Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 26: Like the Top of a Rock
Tyre was the great merchant metropolis of the ancient world, a wealthy island fortress of traders whose ships filled the Mediterranean. When Jerusalem fell, Tyre thought first of business: 'Aha... I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste,' glad that a rival trade-gate was gone. For that greed and gloating, God pronounces her doom. 'Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus.' Wave after wave of nations will come against her like the sea; Nebuchadnezzar will besiege her; and in the end she will be scraped bare 'like the top of a rock,' a place where fishermen spread their nets. The proud city 'strong in the sea' will sink so completely that 'though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again.' It is a stunning prophecy of the fall of worldly pride and wealth, and history fulfilled it to the letter.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 26, the first of three chapters on Tyre. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Glad at Jerusalem's Fall
Tyre rejoiced for commercial gain when her rival Jerusalem was ruined.
Nations Like the Sea
God will bring wave after wave of nations against the proud island city.
Like the Top of a Rock
Tyre will be scraped bare, a place for fishermen to spread their nets.
Never Found Again
The isles mourn the renowned city that sinks and is sought but never found.
Behold, I Am Against Thee, O Tyrus (Ezekiel 26:1-6)
Because Tyre gloated over Jerusalem's fall, expecting to profit from it, God declares Himself against her and will bring many nations against her like the sea's waves, scraping her bare like a rock.
A Place for the Spreading of Nets
"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD."
Hebrew Study
"I shall be replenished," immalei (אִמָּלֵאָה). Literally "I shall be filled." Tyre's reaction to Jerusalem's ruin was purely commercial: with the rival trade-city (a "gate of the peoples") gone, Tyre expected her own coffers to fill. Her sin was cold, calculating greed that rejoiced in another's disaster because it meant profit. The love of money hardens the heart to others' suffering (1 Timothy 6:10).
"like the top of a rock," litzchiach sela (לִצְחִיחַ סָלַע). A bare, scraped, sun-baked rock. God would strip Tyre so completely that only bare stone would remain, fit only for fishermen "spreading of nets." The name "Tyre" (Tzor) itself means "rock." God would make the proud "rock" city into a bare rock, a precise and ironic judgment fulfilled when her ruins were eventually scraped into the sea.
Explanation
Tyre, the wealthy island trading city, greeted Jerusalem's fall with a merchant's glee: "Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people... I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste." Jerusalem had been a "gate," a hub of trade routes; with her gone, Tyre expected to absorb the business and grow richer. Her sin was greed that gloated over another's ruin because it promised profit. To such cold-hearted covetousness God responds: "Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus."
The judgment is vivid: "many nations" will come against her "as the sea causeth his waves to come up", wave after wave of empires. Her walls and towers will fall, and God will "scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock", a bare stone "for the spreading of nets." This was fulfilled with remarkable precision. Nebuchadnezzar besieged the mainland city; centuries later Alexander the Great literally scraped the ruins of old Tyre into the sea to build a causeway to the island fortress, leaving the site a bare rock where fishermen dry their nets to this day. "For I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD", and history proved His word exact.
Gospel Focus
Tyre's sin was a heart so given to gain that another city's destruction looked like an opportunity. It is a searching mirror, "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), and greed hardens us to the suffering of others. The gospel calls us to the opposite heart, to "weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15), not to profit from their pain. And the precise fulfillment of this prophecy, the proud "rock" made a bare rock, "though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again", is a powerful witness to the reliability of God's word. What God says, He does, down to the smallest detail; the same faithfulness that fulfilled every word of judgment on Tyre guarantees every promise of God in Christ. Fulfilled prophecy like this is one of the great evidences that the Bible is God's true word, "for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD."
Nebuchadrezzar, a King of Kings (Ezekiel 26:7-14)
God names the instrument: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who will besiege Tyre with horses, chariots, and siege engines, plunder her riches, silence her songs, and cast her stones into the sea, so that she is built no more.
Thou Shalt Be Built No More
"For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD."
