Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 27: Broken in the Midst of the Seas
Ezekiel sings a funeral song over Tyre, and pictures her as a splendid merchant ship, the pride of the seas. She is built of the choicest materials, fir and cedar and oak, sailed with fine embroidered linen, crewed by the wisest mariners, and laden with the wares of the whole world; a floating treasure-house that enriched 'the kings of the earth.' 'Thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.' Then comes the sudden reversal: 'the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.' The great ship founders, and all her riches, crew, and merchandise 'fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.' The kings and merchants who grew rich by her stand aghast, wailing, 'What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?' It is a vivid picture of the shipwreck of worldly wealth and pride, glorious one moment, gone the next.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 27, the lament over Tyre as a great merchant ship. 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
Of Perfect Beauty
Tyre is pictured as a magnificent ship built of the finest materials.
Merchant of the Nations
The wares of the whole world pass through her, enriching the kings of the earth.
Broken by the East Wind
The great ship founders and sinks with all her riches into the sea.
What City Is Like Tyre?
All who grew rich by her wail over her sudden, total ruin.
Thou Hast Said, I Am of Perfect Beauty (Ezekiel 27:1-11)
Ezekiel pictures Tyre as a glorious ship, built of the finest timbers, fitted with embroidered sails, crewed by the wisest mariners, and defended by hired soldiers from many lands, boasting, "I am of perfect beauty."
They Have Made Thy Beauty Perfect
"The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O 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 Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect."
Hebrew Study
"I am of perfect beauty," ani kelilat yofi (אֲנִי כְּלִילַת יֹפִי). Tyre's proud self-assessment. The same word, "the perfection of beauty" (kelilat yofi), was used of Zion in Psalm 50:2 and Lamentations 2:15, but there it was God's gift; here it is Tyre's boast. The city credited her splendor to her own building, "thy builders have perfected thy beauty." Pride takes what is given and calls it one's own achievement.
"a merchant of the people for many isles," rokhelet ha-ammim (רֹכֶלֶת הָעַמִּים). A trader with the peoples of many coastlands. Tyre's whole identity was commerce; she was the great middleman of the ancient world. There is no sin in trade itself, but when a people's entire glory, security, and self-worth rest on wealth and reputation, the stage is set for a fall.
Explanation
Ezekiel takes up a "lamentation for Tyrus" and casts the whole city as a magnificent ship. Every part is drawn from the finest the world could offer: planks of "fir trees of Senir," masts of "cedars from Lebanon," oars of "oaks of Bashan," benches inlaid with "ivory," sails of "fine linen with broidered work from Egypt," coverings of "blue and purple." Her crew were the best, "wise men... thy pilots" from Sidon and Arvad, skilled "calkers" from Gebal, and her defenses were manned by hired soldiers "of Persia and of Lud and of Phut."
The refrain is telling: "they have made thy beauty perfect," and Tyre boasted, "I am of perfect beauty." Every strand of her glory came from somewhere else, borrowed timbers, foreign sailors, hired mercenaries, yet she took the credit for herself. This is the anatomy of pride: assembling gifts and advantages from every source and then boasting as if the glory were self-made. Beneath the dazzling description, God is quietly exposing a city intoxicated with its own splendor, a ship riding high before the storm.
Gospel Focus
Tyre's boast, "I am of perfect beauty," when every plank and sail was a gift from elsewhere, exposes the pride that lurks in every human heart. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). All we have, our abilities, wealth, and advantages, is given; to boast in it as self-made is the essence of pride, and "pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). The gospel humbles us by reminding us that even our salvation is a gift, "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). The only "perfection of beauty" that endures is the beauty God gives, and He gives it to be received with thanks, not claimed as our own. The proud ship that says "I made myself" is riding for a fall; the humble heart that says "all is from Him" is safe.
Thou Wast Replenished and Made Very Glorious (Ezekiel 27:12-25)
A sweeping catalogue lists the nations that traded with Tyre, silver and iron, slaves and horses, ivory and emeralds, wheat and wine and spices, so that she was "replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas."
The Merchant of Many Isles
"Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas."
