַלָּיו | ke-ha'alot ha-yam le-gallav | 26:3 | An ironic image: the sea Tyre depended on becomes the instrument of judgment |
| Bare rock | צְחִיחַ סָלַע | tzechiach sela' | 26:4, 14 | "Bald rock": name-based irony (Tyre = Rock) |
| Place for spreading nets | מִשְׁטַח חֲרָמִים | mishtach charamim | 26:5, 14 | From trade center to a place where fishermen dry nets |
| King of kings | מֶלֶךְ מְלָכִים | melekh melakhim | 26:7 | Official title of Assyrian-Babylonian emperors; in the NT, Rev 19:16 exclusively claims it for Christ |
| The north | צָפוֹן | tzafon | 26:7 | The standard direction from which Babylonian armies marched |
| Siege platform | דָּיֵק | dayeq | 26:8 | An elevated assault platform |
| Siege mound | סֹלְלָה | solelah | 26:8 | A ramp built up to reach the top of the city wall |
| Battering engines | מְחִי קָבָלּוֹ | mechi qovallo | 26:9 | Iron-tipped wooden rams used to batter down walls |
| Pillars of strength | מַצְּבוֹת עֻזֵּךְ | matzevot 'uzzekh | 26:11 | Possibly the golden and emerald pillars described by Herodotus |
| Never to be rebuilt | לֹא תִבָּנֶה עוֹד | lo tibbaneh 'od | 26:14 | The ultimate pronouncement of judgment |
| The islands shake | יִרְעֲשׁוּ הָאִיִּים | yir'ashu ha-'iyyim | 26:15 | The international "earthquake effect" of Tyre's fall |
| Lamentation | קִינָה | qinah | 26:17 | The standard lament form of prophetic literature |
| The renowned city | הָעִיר הַהֻלָּלָה | ha-'ir ha-hullalah | 26:17 | "The praised city": a star of world civilization |
| Strong in the sea | חֲזָקָה בַיָּם | chazaqah va-yam | 26:17 | Tyre's "dual strength": fortifications + economy |
| How you are destroyed! | אֵיךְ אָבָדְתְּ | eikh avadt | 26:17 | The signature rhetorical question of lament (thematically linked to Lamentations' opening eikhah) |
| The deep | תְּהוֹם | tehom | 26:19 | The "deep" of Gen 1:2: the primordial, uncreated waters of chaos |
| Brought down into the pit | הוֹרַדְתִּיךְ אֶל־בּוֹר | horadtikh el-bor | 26:20 | "Brought down to the pit": a synonym for Sheol |
| The people of old time | עַם עוֹלָם | 'am 'olam | 26:20 | "The people of eternity": the dead nations and generations of antiquity |
| Glory in the land of the living | נָתַתִּי צְבִי בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים | natatti tzevi be-eretz chayyim | 26:20 | As Tyre descends into Sheol, Israel receives glory |
| Never be found again | לֹא־תִמָּצְאִי עוֹד | lo-timmatze'i 'od | 26:21 | The final seal on the judgment |
A. Oracle Formula and Date (26:1)
- The 11th year, a certain month, a certain day: during or just before Jerusalem's siege/fall
B. Indictment: Tyre's "Aha!" (26:2)
- "The gateway of the peoples is broken — I will be replenished"
- Cold-blooded economic calculation
C. Judgment Theme: The Wave Imagery (26:3-6)
- I am against you
- Many nations like waves of the sea
- Bare rock, place for spreading nets
- Recognition formula (1) (26:6)
D. Specific Sentence: Nebuchadnezzar's Siege (26:7-14) — the most detailed central section
- The king of kings comes from the north
- Siege tactics catalog (platforms, mounds, bucklers, battering rams, axes)
- Horse hoofs trampling streets, walls shaking
- Riches plundered, pleasant houses destroyed
- Stones, timber, and dust cast into the waters (26:12 — prophecy of Alexander's causeway)
- Songs and harps silenced
- Bare rock, never to be rebuilt
- Recognition formula (2) (implied in 26:14)
E. International Reaction: The Lament of the Island Kings (26:15-18)
- Islands tremble
- Kings descend from thrones, remove robes and fine garments, sit trembling on the ground
- Lament's rhetorical question: "How you are destroyed, O renowned city...!"