Hebrew Study
"a king of kings," melekh melakhim (מֶלֶךְ מְלָכִים). A title for the supreme emperor Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled many subject kings. Yet Scripture reserves the true and ultimate "KING OF KINGS" for Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15). Earthly emperors bear the title for a season and pass away; Christ holds it for ever. The greatest human "king of kings" was but God's instrument.
"the noise of thy songs to cease," hamon shirayikh (הֲמוֹן שִׁירָיִךְ). Tyre was full of the music and merriment of a rich, festive city. God would silence it all, "the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard." The same silencing of music marks the fall of Babylon the great, "the voice of harpers... shall be heard no more at all in thee" (Revelation 18:22). Worldly celebration is fleeting; only what is built on God endures.
Explanation
God names the immediate instrument of judgment: "Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings," who would come "from the north" with a great army, "horses... chariots... horsemen," to besiege Tyre. The description of the siege is detailed, forts, siege mounds, battering "engines of war," axes against the towers, horses trampling the streets. Tyre's fabled "riches" and "merchandise" would become plunder, her "pleasant houses" destroyed, her very "stones and... timber and... dust" cast "in the midst of the water."
Two results are striking. First, "I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease", the festive music of the rich city fell silent. Second, "thou shalt be built no more." Historically, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for thirteen years and broke the mainland city; Alexander later finished the work by scraping the ruins into the sea. The ancient glory of Tyre never returned; the great trading metropolis was gone. Note again that God claims authorship: "for I the LORD have spoken it." Nebuchadnezzar was the visible cause, but the LORD was the true author of the judgment, using even a pagan "king of kings" as His instrument.
Gospel Focus
Nebuchadnezzar is called "a king of kings," but the title belongs supremely and eternally to another. Earthly emperors rise as God's instruments and fall in their turn; only Jesus Christ is truly "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:16), whose kingdom never ends. Tyre trusted her wealth, her walls, and her songs, and lost them all; the believer is warned not to build on what can be swept into the sea. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God" (1 Timothy 6:17). The silencing of Tyre's songs foreshadows the fall of every "Babylon", every proud, wealthy, God-defying system, in Revelation 18. The gospel invites us to build our lives not on the treasures that "moth and rust doth corrupt" but on the King whose reign, and whose reward, can never be plundered.
Thou Shalt Never Be Found Again (Ezekiel 26:15-21)
The coastlands tremble and the sea-princes mourn over Tyre's fall; God will bring her down to the pit like the dead of old, a terror and a warning, sought for but never found again.
I Shall Set Glory in the Land of the Living
"Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure. For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee; When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD."
Hebrew Study
"the pit," bor (בּוֹר). The grave, the underworld, the place of the dead. To "descend into the pit" is to die and be gathered to those long dead, "the people of old time." The proud, living city, "strong in the sea," would join the silent dead. It is the great leveller: all human glory, however dazzling, finally goes down to the pit unless it is anchored in the living God.
"I shall set glory in the land of the living," eretz chayyim (אֶרֶץ חַיִּים). In sharp contrast to Tyre going down to the pit, God will "set glory in the land of the living." Where the proud city sinks into death, God establishes His glory among the living. It hints at the enduring hope of God's people: not the pit, but "the land of the living," where the glory of the LORD dwells (Psalm 27:13; Isaiah 38:11).
Explanation
The chapter closes with a funeral scene. When Tyre falls, "the isles shall shake," and "the princes of the sea", the merchant rulers of other coastal cities, will "come down from their thrones," strip off their splendid robes, and "sit upon the ground" in horror. They will "take up a lamentation," astonished: "How art thou destroyed... the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea!" The fall of so mighty a city sends a shockwave of dread through the whole trading world; if Tyre can fall, no one is safe.
God's final word is total: He will bring Tyre down "with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time," into "the low parts of the earth." The city that seemed permanent will join the long-dead. And the sentence is absolute: "thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again." Against this backdrop of death and oblivion stands one bright phrase: "I shall set glory in the land of the living." While Tyre sinks into the pit, God establishes His glory among the living. The contrast is the whole point: worldly glory ends in the grave; the glory God sets among His living people endures.