Hebrew Study
"they traded the persons of men," nephesh adam (נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם). Among Tyre's "merchandise" were human beings, slaves ("the persons of men"). The great trading empire dealt in people as commodities. It is a dark note in the glittering list: unbridled commerce readily trades even human souls for profit. The same evil marks Babylon the great, whose merchandise includes "slaves, and souls of men" (Revelation 18:13).
"made very glorious," vattikbedi meod (וַתִּכְבְּדִי מְאֹד). Literally "you became very heavy/weighty," rich, honored, laden with glory. The word for "glory" (kavod) carries the idea of weight. Tyre grew heavy with wealth and honor "in the midst of the seas." But glory built on merchandise is a heavy cargo that can sink the ship; the next section shows how quickly the weighty glory goes down.
Explanation
This section is a vast trade catalogue, a snapshot of the ancient world's commerce flowing through Tyre. From "Tarshish" came "silver, iron, tin, and lead"; from Greece and Anatolia ("Javan, Tubal, and Meshech"), slaves and bronze; from "Togarmah," horses and mules; from "Dedan," ivory and ebony; from "Syria," emeralds and fine linen. Even "Judah, and the land of Israel" traded "wheat... honey, and oil, and balm." From Arabia came livestock; from "Sheba and Raamah," "chief of all spices... precious stones, and gold." The list is dazzling in its scope: Tyre was the hub of the whole known world's trade.
The result: "thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas." The whole world enriched her, and she grew heavy with wealth and honor. Yet two quiet warnings sit in the list. First, she "traded the persons of men", human beings bought and sold as commodities, a mark of commerce grown ruthless. Second, all this "glory" is precisely the cargo that will sink her. The catalogue that reads like a triumph is really the inventory of a ship about to go down, and everything named here as her riches will, in the next verses, "fall into the midst of the seas."
Gospel Focus
The glittering trade list, with "the persons of men" tucked among the ivory and spices, exposes what unbridled commerce can become: a system that will trade even human souls for gain. Scripture's final "Babylon the great" is described the same way, her merchandise ending with "slaves, and souls of men" (Revelation 18:13), and God judges it. The gospel places infinite value on the very souls the world treats as commodities, "what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26), a soul worth more than the whole world, redeemed "not with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). And the whole catalogue of glory that Tyre gathered only made her a heavier ship to sink. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:19-20). The wealth that cannot cross the storm is no true wealth; the treasure that lasts is laid up with God.
The East Wind Hath Broken Thee (Ezekiel 27:26-36)
At the height of her glory the ship is wrecked by the east wind and sinks with all her riches and crew; the mariners, merchants, and kings of the earth mourn in horror over the sudden ruin of the city that once enriched them all.
Thou Shalt Be a Terror, and Never Shalt Be Any More
"Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land; And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea? When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more."
Hebrew Study
"the east wind," ruach ha-qadim (רוּחַ הַקָּדִים). The fierce, scorching wind off the desert, a recurring symbol of God's judgment (Ezekiel 17:10; 19:12). For a ship, an east wind driving her into "great waters" spells disaster. Tyre's proud vessel, riding high on the world's trade, is broken by the wind of God's judgment "in the midst of the seas."
"never shalt be any more," ve-eineikh ad-olam (וְאֵינֵךְ עַד־עוֹלָם). A sentence of permanent end: "thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more." The city that enriched the kings of the earth becomes a warning and a horror, gone forever. The same finality closes the chapter on every worldly power that exalts itself against God, glory today, "no more at all" tomorrow.
Explanation
The turn is sudden and total. "Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas." The magnificent ship, at the peak of her voyage, is wrecked. And everything that was her glory goes down with her: "thy riches... thy merchandise, thy mariners... and all thy men of war... shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin." All the treasure and skill catalogued in the previous verses sinks in a moment.
Then comes the great mourning. The sailors and pilots of the world "cry bitterly," throw dust on their heads, shave themselves bald, put on sackcloth, and "wail" a lamentation: "What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?" They mourn not only Tyre but their own loss, for she "didst enrich the kings of the earth." When the great engine of the world's wealth goes down, everyone who profited by her trembles. The final verdict is stark: "thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more." The city that seemed the very perfection of beauty and permanence is gone forever, a lasting warning that no earthly glory, however dazzling, can outlast the judgment of God.
