Page 135 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

CHAPTER XXVII. 120
placency. From verse 4 the allegory of a ship is before
us and this very strikingly in keeping with the peculiar
character of Tyre. “ Thy borders are in the heart of
the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They
have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir [the
south of Anti-libanus]; they have taken cedars from
Lebanon to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of
Bashan have they made thine oars,” &c. So the de­
scription follows, benches of ivory out of the isles of
Chittim, embroidered fine linen or cotton from Egypt
for sails, blue and purple covering from the isles or
coasts of Elishah—such were the adornments of the
vessel. From verse 8—11, we have the crew, the pilots,
and the traders, the marines and the guards. “ The in­
habitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy marines: thy
wise men, 0 Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were
in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their
mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. They
of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army,
thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in
thee; they set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad
with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and
the Gammadim were in thy towers: they hanged their
shields upon thy walls round about; they have made
thy beauty perfect.” (Ver. 8—11.) Thus those near
at hand are supposed to be sailors and pilots, with
mercenaries from Persia on the east, Lud and Phut on
the west. Tyre laid all under contribution and loved to
gather the most remote under her banner.
From verse 12 we enter upon her foreign trade,
beginning with Tarshish itself and ending with its
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