Gospel Focus
The fall of Tyre "into the pit" while God sets "glory in the land of the living" draws the great line that runs through all Scripture: the way of proud, worldly glory leads down to death, but God's glory is established among the living. The Psalmist clung to this hope, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13), and it reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is "the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25) and who conquered the very pit, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore... and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18). Tyre's motto could be "strong in the sea," yet she was swallowed by the sea; but in Christ, death itself is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54). The lesson is plain: do not build your life on what goes down to the pit, but on the risen Lord who sets His glory, and gives eternal life, in "the land of the living."
Chapter 26 in Review
Ezekiel 26 pronounces the doom of Tyre, the proud merchant metropolis that greeted Jerusalem's fall with a trader's greed, "Aha... I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste." For that cold-hearted covetousness God declares, "Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus." Wave after wave of nations will come against her; Nebuchadnezzar, "a king of kings," will besiege her; her riches will be plundered, her songs silenced, and she will be scraped bare "like the top of a rock," a place for fishermen's nets, and "built no more." The coastlands will mourn the renowned city "strong in the sea," and God will bring her down "to the pit... and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again."
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is a powerful witness and warning. Its precise fulfillment in history, the "rock" city made a bare rock, scraped into the sea, testifies that God's word comes to pass exactly, so every promise of God in Christ is sure. Its exposure of Tyre's greed warns against a heart so set on gain that it gloats over others' loss. And its great contrast, Tyre sinking to the pit while God sets "glory in the land of the living", points to the gospel: worldly glory ends in the grave, but Christ, the true KING OF KINGS who holds "the keys of hell and of death," gives His people a glory and a life that can never be plundered. Build not on what the sea can swallow, but on the risen Lord in the land of the living.
- Greed that gloats over others' ruin for profit is a sin God judges (26:2; 1 Timothy 6:10).
- God's word is fulfilled to the letter; Tyre the "rock" became a bare rock, scraped into the sea (26:4-5, 14).
- The greatest earthly "king of kings" is but God's instrument; the true KING OF KINGS is Christ (26:7; Revelation 19:16).
- Worldly wealth, walls, and songs are fleeting; do not trust in "uncertain riches" (26:12-13; 1 Timothy 6:17).
- The proud city sinks to "the pit," while God sets "glory in the land of the living" (26:20).
- Christ conquered the pit and gives eternal life; build on the risen Lord, not on what the sea can swallow (26:20; John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:54).
Questions for Reflection
- Is there any way you profit from, or quietly welcome, others' misfortune? What does God say of that?
- How does the exact fulfillment of the Tyre prophecy strengthen your trust in God's word?
- Are you building your life on "uncertain riches" that could be swept away, or on the living God?
- What does it mean to seek the glory and life God sets "in the land of the living," in Christ?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Tyre (Tzor, "rock") was the great Phoenician trading city; the name-play with "top of a rock" (verses 4, 14) is exact. The prophecy was fulfilled in stages: Nebuchadnezzar's thirteen-year siege of the mainland city, and Alexander the Great's scraping of its ruins into the sea (332 B.C.) to build a causeway to the island, leaving a bare rock for drying nets. The gloating "Aha" recalls Ezekiel 25:3. "The love of money" is 1 Timothy 6:10; not trusting "uncertain riches" is 1 Timothy 6:17. "A king of kings" (verse 7) is a title given ultimately to Christ (Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15). The silencing of songs (verse 13) parallels the fall of Babylon the great (Revelation 18:22). "The land of the living" (verse 20) is the hope of Psalm 27:13 and Isaiah 38:11; Christ conquers the pit (John 11:25; Revelation 1:18) and death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54). If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Tyre's greedy gloating; God against her; scraped like a rock, a place for nets: Ezekiel 26:1-6; 1 Timothy 6:10; Romans 12:15.
- Nebuchadnezzar the "king of kings"; the siege; songs silenced; built no more: Ezekiel 26:7-14; Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:17; Revelation 18:22.
- The isles lament; brought down to the pit; God's glory in the land of the living: Ezekiel 26:15-21; Psalm 27:13; John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:54.