Ezekiel 27:5

They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) Ship boards.—Planking for the sides of the ship. The word in the original is in the dual, with reference to its two sides. Senir was the Amorite name of Hermon, or Antilebanon, called by the Sido-nians Sirion (Deuteronomy 3:9). Ezekiel wished to use a foreign name, and the latter may at this time have become obsolete. The timber brought thence for the ship’s planking, and called fir, was the same with that furnished by Hiram to Solomon for the floor of the Temple (1Kings 6:15), and may have been either “fir” (spruce?) or cypress. The Scripture names of trees are not always well identified. Both were esteemed among the ancients for ship-building, especially the cypress, on account of its lightness, durability, and freedom from the attacks of worms.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 27:5-7. They have made thy ship-boards — The decks of thy ships; of fir-trees of Senir — By these are meant, the fir-trees which grew upon mount Hermon, which was anciently called Shenir, or Senir. They have taken cedars to make masts for thee — Though cedars have a thick, and not a lofty trunk, masts consisting of different parts may be made of different cedars duly sized, or properly shaped if of too large a size. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars — That they might be strong. The company of the Ashurites — That is, the Assyrians; have made thy benches of ivory — “Perhaps the seats in the cabins of the royal galleys.” Instead of the company of the Ashurites, &c., Bishop Newcome (with R. Salerno, Bochart, Houbigant, and some others, using a different pointing of the Hebrew word so rendered) reads the latter part of the verse thus: Thy benches have they made of ivory, inlaid in box from the isles of Chittim — That is, the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In this sense the Chaldee understands the clause. Corsica, with which no doubt the Tyrians traded, was famous for the box-tree; and we may easily allow that the benches of some of the Tyrian ships were adorned with streaks of ivory inlaid in that kind of wood which certainly would appear very beautiful. So Virgil would have thought, who uses such an emblem to set forth the beauty of young Ascanius:

“ — — Quale per artem Inclusum buxo, aut Oricia terebintho Lucet ebur.” — — — — ÆN. 10:135.

“Distinguish’d from the crowd he shines a gem Enchased in gold, or polish’d ivory set Amidst the meaner foil of sable jet.” — DRYDEN.

Fine linen with broidered work, &c., from Egypt — “Fine linen was one of the principal commodities of Egypt, and was a habit used for persons of the best quality; which shows to what an excess of vanity the Tyrians were come, to use such costly manufactures for sails to their ships. Suetonius, in his Life of Caligula, cap. 37, reckons this among several instances of that emperor’s extravagance, that he furnished his pleasure-boats with costly sails, and other expensive ornaments.” Blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee — “Blue and purple are elsewhere reckoned among those colours which set off the richest attire. The common clothing of the Tyrians was of these kinds, which were brought from the islands of the Ægean sea, particularly Coos, famed for purple among heathen authors. Elishah denotes the countries upon the coast of Greece: a part of Peloponnesus retains the name of Elis among the Greek writers.” — Lowth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27:1-25 Those who live at ease are to be lamented, if they are not prepared for trouble. Let none reckon themselves beautified, any further than they are sanctified. The account of the trade of Tyre intimates, that God's eye is upon men when employed in worldly business. Not only when at church, praying and hearing, but when in markets and fairs, buying and selling. In all our dealings we should keep a conscience void of offence. God, as the common Father of mankind, makes one country abound in one commodity, and another in another, serviceable to the necessity or to the comfort and ornament of human life. See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, when followed in the fear of God. Besides necessaries, an abundance of things are made valuable only by custom; yet God allows us to use them. But when riches increase, men are apt to set their hearts upon them, and forget the Lord, who gives power to get wealth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Fir-trees (or, cypress) of Senir - The name by which the Amorites knew Mount Hermon.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. Senir—the Amorite name of Hermon, or the southern height of Anti-libanus (De 3:9); the Sidonian name was Sirion. "All thy … boards"; dual in Hebrew, "double-boards," namely, placed in a double order on the two sides of which the ship consisted [Vatablus]. Or, referring to the two sides or the two ends, the prow and the stern, which every ship has [Munster].

cedars—most suited for "masts," from their height and durability.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They; thy shipwrights.

Ship-boards; the planks, and benches, or transoms, for their ships.

Of fir trees; of the best and finest fir trees

of Senir, i.e. Hermen, Deu 3:9.

Cedars, for height, strength, durableness, and pleasing smell, beside smoothness of grain, and fitness for curious carvings, the best of trees.