F. Ultimate Fate: Descent into Sheol (26:19-21)
- Covered by the deep (tehom): creation in reverse
- Brought down into the pit, dwelling with the people of old time
- I will set glory in the land of the living (26:20 — key pastoral message)
- Never be found again
- Recognition formula (3) (implied in 26:21)
Structural characteristics: This chapter follows a five-layer pyramid structure: "Indictment — Theme — Specifics — Reaction — Ultimate fate." The most detailed section at the center is the siege proclamation of 26:7-14 (8 verses), while the other sections are shorter (3-4 verses each). This structure makes the "specific sentence" the visual center of attention — what the reader is drawn to most is "how exactly does God judge Tyre?" The "water" imagery throughout the chapter (waves — cast into the water — the deep / tehom) intensifies layer by layer, with water serving as the judgment instrument that runs through the entire chapter.
| Theme | Ancient Near Eastern Context | Presentation in This Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Tyre's dual-city structure | Tyre's main city was on a small island about 1 km offshore (the island city), with an additional "Old Tyre" on the mainland (the continental city); the island city had high walls and was nearly impregnable | 26:7-14 — the siege description corresponds to the capture of mainland Old Tyre; 26:12 — "casting stones into the water" is the method Alexander used to capture the island city in 332 BC |
| The Phoenician commercial empire | Tyre was the hub of the Mediterranean's largest commercial network: purple dye ("royal purple" derived from Mediterranean murex snails), glass craftsmanship, cedar timber, and Silk Road transit trade | 26:12 — "riches" and "pleasant houses" refer to Tyre's wealth as a luxury goods center |
| Carthage (Tyre's colony) | Tyre founded Carthage in approximately 814 BC; it later grew into a western Mediterranean superpower and fought three Punic Wars against Rome | Not directly mentioned in this chapter, but "her end" (26:18) encompasses the total collapse of Tyre's commercial network |
| The "King of kings" title | The Assyrian imperial title šar šarrāni; adopted by the Neo-Babylonian emperors | 26:7 uses this title for Nebuchadnezzar; in the NT, Rev 19:16 reassigns this title exclusively to Christ |
| Ancient Near Eastern siege tactics | Assyrian reliefs (from Nimrud and Nineveh) depict in detail siege platforms, ramps, siege towers, battering rams, and sappers | 26:8-9 — the description matches the archaeological record exactly; Ezekiel's "military terminology" was common knowledge in his era |
| The concept of Sheol | Ancient Near Eastern cosmology: Sheol lies deep beneath the earth, the gathering place of the dead; Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian cultures all had underworld mythologies | 26:19-21 borrows the Sheol cosmological framework as theological rhetoric, but the core message is God's sovereign judgment, not underworld mythology |
| The wave imagery | Ancient Near Eastern literature commonly used "sea monsters" (e.g., the Sumerian Tiamat) as symbols of chaotic forces | 26:3 — the wave imagery inherits this cosmological tradition but demythologizes it: the waves are simply a metaphor for "nations attacking" |
Tyre (צוֹר, Tzor) = "Rock." God strips "Rock" down to "bare rock" (צְחִיחַ סָלַע) — your very name foretells your fate. This is one of the sharpest ironic techniques in Hebrew poetry.
26:2 directly quotes Tyre's "Aha!" as prosecution evidence. Consistent with 25:3 (Ammon) and 25:8 (Moab), God's judgment is evidence-based — not an act of arbitrary anger.
Oracle formula — Indictment — Theme — Specifics — Reaction — Ultimate fate. Layer upon layer of progression, moving from far to near and then from near back to far — a cinematic sequence of gradually shifting perspectives. This structure recurs throughout Ezekiel (the throne vision of chapter 1, the four temple visions of chapters 8-11, and the new temple vision of chapters 40-48 all employ a similar rhythmic shifting of perspective).
26:1 gives an exact date + 26:7 names Nebuchadnezzar specifically + 26:8-9 provides a detailed siege catalog — the prophet's predictions achieve a level of precision that is testable against history. This is entirely different from general myth or poeticized prophecy; Ezekiel dares to be specific.
Water and sea imagery runs through the entire chapter: functioning both as the instrument of judgment and as the direction of judgment (downward into the abyss).
26:17 — "How you are destroyed!" (אֵיךְ אָבָדְתְּ, eikh avadt) — the signature rhetorical question of Hebrew lament. The opening word of the entire book of Lamentations is eikhah, from the same root. Ezekiel uses this device to have the nations raise a "Babylonian-era Lamentations" for Tyre — and the irony is exquisite: Tyre, who once said "Aha!" over Jerusalem, now has others raising a lament over her.
26:19 — "The deep (tehom) covers you": the "deep" of Genesis 1:2. At creation, God pushed the tehom back to make dry land appear; in judgment, He lets the tehom surge back over Tyre. This is the reversal of creation — a return to primordial chaos. It represents the deepest vocabulary of judgment in prophetic literature.
How this chapter advances the major threads of the book of Ezekiel:
26:20 — "I will set glory in the land of the living": Hebrew נָתַתִּי צְבִי בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים. The word for "glory" here (צְבִי, tzevi, "beauty, splendor, ornament") is different from the kavod of 1:28, but it functions synonymously — God's beauty and splendor are manifested in the land of Israel. This chapter expands the "glory of God" theme from an internal Israelite concern (chapters 1-24) onto the international stage: even as God judges Tyre, His glory is being manifested in Israel. This anticipates the international dimension of the glory's return to the new temple in chapter 43.
