INTRODUCTION
Chapters 25-32 form a distinct unit in the Book of Ezekiel. This unit, composed of oracles against Judah’s neighbours, lies between the prophecies given before the fall of Jerusalem (chps.1-24) and those spoken after the fall of the city (chps. 33-48). These oracles against foreign nations therefore fill the gap between the announcement that the siege of Jerusalem has begun (24:1-2) and word of the fall of the city (33:21).
Chapter 25 dealt with Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia. Next comes almost three chapters on Tyre (26:1-28:19), a short section on Sidon (28:20-26), then four chapters on Egypt (29:1-32:32). In Ezekiel the material about Tyre naturally falls into three or four sections:
- It may be viewed as three sections which end with: thou shalt be a terror (26:21; 27:36; 28:19).
- It may be viewed as four sections that begin with: the word of the Lord came unto me (26:1; 27:1; 28:1; 28:11).
Oracles against Tyre by other Old Testament prophets are at: Isa 23:1-18; Amos 1:9-10; Joel 3:4; Zech 9:3-4.
WHAT IS EZEKIEL CHAPTER 26 ABOUT?
Ezekiel chapter 26 is a prophecy concerning the ancient city of Tyre, a maritime superpower famous for its wealth and commercial prowess. The chapter is set against the background of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BCE. Tyre is depicted as having rejoiced at Judah’s downfall; believing that it would enhance its own economic dominance. Ezekiel prophesies that Tyre will be judged by YHWH and be destroyed at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, not only for celebrating the fall of Jerusalem but also for corrupt practices and arrogant dependence upon its wealth.
THE STRUCTURE OF EZEKIEL CHAPTER 26
1-2 TYRE’S CELEBRATION OF JERUSALEM’S FALL
3-6 YHWH WILL BRING MANY NATIONS AGAINST TYRE
7-14 YHWH WILL BRING NEBUCHADNEZZAR AGAINST TYRE
15-18 THE RESULTS OF TYRE’S FALL
19-21 TYRE’S DESCENT TO THE UNDERWORLD OF DEATH
EXPOSITION
TYRE’S CELEBRATION OF JERUSALEM’S FALL (1-2)
(1) After supplying a date for the prophecy Ezekiel introduces the oracles about Tyre with the prophetic word formula the word of the Lord came unto me, saying (see also 27:1; 28:1; 28:11). The date is given as the eleventh year, on the first day of the month. Which month is not specified. The eleventh year is 587/586 BCE, the eleventh year of Jehoiachin’s exile in Babylon and of Zedekiah’s reign over Judah (2 Kgs 24:15-17; 25:2; Jer 52:5).
(2) Since we are not told the month, just the day of the month, all we can say is that the date refers generally to the year of Jerusalem’s fall. If the oracle was spoken just before the fall then, in v.2, Ezekiel is predicting what Tyre will say; if spoken just after the fall of the city then he is reporting what Tyre has said. Addressing Ezekiel as ‘Son of Adam’ YHWH says; Because – thus indicating that what follows is an oracle of judgement.
While not overtly hostile towards Jerusalem, Tyre reckoned that it stood to gain financially as a result of Jerusalem’s fall. Sweeney (2013, p.133) explains:
Tyres’s elation at the downfall of Jerusalem appears to be based on the view that Jerusalem competes with Tyre for control of the eastern Mediterranean trade routes. Although Tyre was a major naval power that controlled the coastal sea lanes to Egypt as well as to Asia Minor and beyond, Israel sat astride the land routes between Egypt to the south, Asia Minor to the northwest, and Aram and Mesopotamia to the northeast.
The description of Jerusalem as the ‘door of the nations’ therefore seems to be connected with trade and the movement of goods and people.
