A prophecy of the destruction of the famous city of Tyre by Nabuchodonosor.
Tyre a most noble maritime citie shalbe destroyed, by the king of Babylon, because they reioyce at the desolation of Ierusalem. 15. At the sight wherof manie shal be astonied.
1And it came to pass in the eleventh year, the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:Ed avvenne, che l'undecimo anno, il primo giorno del mese, il Signore parlommi, dicendo:AND it came to passe in the eleuenth yeare, the first of the moneth, the word of our Lord was made to me, saying:Et factum est in undecimo anno, prima mensis: factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens: 2Son of man, because Tyre hath said of Jerusalem: Aha, the gates of the people are broken, she is turned to me: I shall be filled, now she is laid waste.Figliuolo dell'uomo, perchè Tiro ha detto di Gerusalemme: Bene sta: sono spezzate le porte dei popoli: tutti verranno a me, io mi empirò, ella è deserta.Sonne of man for that Tyre hath sayd of Ierusalem: Ah the gates of the peoples are broken, she is turned to me: I shal be filled, she is desert.Fili hominis, pro eo quod dixit Tyrus de Jerusalem: / Euge, confractæ sunt portæ populorum, / conversa est ad me: / implebor; deserta est: 3Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up to thee, as the waves of the sea rise up.Per questo così dice il Signore Dio: Ecco che io vengo contro di te, o Tiro, e manderò sopra di te molte genti, come flutti del mare in tempesta.Therfore thus saith our Lord God: Behold I vpon thee ô Tyre, and I wil make manie nations come vp to thee, as the sea riseth vp swelling.propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Ecce ego super te, Tyre, / et ascendere faciam ad te gentes multas, / sicut ascendit mare fluctuans. 4And they shall break down the walls of Tyre, and destroy the towers thereof: and I will scrape her dust from her, and make her like a smooth rock.E abbatteranno le mura di Tiro, e distruggeranno le sue torri, e io ne raderò fin la polvere, e la ridurrò un tersissimo sasso.And they shal dissipate the walles of Tyre, and shal destroy the towers therof: and I wil scrape her dust from her, & wil make her as a most cleare rocke.Et dissipabunt muros Tyri, / et destruent turres ejus: / et radam pulverem ejus de ea, / et dabo eam in limpidissimam petram. 5She shall be a drying place for nets in the midst of the sea, because I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and she shall be a spoil to the nations.Ella sarà in mezzo al mare un sito da asciugarvi le reti, perchè io ho parlato, dice il Signore Dio: ella sarà preda alle genti.The drying of nettes shal be in the middes of the sea, because I haue spoken, saith our Lord God: and she shal be for a spoile to the Gentils.Siccatio sagenarum erit in medio maris, / quia ego locutus sum, ait Dominus Deus: / et erit in direptionem gentibus.
6Her daughters also that are in the field, shall be slain by the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.Le figlie ancora di lei, che sono nella campagna, periranno di spada; e conosceranno, che io sono il Signore.Her daughters also that be in the field, shal be slaine by the sword: and they shal know that I am the Lord.Filiæ quoque ejus quæ sunt in agro, / gladio interficientur: / et scient quia ego Dominus. 7For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will bring against Tyre Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, the king of kings, from the north, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and companies, and much people.Perocché queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco che io da settentrione condurrò a Tiro Nabuchodonosor re di Babilonia, re dei regi, con cavalli, e cocchi, e cavalieri, e turba grande di popolo.Because thus saith our Lord God: Behold I wil bring to Tyre Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon from the North, the king of kinges with horses, and chariotes, and horsemen, and multitude, and a great people.Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum / Nabuchodonosor regem Babylonis ab aquilone, / regem regum, / cum equis, et curribus, et equitibus, / et cœtu, populoque magno. 8Thy daughters that are in the field, he shall kill with the sword: and he shall compass thee with forts, and shall cast up a mount round about: and he shall lift up the buckler against thee.Le tue figlie, che sono nella campagna, ei le ucciderà di spada, e te circonderà di fortini, e ammasserà terra all'intorno, e alzerà lo scudo contro di te:Thy daughters that are in the field, he shal kil with the sword: and he shal compasse thee with munitions, and shal cast vp a mount round about: and he shal lift vp the buckler against thee.Filias tuas quæ sunt in agro, gladio interficiet, / et circumdabit te munitionibus, / et comportabit aggerem in gyro, / et elevabit contra te clypeum: 9And he shall set engines of war and battering rams against thy walls, and shall destroy thy towers with his arms.E disporrà le vigne, e gli arieti contro le tue muraglie, e le tue torri distruggerà colle sue macchine da guerra.And he shal dispose ordinances, and engins against thy walles, & shal destroy thy towers with his armour.et vineas et arietes temperabit in muros tuos, / et turres tuas destruet in armatura sua. 10By reason of the multitude of his horses, their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, when they shall go in at thy gates, as by the entrance of a city that is destroyed.Alla inondazione de' suoi cavalli tu sarai ricoperta di polvere: al romorio de' cavalieri, e de' carri, e de' cocchi si scuoteran le tue mura, quand'egli per le tue porte entrerà come si entra in una città presa per forza.With the inundation of his horses, the dust of them shal couer thee: at the sound of the horsemen, and wheeles, and chariotes thy walles shal be moued, when he shal goe in at thy gates, as by the entrance of a citie destroyed.Inundatione equorum ejus operiet te pulvis eorum: / a sonitu equitum, et rotarum, et curruum, movebuntur muri tui, / cum ingressus fuerit portas tuas quasi per introitum urbis dissipatæ.
