Ezekiel 27:18

Helbon was a town ten miles north of Damascus. Zahar may have been nearby, although its exact location is unknown.

This large trading system existed to serve Tyre’s strong desire for trade. The city wanted goods from many different lands and did not seem satisfied. The list of Tyre’s trading partners is very long. Tyre traded in many kinds of goods, including slaves, horses, saddle blankets, silver, dyed cloth, and figs (compare Revelation 18:11–13).

The cargo list is arranged by geographic region. It names places from every direction (north, south, east, and west). It includes both large and small trading centers. Almost every valuable object that people could buy or sell appears somewhere on the list of Tyre’s goods.

The second part of the prophet’s message to Tyre (see study note on Ezekiel 26:1–28:19) is a funeral song.

The song compares Tyre’s past glory with its present loss. It connects with the previous chapter in several ways. Both speak directly to Tyre. Both describe Tyre as a gateway and a center of trade (see Ezekiel 26:1–2). Both end with the same message: Tyre has come to a terrible end and will exist no more (compare Ezekiel 26:21).

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).

• 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.