3-6 YHWH WILL BRING MANY NATIONS AGAINST TYRE
(3 -6) Beginning with ‘therefore’ the judgement is pronounced. The remainder of chapter 6 consists of four short oracles that begin with ‘Thus saith the Lord God’ (3, 7, 15, 19). The Lord God is against Tyre because of its greed. He will therefore bring many nations to it, not for trade but for war. This may be a reference to Nebuchadnezzar’s army which was made up of soldiers from the many nations across the Babylonian empire. They will come up against Tyre like the sea casting up its waves. Since the Phoenicians were an important maritime power there are many nautical references in the oracles against Tyre.
Foreign nations will demolish the walls of Tyre and pull down its fortifications. YHWH will ensure that the dust and rubble will be swept away and the island city be left a bare rock (Tyre means ‘rock’) in the middle of the sea; a place where fishermen will lay out their nets to dry. This will come true because ‘I the Lord have spoken it’ (cf. 28:10).
Tyre’s ‘daughters’ (6, 8) are its dependent towns situated along the coast. Their inhabitants will be put to the sword and the people (of Tyre or the exiles from Israel/Judah?) will recognise that YHWH is the Lord of the nations.
7-14 YHWH WILL BRING NEBUCHADNEZZAR AGAINST TYRE
The second of the four short oracles in chapter 26 that begin with ‘Thus saith the Lord God’ (3, 7, 15, 19) commences in v.7. Ezekiel emphasises that YHWH’s reach and authority are universal by maintaining that he will use someone who is a ‘king of kings,’ to accomplish his purposes. Nebuchadnezzar and his large army with their horses and chariots will come from the north and attack Tyre’s ‘daughter’ towns on the mainland first of all, then lay siege to the island fortress of Tyre.
What follows is a typical description of a city under siege. Nebuchadnezzar will set up siege works and use battering rams and the buckler. The latter was most likely a protective roof (for the siege ramp) made with interlocking shields (something like the later Roman testudo – tortoise formation) which deflected missiles rained down upon the invaders by the city’s defenders.
Nebuchadnezzar’s troops will make a causeway and breech the walls of the city; entering it with horses, chariots and wagons which create so much noise and vibration that walls will shake and the place be covered in dust. The inhabitants will be slain, their fancy houses destroyed and the debris thrown into the sea.
The phrase ‘pillars of your strength’ (KJV thy strong garrisons) may refer to the temple of the Phoenician god Melqart, the patron deity of Tyre who will be powerless to protect the city. The Greek historian Herodotus (Histories, II, 44) claims to have visited this temple – the Greeks and Romans associated Melqart with Hercules.
The wealth of Tyre will be plundered by the invading troops. The place will be left totally desolate (the sound of songs and harps will cease – no entertainment) and the city never built again (v.14, v.21, 27:36; 28:19 ). Again it is stated that Tyre will be left a bare rock on which fishermen will spread their nets.
15-18 THE RESULTS OF TYRE’S FALL
The third of the four short oracles in chapter 26 that begin with ‘Thus saith the Lord God’ (3, 7, 15, 19) commences in v.15 and deals with the reaction of Tyre’s allies and trading partners to the fall of the city. The implications will be far reaching. In the ancient world the islands, shores and coastlands of the Mediterranean were all interconnected through trade with Tyre. Some of them may have been Phoenician colonies. Their prosperity will be badly affected by Tyre’s demise. The news of its destruction is dramatized as loud noise – the groaning of the wounded as the inhabitants are slaughtered.
The wealthy merchants who act like ‘princes of the seas’ (cf. Isa 23:8) will come down from their places of honour and power (thrones). They will ‘take off’ their fancy robes and ‘put on’ trembling. Such will be their consternation that they will tremble all the time (‘at every moment’). Removal of good clothing and lamentation were typical mourning practices at that time. Using the Kinah (or Qinah) poetic metre Ezekiel presents their lamentation in the form of a dirge (song expressing grief);
‘How you have perished,
you who were inhabited from the seas,
O city renowned,
who was mighty on the sea;
she and her inhabitants imposed their terror
on all her inhabitants!
Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall,
and the coastlands that are on the sea
are dismayed at your passing.’ Ezekiel 26:17-18 CSB
19-21 TYRE’S DESCENT TO THE UNDERWORLD OF DEATH
The last of the four short oracles in chapter 26 that begin with ‘Thus saith the Lord God’ (3, 7, 15, 19) commences in v.19. Although v.7 names Nebuchadnezzar as the agent of Tyre’s destruction, in this epilogue (vv.19-21) YHWH emphasises that he – the Sovereign Lord – is actually the controlling power who will bring judgement upon Tyre. He says:
- When I shall make (v.19)
- When I shall bring up (v.19)
- When I shall bring thee down (v.20)
- and shall set thee (v.20)
- I shall set glory (v.20)
- I will make (v.21)
An island city, Tyre’s destruction is viewed figuratively as the result of a catastrophic flood (when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you v.19, CSB). This idea is reinforced by mention of ‘the people of old time’ i.e. the antediluvian people who perished in the waters of the Flood (cf. Isa 44:7; 2 Pet 2:5). Tyre’s ultimate humiliation is conveyed by the imagery of ‘the pit’ and ‘the low parts of the earth’ (cf. Eph 4:9). YHWH will bring Tyre to a dreadful end – I will make thee a terror – 26:21 also 27:36; 28:19. Skinner (1895, p.241-242) observes:
To the mind of Ezekiel the impossibility of her restoration lies in the fixed purpose of Jehovah, which includes, not only her destruction, but her perpetual desolation. . .The whole passage is steeped in weird poetic imagery. The “deep” suggests something more than the blue waters of the Mediterranean: it is the name of the great primeval Ocean, out of which the habitable world was fashioned, and which is used as an emblem of the irresistible judgments of God. The “pit” is the realm of the dead, Sheol, conceived as situated under the earth, where the shades of the departed drag out a feeble existence from which there is no deliverance. The idea of Sheol is a frequent subject of poetical embellishment in the later books of the Old Testament; and of this we have an example here when the prophet represents the once populous and thriving city as now a denizen of that dreary place. But the essential meaning he wishes to convey is that Tyre is numbered among the things that were. She “shall be sought, and shall not be found any more for ever,” because she has entered the dismal abode of the dead, whence there is no return to the joys and activities of the upper world.
Tyre will descend into the underworld – the realm of the dead – it will suddenly disappear and no trace of it will be found.
SUMMATION
Ezekiel 26 is the first of three chapters dealing with YHWH’s judgement upon the Phoenician city of Tyre, the most prominent maritime power of the time. Although a prophecy of historical events the chapter is also a salutary lesson about the consequences of pride, greed and celebrating the misfortunes of others. It is also a warning about the folly of prioritising material wealth over spiritual values. The prophecy also emphasises God’s sovereignty and the fact that every nation and individual must face the consequences of their actions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Hengstenberg, E. H., (1869). The Prophecies of the Prophet Ezekiel Elucidated. T and T Clark, Edinburgh
Rooker, M.F. and Anders, M.E. (2006). Ezekiel. Broadman & Holman, Nashville
Skinner, J. (1895). The Expositor’s Bible: The Book of Ezekiel. Hodder and Stoughton, London
Sweeney, M. A. (2013). Reading Ezekiel. Smyth & Helwys Publishing Inc. Macon, Georgia
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Saur, M. (2010). Ezekiel 26-28 and the History of Tyre. Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, Vol. 24, No.2, pp. 208–221.
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Eduljee, E. (2026). Herodotus Histories Book 2 – Euterpe. [online] Heritageinstitute.com. Available at: https://heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/reference/herodotus_histories2.htm [Accessed 2 Apr. 2026].
Petter, D. (2023). Ezekiel. [online] Available at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/ezekiel/?queryID=d063e2768890dfa3f65dd84827769e99 [Accessed 2 Apr. 2026].
Written Exposition 