11With the hoofs of his horses he shall tread down all thy streets, thy people he shall kill with the sword, and thy famous statues shall fall to the ground.Le piazze tue tutte saran pestate dall'unghie de' suoi cavalli, metterà a fil di spada il tuo popolo, e le tue insigni statue anderanno per terra.With the hoofes of his horses he shal tread downe al thy streetes: thy people he shal kil with the sword, and thy noble statues shal fal to the ground.Ungulis equorum suorum conculcabit omnes plateas tuas: / populum tuum gladio cædet, / et statuæ tuæ nobiles in terram corruent. 12They shall waste thy riches, they shall make a spoil of thy merchandise: and they shall destroy thy walls, and pull down thy fine houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber, and thy dust in the midst of the waters.Daranno il sacco alle tue ricchezze, prederanno i tuoi fondachi, e distruggeranno le tue muraglie, e diroccherano le tue case magnifiche, e getteranno in mezzo alle acque i tuoi pietrami, il legname, e la tua polvere.They shal waste thy riches, they shal spoile thy merchandise: and they shal destroy thy walles, and shal ouerthrow thy goodlie houses: and thy stones, and thy timber, and thy dust they shal put in the middes of the waters.Vastabunt opes tuas, / diripient negotiationes tuas, / et destruent muros tuos, / et domos tuas præclaras subvertent: / et lapides tuos, et ligna tua, et pulverem tuum / in medio aquarum ponent. 13And I will make the multitude of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be heard no more.E farò, che più non si sentano i tuoi cantici, e il suono delle tue cetre più non si udirà.And I wil make the multitude of thy songues to cease, and the sound of thy harpes shal be heard no more.Et quiescere faciam multitudinem canticorum tuorum: / et sonitus cithararum tuarum non audietur amplius. 14And I will make thee like a naked rock, thou shalt be a drying place for nets, neither shalt thou be built any more: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.E ti renderò un tersissimo sasso, e sarai un luogo da asciugarvi le reti, e non sarai più edificata, perchè io ho parlato, dice il Signore Dio.And I wil make thee as a most cleare rocke, drying of nettes shalt thou be, neither shalt thou be built anie more: because I haue spoken, saith our Lord God.Et dabo te in limpidissimam petram, / siccatio sagenarum eris, / nec ædificaberis ultra, / quia ego locutus sum, ait Dominus Deus. 15Thus saith the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the islands shake at the sound of thy fall, and the groans of thy slain when they shall be killed in the midst of thee?Queste cose dice il Signore Dio a Tiro: Al fracasso di tua rovina, e al gemito di coloro, che sono uccisi nella strage, che in te si farà, non sarann' elleno smosse le isole?Thus saith our Lord God to Tyre: Why, shal not the ilands be moued at the sound of thy ruine, & the groning of thy slaine, when they shal be killed in the middes of thee?Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Tyro: / Numquid non a sonitu ruinæ tuæ, / et gemitu interfectorum tuorum, / cum occisi fuerint in medio tui, / commovebuntur insulæ ?
16Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones: and take off their robes, and cast away their broidered garments, and be clothed with astonishment: they shall sit on the ground, and with amazement shall wonder at thy sudden fall.I principi tutti del mare scenderanno da' loro troni, e si terranno i loro manti, e getteranno le variegate lor vestimenta, e di stupore si cuopriranno; sederanno per terra, e attoniti di tua repentina caduta, saran fuori di loro stessi.And al the princes of the sea shal goe downe from their seates: and take of their roabes, and cast away their brodered garments, & be clothed with astonishment, sitte on the earth, and being astonied meruel at thy sudden fal.Et descendent de sedibus suis omnes principes maris, / et auferent exuvias suas, / et vestimenta sua varia abjicient, / et induentur stupore: / in terra sedebunt, / et attoniti super repentino casu tuo admirabuntur: 17And taking up a lamentation over thee, they shall say to thee: How art thou fallen, that dwellest in the sea, renowned city that wast strong in the sea, with thy inhabitants whom all did dread?E deplorando il tuo caso diranno a te: Come mai se' caduta, o abitatrice del mare, città gloriosa, che fosti potente in mare co' tuoi abitatori, che eran temuti da tutti?And taking vpon thee a lamentation, they shal say to thee: How hast thou perished that dwellest in the sea, ô noble citie, which hast bene strong in the sea with thine inhabitants, whom al did feare?et assumentes super te lamentum, dicent tibi: / Quomodo peristi, quæ habitas in mari, urbs inclyta, / quæ fuisti fortis in mari cum habitatoribus tuis, / quos formidabant universi ? 18Now shall the ships be astonished in the day of thy terror: and the islands in the sea shall be troubled because no one cometh out of thee.Saranno ora piene di spavento le navi nel giorno di tua rovina, e le isole del mare saranno afflitte, veggendo, che nissuno più esce da te.Now shal the shippes be astonied in the day of thy feare: and the ilands in the sea shal be trubled, for that none cometh forth out of thee.Nunc stupebunt naves in die pavoris tui, / et turbabuntur insulæ in mari, / eo quod nullus egrediatur ex te. 19For thus saith the Lord God: When I shall make thee a desolate city like the cities that are not inhabited: and shall bring the deep upon thee, and many waters shall cover thee:Imperocché queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Quand'io ti avrò fatta città desolata come le città, che non sono abitate, ed avrò mandato un diluvio sopra di te, e le grandi acque ti avran ricoperta,Because thus saith our Lord God: When I shal make thee a desolate citie as the cities that are not inhabited: and shal bring vpon thee the depth, and manie waters shal couer thee:Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Cum dedero te urbem desolatam, / sicut civitates quæ non habitantur; / et adduxero super te abyssum, / et operuerint te aquæ multæ;
20And when I shall bring thee down with those that descend into the pit to the everlasting people, and shall set thee in the lowest parts of the earth, as places desolate of old, with them that are brought down into the pit, that thou be not inhabited: and when I shall give glory in the land of the living,E quando io ti avrò gettata laggiù al popolo eterno con quelli, che scendono nel sepolcro, e ti avrò collocata nel più profondo della terra con quei, che scendono nel sepolcro, divenuta tu simile alle solitudini antiche, onde non sii abitata: e quando io avrò renduta la gloria alla terra de' vivi,and shal plucke thee downe with those, that descend into the lake to the euerlasting people, and shal place thee in the lowest ground as old desolations, with them that are brought downe into the lake, that thou be not inhabited: moreouer when I shal geue glorie in the land of the liuing,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: 21I will bring thee to nothing, and thou shalt not be, and if thou be sought for, thou shalt not be found any more for ever, saith the Lord God.Io ti ridurrò al niente, e più non sarai, e nissuno cercandoti ti troverà più, dice il Signore Dio.I wil bring thee to nothing, and thou shalt not be, & being sought for, thou shalt not be found anie more for euer, saith our Lord God.in nihilum redigam te, et non eris: / et requisita non invenieris ultra in sempiternum, / dicit Dominus Deus.
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Year of the World 3416.
Haydock
Year of the prophet's captivity. (Haydock)
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Gates: places of resort and commerce. The Jews came to Jerusalem frequently from all parts, which increased her beauty and trade. New Tyre expects that more will come to her.
