Ezekiel 27:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 27:11
The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Arvad
אַרְוַ֣ד'ar.Vad
H719
Arvad · proper noun, a place name
army
וְחֵילֵ֗ךְve.chei.Lekh
H2428
probably a force · conjunction + proper noun, a place name
walls
חוֹמוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙cho.mo.Ta.yikh
H2346
a wall of protection · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
about
סָבִ֔יבsa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Gammadims
וְגַ֨מָּדִ֔יםve.Ga.ma.Dim
H1575
a warrior (as grasping weapons) · conjunction + proper noun, a place name
towers
בְּמִגְדְּלוֹתַ֖יִךְbe.mig.de.lo.Ta.yikh
H4026
a tower (from its size or height) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
hanged
תִּלּ֤וּti.Lu
H8518
to suspend (especially to gibbet) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
shields
שִׁלְטֵיהֶ֞םshil.tei.Hem
H7982
probably a shield (as controlling · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
walls
חוֹמוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙cho.mo.Ta.yikh
H2346
a wall of protection · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
about
סָבִ֔יבsa.Viv
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common both genders singular absolute
made
כָּלְל֥וּka.Lu
H3634
to complete · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
beauty
יָפְיֵֽךְya.fe.Yekh
H3308
beauty · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
perfect
כָּלַלkâlal
H3634
to complete
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 27:3-4 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 27:1-25
Here, I. The prophet is ordered to take up a lamentation for Tyrus, Eze 27:2. It was yet in the height of its prosperity, and there appeared not the least symptom of its decay; yet the prophet must lament it, because its prosperity is its snare, is the cause of its pride and security, which will make its fall the more grievous. Even those that live at ease are to be lamented if they be not preparing for trouble. He must lament it because its ruin is hastening on apace; it is sure, it is near; and though the prophet foretel it, and justify God in it, yet he must lament it. Note, We ought to mourn for the miseries of other nations, as well as for our own, out of an affection for mankind in gen…
Gammadims--rather, as the Tyrians were Syro-Phœnicians, from a Syriac root, meaning daring, "men of daring" [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU]. It is not likely the keeping of watch "in the towers" would have been entrusted to foreigners. Others take it from a Hebrew root, "a dagger," or short sword (Jdg 3:16), short-swordsmen."
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 27:11
The Gammadims were in thy towers - Some think these were a people of Phoenicia; others, that tutelar images are meant; others, that the word expresses strong men, Who acted as guards. The Vulgate reads Pygmaei, the pygmies, who were fabled to be a little people of a cubit in height, from גמד gomed. a cubit; and are told that this little people were celebrated for their wars with the cranes; but nothing of this kind can enter into this description. Probably a people inhabiting the promontories of Phoenicia are here intended; and their hanging their shields upon the walls is a proof that soldiers are meant, and persons of skill and prowess too.