Gospel Focus
The shipwreck of Tyre is the Old Testament's vivid rehearsal of the fall of "Babylon the great" in Revelation 18, where the merchants and shipmasters of the earth again wail, "What city is like unto this great city!" and weep because "no man buyeth their merchandise any more" (Revelation 18:11, 18). The lesson is the same across the Testaments: the whole system of worldly wealth and pride, glittering and seemingly permanent, will sink in a moment under God's judgment, and all who built their lives on it will mourn. The gospel calls us to a different treasure, one the east wind cannot break, "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). When the ships of this world go down, those who trusted them go down with them; those who trusted the Lord stand on the rock that the storm cannot move. "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:17). Build on what cannot sink.
Chapter 27 in Review
Ezekiel 27 laments Tyre as a magnificent merchant ship. She is built of the choicest materials, crewed by the wisest mariners, laden with the wares of the whole world, and boasts, "I am of perfect beauty." A sweeping trade catalogue shows the nations enriching her until she is "replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas", though tucked among the treasures is the dark commerce of "the persons of men." Then, at the height of her glory, "the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas." The great ship founders, and all her riches, crew, and merchandise sink at once. The mariners, merchants, and kings of the earth wail over her, "What city is like Tyrus?", and the verdict falls: "thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more."
For the Apostolic reader, this lament is a mirror and a warning. It exposes the pride that gathers gifts from every source and boasts "I am of perfect beauty," when all we have is received; the gospel humbles us with grace, for even salvation is God's free gift. It shows how commerce untethered from God will trade even human souls, souls the gospel values as worth more than the whole world, redeemed by the blood of Christ. And it foreshadows the fall of "Babylon the great" in Revelation 18: the whole dazzling system of worldly wealth will sink in a moment, and all who built on it will mourn. The wise do not build on the ship the east wind can break, but on the treasure "reserved in heaven," and on the Lord who abides for ever. "The world passeth away... but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
- Pride gathers received gifts and boasts as if self-made; "what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" (27:3-4; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
- "Pride goeth before destruction"; the ship that says "I am of perfect beauty" rides for a fall (27:3; Proverbs 16:18).
- Commerce untethered from God will trade even "the persons of men"; the gospel values the soul above the world (27:13; Matthew 16:26; Revelation 18:13).
- Worldly glory is a heavy cargo that sinks the ship; lay up treasure in heaven (27:25; Matthew 6:19-20).
- The east wind of judgment breaks proud powers in a moment; "never shalt be any more" (27:26, 36).
- Tyre's fall foreshadows Babylon the great; build on what the storm cannot sink (27:32; Revelation 18; 1 Peter 1:4; 1 John 2:17).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you credit your gifts and successes to yourself, or receive them with thanks as from God?
- Is your security a "ship" the east wind could break, or the treasure "reserved in heaven"?
- How does Tyre's trade in "the persons of men" challenge how you value people versus profit?
- What would it look like to build your life on what "abideth for ever" rather than what "passeth away"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. "Perfect beauty" (kelilat yofi, verse 3) is used of Zion as God's gift (Psalm 50:2; Lamentations 2:15); Tyre claims it as her own. The trade catalogue (verses 12-25) reflects the real commerce of the ancient Near East. "The persons of men" as merchandise (verse 13) is the slave trade, echoed in Babylon's "slaves, and souls of men" (Revelation 18:13); the worth of the soul is Matthew 16:26 and 1 Peter 1:18-19. Received gifts and pride are 1 Corinthians 4:7 and Proverbs 16:18; grace as gift is Ephesians 2:8-9. The "east wind" of judgment (verse 26) recurs in Ezekiel 17:10; 19:12. The mourning over Tyre (verses 30-36) closely parallels the fall of Babylon the great (Revelation 18:9-19). The enduring inheritance is 1 Peter 1:4; laying up treasure in heaven is Matthew 6:19-20; the world passing away is 1 John 2:17. 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 the beautiful ship, built and manned by the nations, boasting "I am of perfect beauty": Ezekiel 27:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Proverbs 16:18.
- The trade of the whole world; "made very glorious"; the traffic in souls: Ezekiel 27:12-25; Matthew 16:26; Revelation 18:13.
- The east wind wrecks the ship; the world mourns; "never shalt be any more": Ezekiel 27:26-36; Revelation 18:9-19; 1 Peter 1:4; 1 John 2:17.