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Calmet
Up. Nabuchodonosor besieged the city for thirteen years. The profane historians read by St. Jerome took no notice of this; but Josephus quotes several. (Antiquities 10:11., and contra Apion i.) (Calmet)
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Haydock
Dust. She shall be demolished, and the rubbish thrown into the sea, to make a road by which New Tyre in the island might be attacked, ver. 12. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Sea. St. Jerome explains this of New Tyre; Marsham of the Old. To reconcile the different texts, we only need to suppose that both cities were connected by a road thrown up in the sea by Hiram, and repaired by Nabuchodonosor with great labour, (chap. 29:18.) after it had been destroyed by the inhabitants of New Tyre, when they saw the old city on the continent fall a prey. (St. Jerome) (Calmet)
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Menochius
Kings: Nabuchodonosor (4 Kings 25:28.) or Alexander [the Great], who took Tyre. (Menochius)
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Selden
Daughters. Many towns were subject to Tyre: almost all Phoenicia acknowledged her dominion, as well as (Calmet) the seas to which her fleets went, ver. 15. (Selden, Mare 1:6.; Curtius iv.)
Worthington
These smaller cities shall fall, and the town shall be of no service except to dry nets. (Worthington)
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Haydock
Engines. Literally, "vines." (Haydock)
Menochius
A covert was thus made for the soldiers, (Veget. 4:15.) when they approached the walls. (Menochius)
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Calmet
Destroyed. Old Tyre was taken by storm. It is doubtful whether it was pillaged, Ezechiel 29:18. (Calmet)
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Curtius iv
Statues. The citizens chained the golden statue of Apollo to the altar of Hercules, for fear of its leaving them, when Alexander [the Great] attacked the town. (Curtius iv.)
Josephus
Hiram placed a pillar of gold in the temple of Hercules. (Josephus, contra Apion i.)
Haydock
Herodotus (II. 44.) saw another also of emerald stone, (smaragdon) which illuminated the temple in the night. On such the Tyrians might depend; though some render, "the substance or guard of thy strength," denoting the soldiers (Calmet) and towers. (Haydock)
The gods were treated like the people, and their precious ornaments plundered.
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Calmet
More, for seventy years, Isaias 23:15. The people returned at the same time as the Jews. (The year of the world 3468.) Soon after, Zacharias (Zacharias 9.) speaks of Tyre as then subsisting. It was very strong in Alexander's time, (who took it with difficulty, as Antigonus did eighteen years later) and had a very extensive commerce when St. Jerome wrote. But all this must be understood of New Tyre. The old city never regained much splendour. (Calmet)
It is still in ruins. A modern traveller was struck with the completion of this prophecy, beholding a few miserable fishermen drying their nets on the spot!
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Haydock
Sea: colonies, or tributary to Tyre, ver. 8. (Haydock)
Some pretend that these cities were attacked by the conquerors, for manifesting their grief. See Josephus, Antiquities x.; Pineda, etc.
But we shall not here follow conjectures.
Calmet
Astonishment. Hebrew, "troubles," or mourning. (Calmet)
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Dwellest in. Hebrew, "of the seas." Protestants, "seafaring men," (Haydock) being near the sea, or thence deriving thy riches.
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Calmet
Because. Hebrew, "at thy departure." (Calmet)
St. Jerome
Septuagint, "into captivity." (St. Jerome)
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Calmet
Waters; great armies, (ver. 3.) or when thou art in the regions below, Job 26:5. (Calmet)
Worthington
Tyre was humbled for her pride, but restored after seventy years, Isaias xxiii. Our Saviour retired into those parts, Matthew 15:21. (Worthington)
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Menochius
Living, assigned to Israel, (chap. 32:24.; Calmet) where holy people adore the true God, and shall rise to life eternal. (Menochius)
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Haydock
For ever: for a long time, (Theodoret) not at all in thy ancient glory. (Haydock)
The city subsisted after the days of Nabuchodonosor and of Alexander [the Great], (Calmet) ver. 14.
Haydock
But the ancient city was reduced to a mere nothing. (Haydock)
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Yeares are stil counted from the transmigration of Ioachin, as ch. 1. 8 20. 24. v. 1. & 29. v. 1. 17.
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Tyre which is a most frequented sea towne, shal be made desolate and to no vse but to hang nettes therin to drie.
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Lesse cities and townes perteyning to Tyre shal likewise be destroyed.