This chapter's three recognition formulas (26:6, 14, 21) continue the "recognition formula for the nations" pattern begun with the four nations in chapter 25. The core purpose of the entire Nations unit (25-32) is that all peoples would come to know the LORD through judgment. This chapter provides the most detailed application of that purpose within the unit: Tyre will come to "know that I am the LORD" by being scraped into bare rock. Importantly, the audience for this recognition is not only Tyre but also the exiled Israelites — hearing the prophecy of Tyre's judgment renewed their confidence in the LORD's sovereignty.
26:2 — Tyre's response to "Jerusalem's collapse" is the starting point of this entire chapter. The fall of the temple was not an isolated event; it triggered a chain of reactions on the international stage: Ammon mocked (chapter 25), Tyre calculated (chapter 26), Egypt boasted (chapters 29-32). This chapter represents the nations' response to the temple's fall: God will deal with each of these responses.
This chapter's judgment against Tyre is historical (Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander), but its structural pattern — "God singles out a proud commercial empire for judgment — scraped to bare rock — descends into Sheol — never found again" — becomes the Old Testament root of the "fall of Babylon the Great" narrative in the book of Revelation. The lament over "Babylon the Great" (representing Rome by typology) in Revelation 18 bears a striking structural and verbal resemblance to the Tyre lament of 26:17-18 in this chapter. The eschatological "Babylon the Great" is the ultimate version of Tyre — God's final judgment on every empire built on commercial pride.
| Old Testament | New Testament Echo | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Ezek 26:2 — "Aha! She is broken... I will be replenished" | Luke 12:13-21 (the parable of the rich fool: his barns are not big enough, so he plans to tear them down and build bigger ones) | Treating another's disaster or one's own prosperity as personal "opportunity": Jesus' parallel warning against covetousness |
| Ezek 26:7 — "King of kings" | Rev 17:14; 19:16 — "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" | The Ancient Near Eastern imperial title is exclusively claimed by Christ in the NT: the title Nebuchadnezzar borrowed is reclaimed by the risen Lamb |
| Ezek 26:12 — "stones, timber, and dust cast into the middle of the waters" | Historical fulfillment: 332 BC, Alexander builds a causeway across the sea | The precision of prophetic utterance: fulfilled 250 years later at Alexander's hands |
| Ezek 26:13 — "I will cause the noise of your songs to cease. The sound of your harps won't be heard any more" | Rev 18:22 — "The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you" | Revelation's judgment language for Babylon the Great directly echoes Ezek 26:13; Tyre is the prototype of Babylon the Great |
| Ezek 26:15-18 — The lament of the island kings | Rev 18:9-19 — The kings of the earth, the merchants, and the shipmasters weep and mourn over Babylon the Great | Revelation's "lament over the commercial empire" inherits the entire structural framework of the Tyre lament in Ezek 26-27 |
| Ezek 26:17 — "How you are destroyed, O renowned city...!" | Rev 18:10, 16, 19 — "Woe, woe, the great city... For she is made desolate in one hour" | The lament's "rhetorical question" pattern is repeated three times in Revelation |
| Ezek 26:19-21 — Tyre's descent into Sheol | Rev 20:14 — "Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire" | An Old Testament foreshadowing of Sheol-judgment, expanded in the NT's eschatology into victory over death itself |
| Ezek 26:20 — "I will set glory in the land of the living" | Rev 21:23 — "The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it" | The manifestation of glory in the new city (New Jerusalem): the eschatological fulfillment of Ezek 26:20 |
| Ezek 26:21 — "Never be found again" | Rev 18:21 — "Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all" | The "never found again" phrasing is echoed almost verbatim in Revelation |
| The entire judgment on Tyre in Ezek 26 | The entire judgment on Babylon the Great in Rev 18 | Rev 18 as a whole is the eschatological expansion of the Tyre-judgment oracle of Ezek 26-27 |
Special note: Revelation 18 (the fall of Babylon the Great) echoes the Tyre lament of Ezekiel 26-27 almost in its entirety, making it one of the New Testament's most concentrated passages of Ezekiel echoes. Studying Ezekiel 26-27 is a key to understanding Revelation 18.
Authoritative commentaries
Chinese-language resources
Topical studies
Background Note: This chapter was delivered on "the eleventh year, the first of a certain month" (the 11th year of Jehoiachin's exile, approximately April 587 BC) — just months before or around the time of Jerusalem's fall. The specific date in 26:1 is missing the "month" in the Hebrew text; traditional manuscripts typically supply "the first month."