John Gill on Ezekiel 27:11
The men of Arvad, with thine army were upon thy walls round about,.... Placed there for the defence of the city, to watch against an enemy, lest it should be surprised; here they were upon the patrol day and night; see Isaiah 62:6, these were the men of the same place before mentioned, Ezekiel 27:8 which furnished Tyre both with mariners and soldiers:
and the Gammadims were in thy towers: not the Medes, as Symmachus renders it; nor the Cappadocians, as the Targum; much less were they images of their tutelar gods, as Spencer thinks, of a cubit long; nor "pygmies", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; which to mention would not be to the honour of their militia; though Kimchi and Ben Mele…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 11.) The sons of Aradius with their army (or their own) were on your walls all around. But also the Pygmies who were in your towers hung their quivers (or your quivers) on your walls in a circle, they completed your beauty. LXX: The sons of Aradius, and your strength on your walls, were guardians all around in your towers. They hung their quivers on your battlements in a circle. They have completed your adornment. --The Word Gamadim (), the first edition of the Eagle, the Pygmies: Symmachus, the Medes: the Septuagint, the Guardians: Theodotus Gamadim, the Hebrew itself, have translated. We still see the island of Aradus, which is entirely a city, and the opposite town of Antaradus, which is adjacent to Tyre, and stretches along the coast of Phoenicia on the mainland up to this day: these are the guards of the city of Tyre and the custodians of its towers, and they have placed their quivers around them and filled their beauty, so that they are taught to be archers, whether they are pygmies, that is, warriors, and very ready for war, ἀπὸ τῆς πυγμῆς, which is translated into Greek as a contest. But if, on the other hand, they are called the deceitful ones of Aradius, everyone who claims to have knowledge of false names and carries in the quiver of his heart the fiery darts of the devil, with which he wounds and inflames the hearts of those who are deceived, should be called Aradius. For he desires to cast down those who strive to ascend to heights, and he completes the beauty of Tyre, of which it is written in Proverbs: Let not the desire for beauty deceive you, nor be captivated by your eyes (Prov. VI, 25). And again: Just as earrings in a pig's snout, so is beauty to a woman who is ill-tempered. (Ibid. XI, 22).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Arvad — Wandering, (Ezek. 27:8), a small island and city on the coast of Syria, mentioned as furnishing mariners and soldiers for Tyre. The inhabitants were called Arvadites. The name is written Aruada or…
Ezekiel, Book of — Consists mainly of three groups of prophecies. After an account of his call to the prophetical office (1-3:21), Ezekiel (1) utters words of denunciation against the Jews (3:22-24), warning them of…
Fairs — (Heb. ‘izabhonim), found seven times in Ezek. 27, and nowhere else. The Authorized Version renders the word thus in all these instances, except in verse 33, where “wares” is used. The Revised Version…
Gammadim — (Ezek. 27:11) brave warriors; R.V. marg., “valorous men;” others interpret this word as meaning “short-swordsmen,” or “daring ones”, the name of a class of men who were defenders of the towers of…
Helbon — Fat; i.e., “fertile”, (Ezek. 27: 18 only), a place whence wine was brought to the great market of Tyre. It has been usually identified with the modern Aleppo, called Haleb by the native Arabs, but is…
Tyre — A rock, now es-Sur; an ancient Phoenician city, about 23 miles, in a direct line, north of Acre, and 20 south of Sidon. Sidon was the oldest Phoenician city, but Tyre had a longer and more…
Arms, Military · Hung of the walls of cities — Hung of the walls of cities
Arvad · An island near Zidon — An island near Zidon
Arvadites · General references — General references
Gammadim · Warriors or watchmen — Warriors or watchmen
Towers · Were used as citadels in time of war — Were used as citadels in time of war
The lamentation commences with a picture of the glory of the city of Tyre, its situation, its architectural beauty, its military strength and defences (Eze 27:3-11), and its wide-spread commercial relations (Eze 27:12-25); and then passes into mournful lamentation over the ruin of all this glory (Eze 27:26-36).
Introduction and description of the glory and might of Tyre. - Eze 27:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 27:2. And do thou, O son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, Eze 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. Eze 27:4. In t…
Helech is Cilicia, the area around Tarsus on the northeast shore of the Mediterranean. • The location of Gammad is less certain, but it may have been in northern Syria.
Rashi on Ezekiel 27:11
The children of Arvad and your army [Heb. וְחֵילֵךּ,] the rest of the army of people who dwell within you.
and Gammadim Jonathan rendered: and also Cappadocians. I heard in the name of Rabbi Menachem that because they dive into the sea as far as the deep and estimate (גֹמְדֵי) the cubits of its depth, they are called Gammadim. Others explain that they are dwarfs and fit into the measure of a cubit.
their quivers [Heb. שִּׁלֻטֵיהֶם,] These are the quivers in which they would put arrows, like (Jer. 51:11): “Polish the arrows, fill the quivers (הַשְּׁלָטִים),” cuyvrin[e] in Old French, quivers.
they heaped [Heb. תִּלוּ,] many heaps upon heaps (תִּלֵי תִּלִים).
Tyre · Soldiers of, supplied by Persia, &c — Soldiers of, supplied by Persia, &c
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