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As Tyre was exalted in pride, so it was brought to great ruine, yet was it restored, after seuentie yeares according to Isaias prophecie, ch. 23 v. 15. And our Sauiour retired sometimes into the quarters of Tyre and Sidon. Mat. 15. v. 21.
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1. In the eleventh year — from the captivity of Jehoiachin, which was also the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, in which year Jerusalem was conquered and destroyed by the Chaldeans, which in turn was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Therefore in that year Tyre was not yet besieged. For in verse 3, he says: "I will cause many nations to come up against thee;" and in verse 7: "I will bring Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre." They are therefore mistaken who wish it to have been besieged in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar. The same will be evident in chapter XXIX, verse 17. On the first day of the month, — namely the fifth, when Tyre could already have received within twenty days a message about Jerusalem conquered on the ninth day of the preceding fourth month, as is found in IV Kings XXV, 1. From the circumstances of time therefore, R. David, Prado and others rightly conjecture that the fifth month is here noted. And so Tyre, rejoicing in the destruction of Jerusalem, said:
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2. THE GATES OF THE PEOPLES ARE BROKEN, — that is, the gates of Jerusalem are broken, to which peoples from every direction come together as to a most celebrated emporium of commerce and religion. Hence he denotes it by gates. Whence Vatablus and Maldonatus translate and explain it, as if to say: The city of gates is broken, or the city which was the gate of peoples. For he calls the city gates, because it had gates on all sides, through which all peoples from everywhere flowed to it. Otherwise also Maldonatus, as if to say: City of gates, that is, a city from which all peoples name some gate of their own. For smaller cities are accustomed to name from larger ones the gates by which one goes to them, as in many cities of Gaul some gate is called the Parisian gate. It is turned (namely that frequency of peoples and commerce, from Jerusalem) to me — to Tyre. I SHALL BE FILLED — with riches and merchandise, because Jerusalem is laid waste, as if to say: Its evacuation will be my filling; its desolation will be my celebrity; its ignominy will be my glory. Morally, behold here the poverty, condition and practice of the world: it does not adorn these without despoiling those: if it heaps riches upon one, it presses another with poverty: it cannot be filled here without that being emptied; and thus it brings it about that one envies another and covets his goods. As the sun, while it illuminates one hemisphere with its light, pours darkness upon the other; and as in a well, while one bucket is raised, the other is lowered: so in the world no one can be raised up and become illustrious unless others are brought low and obscured, says H. Pintus. On the contrary, God is rich toward all. Whence of the just man, who dwelling in God is enriched, the Psalmist says in Psalm CXI: "Glory and riches shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever." And Psalm XXXVI: "Hope in the Lord, and do good: and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches." and gardens to be built there, which God says is to be overthrown, nay, razed, so that a bare rock remains, such as it was before the city was built. Whence it follows: "I will make thee a very smooth stone," that is, I will make it so that in Tyre only the smoothest; the Septuagint, most polished, rock remains, on which it was built (whence in Hebrew Tyre is called צר tsor, that is, rock) and let the solitude of Tyre be so great that in it fishermen spread out and dry their wet nets. Thus Theodoret. This is what he adds: "The spreading of nets shall be," Tyre. Let no city therefore, no merchant, no prince glory in his strength, his riches, his citizens, his clients; for although he abounds in them like Tyre, and as if with a wall of waters, yet if he offend God, he will easily be despoiled of all by him, and reduced to a dry and smooth rock.
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3. Against thee. — Vatablus, against thee, supply, I will come, or I will brandish my rod and sword. THE SURGING SEA. — It signifies the multitude of the Chaldeans, the tumult, the roar, through the waves of Tyre, the adjacent sea, most well known. He calls the forces of the Chaldeans waves, because they were very great, very numerous and very fierce. Thus also Jeremiah, chapter XLVI, 9, calls the forces of Egypt, and chapter LI, 42, the forces of Cyrus waves.