The year 587-586 BC was the most devastating year in Israel's salvation history. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had been besieging Jerusalem for more than a year (24:1-2 — the siege began on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year, i.e., January 588 BC). A web of concurrent events was unfolding:
Throughout this prolonged siege, Tyre was watching closely. Located on the southern coast of modern-day Lebanon, Tyre was the oldest and wealthiest Phoenician commercial empire on the eastern Mediterranean shore. Her location was uniquely advantageous: the main city sat on a small island about 1 kilometer offshore ("Tyre" literally means "rock"), with an additional "Old Tyre" on the mainland, creating a "dual sea-and-land city" configuration. The island city was enclosed by high walls, and from it, Mediterranean trading fleets set out in every direction — to North Africa (Carthage was a Tyrian colony), Greece, Cyprus, and Spain. Tyre's legendary wealth made her a target of judgment across multiple Old Testament books (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4; Joel 3:4-6; Amos 1:9-10; Zech 9:2-4).
Why was Tyre so critical at the moment of Jerusalem's fall? Economic geopolitics. Although Jerusalem was not a seaport, as an inland kingdom she was an important node on the Syria-Palestine trade route. Tyre and Jerusalem were both partners and potential competitors within the regional trade system. When Jerusalem collapsed, the trade routes that had flowed through Judah would inevitably shift — and Tyre, as the nearest port, stood to be the greatest beneficiary. Looking at Jerusalem's ruins, Tyre saw gold coins.
This is precisely why God singled her out for judgment. Tyre's sin was not hatred of Israel but treating Israel's disaster as her own wealth opportunity — the sin most easily committed and most difficult to detect in an age of prosperity.
Concurrent events: Jeremiah was imprisoned and thrown into a cistern multiple times during the final stages of Jerusalem's siege, and was rescued by Ebed-Melech (Jer 38-39). Daniel had been serving in Nebuchadnezzar's court in Babylon for roughly 20 years and was by now a middle-aged advisor. Ezekiel himself was by the Chebar canal in Babylon, and within a few months would hear the news of the temple's fall from a fugitive (33:21).
| Dimension | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | The first day of a certain month in the 11th year (the 11th year of Jehoiachin's exile, approximately April 587 BC; the month designation is missing from the text) |
| Location | By the Chebar canal in Babylon, at Tel-abib (where the oracle was delivered); the subject: Tyre (on the southern coast of modern Lebanon) |
| Audience | Ostensibly Tyre, but in reality the exiled Judean community: letting them hear that God has singled out the cold-blooded commercial opportunist for judgment |
| Concurrent events | Jerusalem in the final stages of the Babylonian siege (24:1-2 — siege began January 588 BC); Jeremiah confined in the court of the guard (Jer 32-33); Daniel serving in the Babylonian court for approximately 20 years |
| Parallel passages in Kings/Chronicles/Jeremiah | 2 Kings 25; Jer 25:22; Jer 27:3; Isa 23 (an earlier Tyre oracle); Amos 1:9-10 (Tyre "did not remember the brotherly covenant") |
| Historical fulfillment | Partial: Nebuchadnezzar's 13-year siege (587-574 BC) captured mainland Old Tyre but did not fully capture the island city; Complete: 332 BC, Alexander the Great completely destroyed the city (causeway + massacre + stones cast into the water) |
| Theme | Content |
|---|---|
| God is Lord of all nations | He judges not only the open mockers (the Ammonite pattern) but also the cold-blooded calculators (the Tyrian pattern): God sees the most insidious sin of a prosperous civilization |
| The quintessential sin of a prosperous civilization | Treating another's disaster as one's own wealth opportunity — this sin is more pervasive today than it was in 587 BC, manifesting in business, the workplace, and social relationships |
| Ironic judgment | Tyre ("Rock") is scraped to bare rock; the city that used the sea as her shield is overwhelmed by "waves" of nations; God judges her with the very environment she most depended on |
| The precision of prophetic utterance | 26:12 — "stones, timber, and dust cast into the middle of the waters" — precisely fulfilled 250 years later at Alexander's hands: human history is the theater in which God's prophecy unfolds |
| Progressive fulfillment | Nebuchadnezzar's incomplete fulfillment (Ezekiel himself acknowledges this in 29:17-20) followed by Alexander's complete fulfillment; God's standard of fulfillment is the ultimate completion, not the initial expectation |
| The recognition formula (3 occurrences) | The purpose of judging the nations is not annihilation but that all peoples should come to know "I am the LORD": a foreshadowing of the eschatological vision of all nations worshiping |
| Sheol-judgment | Tyre's descent into the pit: this opens the way for the deeper judgment narratives of chapter 28 (the archetype of Satan's fall) and chapters 31-32 (Pharaoh's descent into Sheol) |
| Glory in the land of the living | 26:20 — Even as Tyre descends into Sheol, God opens a way for Israel in the land of the living: the other side of judgment is redemption |