Keraia
Ezekiel 26

Ezekiel 26:20

A Prophecy against Tyre · Ezekiel 26:1–21
Read Ezekiel 26

Translations

Modern
…then I will bring you down with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the earth below like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or set in splendor in the land of the living.
Traditional
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;
Literal
I will bring you down with those going down to the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell within the earth, in the places below, like the ruins of old—with those going down to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or set in splendor in the land of the living.
Latin
…et detraxero te cum his qui descendunt in lacum ad populum sempiternum; et collocavero te in terra novissima sicut solitudines veteres, cum his qui deducuntur in lacum, ut non habiteris; porro cum dedero gloriam in terra viventium:

Original

Hebrew
English
…then I will bring you down with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the earth below like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or set in splendor in the land of the living.

Notes

Ezekiel 26:19–21

God would show his sovereign power by completely destroying Tyre.

It would be as if the great city had sunk beneath the deep waters of the sea. This picture describes total ruin. The people of Tyre would go down to the pit (the place of the dead), where the wicked dead remain. They would never return.

Ezekiel 26:1–28:19

The message against Tyre, Israel’s northwestern neighbor, is more detailed than the short messages before it. It consists of three similar sections (Ezekiel 26:2–21; 27:1–36; and 28:1–19). Each section conveys the same idea: Tyre would meet a terrible end and cease to exist (Ezekiel 27:36).

Ezekiel 25:1–32:32

  • This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.

  • One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.

Events

Parallels

Isaiah 23:1–18

Glossary

Book of Jeremiah Ezekiel, Book of Lord Place of the Dead