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4. AND I WILL SCRAPE ITS DUST FROM IT. — It is a hyperbole, as if to say: I will overthrow Tyre, and scrape it even to its foundations, I will make it so that not even dust remains in it. For Tyre was built on a rock, in the midst of the sea. But the inhabitants brought earth there for building,
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7. King of Kings. — Thus he calls Nebuchadnezzar, who had many kings subject to him. Whence Megasthenes in Josephus, X Antiquities XIII, contends that Nebuchadnezzar surpassed Hercules in strength and the magnitude of his deeds. Concerning which more in Daniel II, 37. Others understand by king of kings Alexander the Great, who after Nebuchadnezzar, in the year 243, conquered Tyre. Whom Paul Orosius calls a great gulf of miseries, and the most atrocious whirlwind of all the Orient. Note: Many think that Tyre was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar shortly after Jerusalem, namely in the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, when he himself besieged Tyre for three and a half years, as Philostratus testifies in Josephus. Whence in Isaiah XXIII, 17, it is said that after 70 years Tyre was to be rebuilt, namely with Jerusalem, by Cyrus: but they are mistaken; for Tyre was besieged for 13 years, and was captured in the 35th year of Nebuchadnezzar, as I shall show in chapter XXIX, 17.
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8. He shall raise the shield against you, — so that by it he may protect himself against your weapons when he invades you; or, as if to say, with shields raised and joined together the soldiers against you will form a testudo in the usual manner, by which they may ascend into your walls to invade the city. For the testudo was a continuous series of shields bent by the soldiers beneath into the form of the animal which is called a testudo. Whence Livy: "He himself ordered ladders to be brought to the walls on every side of the wall, and advanced to the gates with a testudo;" "testudo," that is, a continuous framework of shields over the heads. The same, book IV On the Macedonian War: "Then with shields raised above their heads and joined together in such a way that there was no place not only for blind blows, but not even for inserting a weapon from close range, they advanced in testudo formation."
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9. VINEAS. — These were like great baskets made of wicker (hence they are called vineae, as if wicker-made) by which those besieging protected themselves, and from them safely penetrated to undermine the foundations of the walls. Thus Vegetius, book IV, chapter XV. Otherwise Vatablus translates it, namely, a battering engine. For the Hebrew מחא macha means to destroy, to overthrow. Hence מחי mechi means an engine that overthrows walls. AND BATTERING RAMS. — The ram, to the ancients who did not have bombards and bronze engines, was a beam armed with iron in the manner of a ram, which by the thrust of many soldiers struck the walls, and no tower was so strong, nor wall, which, although it might have withstood the first blows of the ram, could overcome the continuous ones, says Josephus, III Wars, IX. See the form of the ram in Lipsius, book On Roman Warfare. The Septuagint translates δόρατα, that is, spears; R. Solomon, ballistae, which hurl stones at the walls.
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10. BY THE MULTITUDE OF HIS HORSES, — that is, as the Septuagint says, the multitude of horses shall cover you with their dust, as if to say, so many Chaldean horsemen will invade you, and will raise so much dust with their hooves, that you will appear to be covered and obscured by dust entirely. Thus Isaiah says, chapter LX, verse 6: "The multitude of camels shall cover you." At the sound (before the sound) of horsemen. — Scarcely would one believe, unless experienced, how great is the din and terror of horsemen, running through a city taken by force, both so that they occupy the forum, streets, lanes and all places of refuge; and so that soldiers and inhabitants do not escape by flight, they seize them; and so that those wishing to resist they strike down. I myself saw and heard these things dwelling in Belgium at Utrecht on the Meuse, when that city was taken by force by the Spanish. Indeed, I seemed to myself to see and hear the din and terror, which will be on the last day of the world.
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11. YOUR NOBLE STATUES (that is, your trophies, or images of illustrious men) SHALL FALL TO THE GROUND. — Thus Vatablus. For these are called in Hebrew מצבת mattsebot, that is, statues. Such are columns, pyramids and triumphal arches, such as we see here in Rome: namely the column of Trajan 120 feet in height, and of such thickness that within by a spiral one ascends from bottom to top, in which all the victories of Trajan are carved. Likewise the column of Antoninus, the pyramids of Egypt before the temple of St. Peter, before the Lateran basilica, and before the church of St. Mary Major. Likewise the arches of Titus and Vespasian concerning the conquered Judea, the arch of Septimius Severus, at the foot of the Capitol; the arch of Constantine concerning the conquered Maxentius. Otherwise Prado: for by mattsebot he understands the idols which the Tyrians guarded so anxiously, lest their gods, called away by hostile incantation, or angered, should depart, so that they bound them with chains. These were simulacra of Hercules and Apollo, as Curtius testifies, book IV On the Life of Alexander, and Plutarch, problem 61. The Septuagint translates, the substance of your strength; and R. David, the towers of your strength.