From Lebanon, whose cedars excelled others.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir,.... The same with Sion and Hermon, which the Sidonians called Sirion, and the Amorites Shenir, Deuteronomy 3:9 here, it seems, grew the best of fir trees, of which the Tyrians made boards and planks for shipping; of these the two sides of the ship, as the word (r) here used in the dual number is thought to signify, or the fore and hind decks, were made. The Targum is,

"with fir trees of Senir they built for thee all thy bridges;''

the planks from which they went from one ship to another; but these are of too small consequence to be mentioned; rather the main of the ship is intended, which was built of fir planks; but ours made of oak are much preferable:

they have taken cedars from Lebanon, to make masts for thee; large poles for the yards and sails to be fastened to, for receiving the wind necessary in navigation; called the main mast, the foremast, the mizzenmast, and the boltsprit; all these are only in large vessels; whether the Tyrians had all of these is not certain; some they had, and which were made of the cedars of Lebanon; which, being large tall trees, were fit for this purpose. The Tyrians (s) are said to be the first inventors of navigation.

(r) "tabulata duplicia", Munster; "duas tabulas", Vatablus. (s) "Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyros." Catullus.

Geneva Study Bible

They have made all thy ship planks of fir trees of {b} Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

(b) This mountain was called Hermon but the Amorites called it Shenir, De 3:9.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - Fir trees of Senti. The name appears in Deuteronomy 3:9 and Song of Solomon 4:8 as Shenir; in 1 Chronicles 5:23 it is spelt as here. From Deuteronomy 3:9 we learn that it was the Amorite name for Hermon, as Sirion was the Sidonian name. In 1 Kings 5:10 Hiram King of Tyro appears as supplying Solomon with the fir and cedar timber mentioned here for the erection of his palace, the house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 7:2). The fir tree was more commonly used for ships, the cedar for houses (Virgil, 'Georg.,' 2:444). The Hebrew for "boards" is unique in its form as a plural with a dual form superadded to indicate that each plank had its counterpart on the other side of the ship. Ezekiel 27:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The lamentation commences with a picture of the glory of the city of Tyre, its situation, its architectural beauty, its military strength and defences (Ezekiel 27:3-11), and its wide-spread commercial relations (Ezekiel 27:12-25); and then passes into mournful lamentation over the ruin of all this glory (Ezekiel 27:26-36).

Introduction and description of the glory and might of Tyre. - Ezekiel 27:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 27:2. And do thou, O son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, Ezekiel 27:3. And say to Tyre, Thou who dwellest at the approaches of the sea, merchant of the nations to many islands, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Tyre, thou sayest, I am perfect in beauty. Ezekiel 27:4. In the heart of the seas is thy territory; thy builders have made thy beauty perfect. Ezekiel 27:5. Out of cypresses of Senir they built all double-plank-work for thee; they took cedars of Lebanon to make a mast upon thee. Ezekiel 27:6. They made thine oars of oaks of Bashan, thy benches they made of ivory set in box from the islands of the Chittaeans. Ezekiel 27:7. Byssus in embroidery from Egypt was thy sail, to serve thee for a banner; blue and red purple from the islands of Elishah was thine awning. Ezekiel 27:8. The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers; thy skilful men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy sailors. Ezekiel 27:9. The elders of Gebal and its skilful men were with thee to repair thy leaks; all the ships of the sea and their mariners were in thee to barter thy goods. Ezekiel 27:10. Persian and Lydian and Libyan were in thine army, thy men of war; shield and helmet they hung up in thee; they gave brilliancy to thee. Ezekiel 27:11. The sons of Arvad and thine army were upon thy walls round about, and brave men were upon they towers; they hung up their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect. - The lamentation commences with an address to Tyre, in which its favourable situation for purposes of trade, and the perfect beauty of which she was conscious, are placed in the foreground (Ezekiel 27:3). Tyre is sitting, or dwelling, at the approaches of the sea. מבואת ים, approaches or entrances of the sea, are harbours into which ships sail and from which they depart, just as מבוא העיר sa t, the gate of the city, it both entrance and exit. This description does not point to the city on the mainland, or Old Tyre, but answers exactly to Insular Tyre with its two harbours.

(Note: Insular Tyre possessed two harbours, a northern one called the Sidonian, because it was on the Sidonian side, and one on the opposite or south-eastern side, which was called the Egyptian harbour from the direction in which it pointed. The Sidonian was the more celebrated of the two, and consisted of an inner harbour, situated within the wall of the city, and an outer one, formed by a row of rocks, which lay at a distance of about three hundred paces to the north-west of the island, and ran parallel to the opposite coast of the mainland, so as to form a roadstead in which ships could anchor (vid., Arrian, ii. 20; Strabo, xvi. 2. 23). This northern harbour is still held by the city of Sur, whereas the Egyptian harbour with the south-eastern portion of the island has been buried by the sand driven against the coasts by the south winds, so that even the writers of the Middle Ages make no allusion to it. (See Movers, Phnizier, II. 1, pp. 214ff.).)

