Ezekiel 27:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 27:16
Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
to travel round (specifically as a pedlar) · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
multitude
מֵרֹ֣בme.Ro
H7230
abundance (in any respect) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
making
מַעֲשָׂ֑יִךְma.'a.Sa.yikh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
occupied
נָתְנ֖וּna.te.Nu
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
fairs
בְּעִזְבוֹנָֽיִךְbe.'iz.vo.Na.yikh
H5801
trade · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
emeralds
בְּ֠נֹפֶךְBe.no.fekh
H5306
shining · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
purple
אַרְגָּמָ֨ן'ar.ga.Man
H713
purple (the color or the dyed stuff) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
work
וְרִקְמָ֤הve.rik.Mah
H7553
variegation of color · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
linen
וּבוּץ֙u.Vutz
H948
probably cotton (of some sort) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
coral
וְרָאמֹ֣תve.ra.Mot
H7215
something high in value · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural absolute
agate
וְכַדְכֹּ֔דve.khad.Kod
H3539
a sparkling gem · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Judges 10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of…
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, a…
Genesis 10:22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Genesis 28:5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mothe…
2 Samuel 8:5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
2 Samuel 10:6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syr…
2 Samuel 15:8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serv…
Isaiah 7:1-8 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son…
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…
"Syria was thy mart for the multitude," &c. For "Syria" the Septuagint reads "Edom." But the Syrians were famed as merchants.
occupied--old English for "traded"; so in Luk 19:13.
agate--Others translate, "ruby," "chalcedony," or "pearls."
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 27:16
Syria - These were always a mercantile people. For the precious stones mentioned here see the notes on Exo 28:17 (note).
John Gill on Ezekiel 27:16
Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making,.... Which they took off of their hands, and for them brought the following things:
they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds; precious stones of a green colour: Jarchi renders it "carbuncles", other precious stones of a different colour; and so the word is translated by Pagninus, Montanus, Grotius, the French, and Diodate; sometimes called "carchedonies", and which the Apostle John calls the "chalcedony", Revelation 21:19, the same with rubies; and so the word here used is rendered by Luther; and, by Abarbinel, precious stones of great value; see Proverbs 3:15, from whence the Syrians had these to trade with at Tyr…
Agate — (Heb. shebo), a precious stone in the breast-plate of the high priest (Ex. 28:19; 39:12), the second in the third row. This may be the agate properly so called, a semi-transparent crystallized…
Chalcedony — Mentioned only in Rev. 21:19, as one of the precious stones in the foundation of the New Jerusalem. The name of this stone is derived from Chalcedon, where it is said to have been first discovered.…
Coral — Heb. ramoth, meaning “heights;” i.e., “high-priced” or valuable things, or, as some suppose, “that which grows high,” like a tree (Job 28:18; Ezek. 27:16), according to the Rabbins, red coral, which…
Emerald — Heb. nophek (Ex. 28:18; 39:11); i.e., the “glowing stone”, probably the carbuncle, a precious stone in the breastplate of the high priest. It is mentioned (Rev. 21:19) as one of the foundations of…
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…
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…
Stones, Precious — Frequently referred to (1 Kings 10:2; 2 Chr. 3:6; 9:10; Rev. 18:16; 21:19). There are about twenty different names of such stones in the Bible. They are figuratively introduced to denote value,…
Agate · A precious stone — A precious stone
Commerce · Syrians — Syrians
Coral
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 27:12-25
This is followed by a description of the commerce of Tyre with all nations, who delivered their productions in the market of this metropolis of the commerce of the world, and received the wares and manufactures of this city in return. - Eze 27:12. Tarshish traded with thee for the multitude of goods of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for thy sales. Eze 27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants; with souls of men and brazen vessels they made thy barter. Eze 27:14. From the house of Togarmah they paid horses, riding-horses, and mules for thy sales. Eze 27:15. The sons of Dedan were thy merchants; many islands were at thy hand for commerce; ivory horns and…
Dedan was a central Arabian oasis (see also 27:20), but it might also refer to a coastal region north of Tyre.
Rashi on Ezekiel 27:16
Aram was your merchant [dealing] with the precious stones mentioned in the verse, and “purple cloth, embroidery, and fine linen.”
because of the multitude of your works because they knew that your princes and dignitaries accumulate many works of beauty and glory for [use as] ornaments
with carbuncle [Heb. שְּׁנֹפֶךּ,] e c(h)arbuncle in Old French.
Emerald · Merchandise of, in Tyre — Merchandise of, in Tyre
Imports · Of Tyre — Of Tyre
Linen · .From Syria — .From Syria
Market · General references — General references
Precious Stones · Mentioned in scripture: Emerald — Mentioned in scripture: Emerald
Tyre · Celebrated for: Its commerce — Celebrated for: Its commerce
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).