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13. AND I WILL CAUSE THE MULTITUDE OF YOUR SONGS TO CEASE, — by which you, O Tyre the merchant, as if a harlot, allure merchants to you. See the sayings of Isaiah XXIII, 15 and 16.
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14. NOR SHALL YOU BE BUILT UP AGAIN. — You will say: In Isaiah XXIII, 17, it is said that Tyre is to be restored after 70 years. St. Jerome responds that Tyre was restored as a city, but not as a kingdom; for Tyre thereafter was subject to the Chaldeans, Greeks, and Romans; secondly, the Scholiast responds that almost all the citizens of Tyre were destroyed, and consequently afterwards another Tyre, as it were, was restored, which was rebuilt by another nation of men, with other laws and customs, and indeed, as some wish, in another place; thirdly and plainly, the Hebrew עוד od, that is, further or more, signifies the time of the jubilee, that is, a century of 50 years (as is evident from Exodus XXI, 6) within which Tyre was not built, but after 70 years. Thus Theodoret. See the remarks on Isaiah XXIII, 15.
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15. AT THE SOUND OF YOUR RUIN. — It is a hyperbole, as if to say: Just as when a tower falls, all nearby things are shaken; so, Tyre falling, the neighboring islands, that is, the islanders, at the report and news of the devastation of Tyre were moved, that is, will be moved with fear and amazement.
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16. THEY SHALL COME DOWN FROM THEIR THRONES, — so that they may sit upon the ground in the manner of those mourning. PRINCES OF THE SEA, — that is, of the neighboring islands, which are in the sea just as Tyre is. THEIR SPOILS. — In Hebrew מעיל ילם meilehem, that is, their garments; the Septuagint, their crowns and diadems. ASTONISHED AT YOUR SUDDEN FALL. — For sudden and unforeseen falls are more bitter. Hence the Emperor Hadrian wore a ring, which he said had belonged to Drusus Germanicus, on which was inscribed: "Fortune is grievous to those to whom it comes suddenly." And Seneca: "That which comes unexpectedly," he says, "harms more grievously: it is better to guard against than to guard." This is what St. Augustine says in the book On the Singular of Clerics: "Wherever there is providence, all contrary things are frustrated: but where providence is neglected, all contrary things prevail." If therefore you are wise, make use of counsel, which is the eye of future things, and by it discern and foresee future things.
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17. AND TAKING UP A LAMENTATION OVER YOU. — Isaiah introduces a similar lamentation over destroyed Babylon in chapter XIV, 10. Tropologically, St. Jerome rightly applies this lamentation to a lofty soul which has fallen into mortal sin.
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18. ON THE DAY OF YOUR TERROR. — The Septuagint, on the day of your ruin.
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19. THE ABYSS. — The Chaldean, an immense army, so that many waters may cover you, that is, many enemies and peoples, and consequently many troubles, and grave and deep disasters. Thus the Psalmist says in Psalm XLI, 8: "Abyss calls to abyss, at the sound of your cataracts," that is, one affliction draws another with it, while you, O Lord, open your cataracts, and rain calamities upon us.
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20. Those who descend into the pit, — that is, into the grave and sepulcher. TO THE PEOPLE OF ETERNITY. — In Hebrew, to the people of the age, that is, to the people already dead for many ages, who sleep an eternal sleep, as Jeremiah says in chapter LI, 57, whom he therefore calls "the eternally dead," Lamentations III, 6; secondly, as if to say: With those descending into the pit, that is, into hell, destined for eternal fire, I will establish you, to burn forever. Thus St. Jerome and Rabbi Solomon. IN THE LOWEST LAND. — In Hebrew תחתיות tachtiot, that is, the lower, namely in the sepulcher and in hell. LIKE THE ANCIENT DESOLATIONS, — that is, like the ruins of ancient cities, of which scarcely any trace is seen. Thus Maldonatus. WHEN I SHALL GIVE GLORY IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING, — when I shall restore the happiness and former glory of Jerusalem, from which all will glorify my power. Whence the Chaldean translates: Joy in the land of Israel I will give. Jerusalem is called the land of the living, first, because in it the true and living God was worshipped, who makes his worshippers like himself living, as dead idols make them stupid. Secondly, because in Jerusalem the faithful and just were buried, about to rise after a short time to eternal life, Isaiah XXVI, 20; Apocalypse VI, 9. Thirdly, as if to say: You, Tyre, insulted Jerusalem, because it was already the land of death and the dead: behold, I will make you descend into the pit, and be the land of the dead: but Jerusalem will be the land of the living, when it will flourish again in the number and glory of living men. Thus Rabbi David, Maldonatus, Prado and others. Others explain it, as if to say: When I shall give glory in the land of the living, that is, when in your punishment and destruction I shall show everywhere throughout the lands the glory of my vengeance and power. Here our Prado ends his commentary with his life, and passed over to the land of the living.
