Ezekiel 27:6
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
The oars of Tyre's ships were fashioned from the strong oaks of Bashan, and her rowing benches were made of ivory from the islands of Chittim by skilled Ashurite craftsmen. These costly materials portray her seafaring power, great wealth, far-reaching commerce, and perfect beauty as the merchant city and commercial metropolis of the ancient world. The description stands in the lamentation over Tyre in Ezekiel 26 to 28, part of the prophecies against the nations that use surrounding kingdoms to show how God brings down pride. It foretells her utter ruin until her very site would become a bare rock in the sea for spreading nets, a fulfillment still seen in her ruins as a striking object-lesson. The fall warns of the judgment that comes upon wealthy places that forget and defy God, a warning applied to great modern cities and to corrupt commercial Babylon in her desolation.
Tyre's Wealth Described
Tyre's oars were fashioned from the oaks of Bashan, and its benches, the seats for the oarsmen, were made of ivory brought out of the isles of Chittim, wrought by the company of the Ashurites. The verse belongs to a poetic description of Tyre's wealth and seafaring power, naming those costly timbers and ivories as the very materials of her ships. In that picture her builders had made her of perfect beauty, and the verse displays her glory before her fearful fall. It sets forth her great wealth and skill in shipbuilding, with oak oars from Bashan and ivory benches from distant islands and the isles of Chittim. These fine materials form part of the splendor of her ships and of her flourishing commerce.
Those costly shipbuilding details portray seafaring power, great wealth, skilled craftsmanship, and flourishing and far-reaching commerce. They present Tyre as a wealthy trading power whose ships and furnishings were made from costly materials. They contribute to the picture of her great wealth and greatness and of her perfect beauty and glory before her fearful fall. The strength and grandeur of Bashan's oaks serve as an image of that region's abundant natural wealth, resources that helped sustain its population. The verse thus helps identify Tyre as the merchant city of the world at that time. She was the ancient commercial metropolis of the world, the commercial emporium of Phoenicia, and one of the greatest and most famous cities of the ancient world.
Prophecy Against Tyre
Ezekiel 27:6 belongs to the lamentation over Tyre in Ezekiel 26 to 28, which are prophecies against the nations predicting the utter destruction and ruin of Tyre. It stands as one of the prophecies against Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt in Ezekiel 25 to 31, whose fulfillment is evident today. Those chapters stand within Ezekiel's twenty-two-year plea for Israel to turn to God, using the surrounding kingdoms as illustrations of how God brings down pride. The word about Tyre there concerns the great commercial city of the world.
The prophecy predicts Tyre's utter destruction and ruin and her fall into complete ruin. Its very site was to become a bare place in the midst of the sea for the spreading of fishing nets. It means Nebuchadnezzar would capture Tyre and from Tyre would conquer Jerusalem.
That prediction of Tyre becoming a place for the spreading of nets is fulfilled and still seen in her ruins. The present ruins of Tyre stand as a striking object-lesson of fulfilled prophecy.
Warning and Connections Applied
Ezekiel 27 stands as a warning of the judgment that falls upon places that forget and defy God. Its lesson reaches beyond ancient Tyre to modern cities such as New York and Chicago as well as San Francisco. The costly materials of Tyre's ships and furnishings portray her as a wealthy trading power with far-reaching commerce. Babylon is likewise portrayed as a vast commercial power whose traffic becomes corrupt and ends in desolation.
Tyre was the merchant city of the world at that time. That standing explains why men of Tyre were bringing in fish and all manner of ware to sell to the children of Judah in Jerusalem on the Sabbath.