ישׁבתי, with the connecting i, which is apparently confounded here after the Aramaean fashion with the i of the feminine pronoun, and has therefore been marked by the Masora as superfluous (vid., Ewald, 211b). The combination of רכלת with 'אל איּים ר may be accounted for from the primary meaning of רכל, to travel about as a merchant: thou who didst go to the nations on many shores to carry on thy trade. Tyre itself considers that she is perfect in her beauty, partly on account of her strong position in the sea, and partly because of her splendid edifices.

(Note: Curtius, iv. 2: Tyrus et claritate et magnitudine ante omnes urbes Syriae Phoenicesque memorabilis. (Cf. Strabo, xvi. 2.22.))

In the description which follows of this beauty and glory, from Ezekiel 27:4 onwards, Tyre is depicted allegorically as a beautiful ship, splendidly built and equipped throughout, and its destruction is afterwards represented as a shipwreck occasioned by the east wind (Ezekiel 27:26.).

(Note: Jerome recognised this allegory, and has explained it correctly as follows: "He (the prophet) speaks τροπικῶς, as though addressing a ship, and points out its beauty and the abundance of everything. Then, after having depicted all its supplies, he announces that a storm will rise, and the south wind (auster) will blow, by which great waves will be gathered up, and the vessel will be wrecked. In all this he is referring to the overthrow of the city by King Nabuchodonosor," etc. Rashi and others give the same explanation.)

The words, "in the heart of the seas is thy territory" (Ezekiel 27:4), are equally applicable to the city of Tyre and to a ship, the building of which is described in what follows. The comparison of Tyre to a ship was very naturally suggested by the situation of the city in the midst of the sea, completely surrounded by water. As a ship, it must of necessity be built of wood. The shipbuilders selected the finest kinds of wood for the purpose; cypresses of Antilibanus for double planks, which formed the sides of the vessel, and cedar of Lebanon for the mast. Senir, according to Deuteronomy 3:9, was the Amoritish name of Hermon or Antilibanus, whereas the Sidonians called it Sirion. On the other hand, Senir occurs in 1 Chronicles 5:23, and Shenir in Sol 4:8, in connection with Hermon, where they are used to denote separate portions of Antilibanus. Ezekiel evidently uses Senir as a foreign name, which had been retained to his own time, whereas Sirion had possibly become obsolete, as the names had both the same meaning (see the comm. on Deuteronomy 3:9). The naming of the places from which the several materials were obtained for the fitting out of the ship, serve to heighten the glory of its construction and give an ideal character to the picture. All lands have contributed their productions to complete the glory and might of Tyre. Cypress-wood was frequently used by the ancients for buildings and (according to Virgil, Georg. ii. 443) also for ships, because it was exempt from the attacks of worms, and was almost imperishable, and yet very light (Theophr. Hist. plant. v. 8; Plinii Hist. nat. xvi. 79). לחתים, a dual form, like חמתים in 2 Kings 25:4; Isaiah 22:11, double-planks, used for the two side-walls of the ship. For oars they chose oaks of Bashan (משּׁוט as well as משׁוט in Ezekiel 27:29 from שׁוּט, to row), and the rowing benches (or deck) were of ivory inlaid in box. קרשׁ is used in Exodus 26:15. for the boards or planks of the wooden walls of the tabernacle; here it is employed in a collective sense, either for the rowing benches, of which there were at least two, and sometimes three rows in a vessel, one above another, or more properly, for the deck of the vessel (Hitzig). This was made of she4n, or ivory, inlaid in wood. The ivory is mentioned first as the most valuable material of the קרשׁ, the object being to picture the ship as possessing all possible splendour. The expression בּתּ־אשּׁרים, occasions some difficulty, partly on account of the use of the word בּת, and partly in connection with the meaning of אשּׁרים , although so much may be inferred from the context, that the allusion is to some kind of wood inlaid with ivory, and the custom of inlaying wood with ivory for the purpose of decoration is attested by Virgil, Aen. x. 137:

"Vel quale per artem

Inclusum buxo, aut Oricia terebintho

Lucet ebur."

But the use of בּת does not harmonize with the relation of the wood to the ivory inserted in wood; nor can it be defended by the fact that in Lamentations 3:3 an arrow is designated "the son of the quiver." According to this analogy, the ivory ought to have been called the son of the Ashurim, because the ivory is inserted in the wood, and not the wood in the ivory.

(Note: The Targum has paraphrased it in this way: דפּין דאשׁכרעין מכבשׁין בשׁן דפיל, i.e., planks of box or pine inlaid with ivory.)

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