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21. I WILL REDUCE THEE TO NOTHING, — that is, thy glory, dominion, riches, delights, palaces, fortresses, etc., so that they may no longer exist, nor subsist in their form and essence, and as it were be annihilated with respect to that. For with respect to prime matter, it is certain that it is not annihilated. Things are therefore said to be annihilated when their species, form and beauty perish, and as it were are reduced to prime matter and to the rude chaos from which they came forth. Whence, explaining this, he adds: "And thou shalt not be, and thou shalt not be sought for any more for ever." This is the end of renowned Tyre. This is the end of kings, kingdoms, riches, honours, pomps of the world. Thus in the Apocalypse, cap. XVII, concerning the kingdom of Antichrist and the world, it is said: "The beast was, and is not;" but concerning God and his kingdom it is said in the Apocalypse I, 4: "Who is, and who was, and who is to come." And Daniel VII, 27: "His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him and obey him." This therefore is the epitaph, praise and name of a dead king and of any man: "He was, and is not." But of God and the Blessed: "He was, is, and shall be for ever." Thus passes the glory of the world; but the glory of heaven endures. There exists an epitaph of a certain King of France, apt and pathetic on this matter, which Delrio cites, Adag. 8, and it is as follows: I laughed, I weep. I was, I am not. I strove, I rest. I played, I play not. I sang, nor do I murmur. I fed my body, I nourish worms. I watched, I sleep. I said Hail, I say Farewell. I seized, I am seized. I conquered, I am conquered. I fought, I am at peace. By right I lived. By right therefore I die: I do not resist, nor could I resist. I was earth once, I am earth again. I am nothing. Fleeting earth, farewell, worms, hail, I lie down. This shall be also the epitaph of each of us. O foolish one who despises things fleeting and soon to fall, and pursues things eternal and ever to endure! Hear the epitaph of Rome captured and laid waste by Genseric king of the Goths, under the Emperor Honorius, in the year of the Lord 410; which St. Jerome, hearing and groaning in Bethlehem, thus begins the Preface to book III of his Commentary on Ezekiel: "Nothing is long that has an end, and the whole series of past time that has passed does not profit, unless perhaps it has prepared the provision of good works, which always look to the future, to eternal things, and are not confined by any limits. A true saying: all things that arise set, and all things that grow grow old. And elsewhere: For there is nothing made by work and hand that age does not finish and consume. Who would believe that Rome, built up by victories of the whole world, would fall, that she would become to her own people both mother and tomb? that all the shores of the East, Egypt, Africa, once the dominion of that city, would be filled with the number of servants and handmaids? that daily holy Bethlehem would receive beggars, once noble persons of both sexes and abounding in all riches? Since we cannot bring them aid, we grieve, and join tears to tears: and occupied with the study of holy work, while we cannot see them flowing together without groaning, we turn explanations in Ezekiel, and almost all words into works; and not to speak holy things, but to do them." The ships, riches, merchandise, pride of Tyre, and therefore its destruction as it were a shipwreck, he describes; so that the greater her glory was, the greater her ruin may appear. First therefore he recounts her merchandise and the nations coming to Tyre for trade. Then, vers. 26, he foresees the ruin and plunder of all these, and therefore asserts that Tyre shall be a matter of lamentation to all nations.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
26:1
… Ezekiel always receives the word of Yahweh on the recurrence of the n. (Ez. 26:1; 29:17; 31:1; 33:1).
26:11
MAṢṢEBHĀH. - A pillar, a large upright stone (from the verb nāṣab "to set upright"; Septuagint: στήλη, λίθος σκοπός, ὑπόστασις, Ez. 26, 11; Vulgate: titulus, lapis, statuae). …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.