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market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and ❘ ise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee,

honey, and oil, and balm.

18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

20 Dedan was thy merchant in "precious clothes for chariots.

21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, "they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.

24 These were thy merchants in "all sorts of things, in blue "clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy

merchandise.

25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the

seas.

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the 18midst of the seas.

*and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.

32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their

countenance.

27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchand- | **never shalt be any more.

36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and

24 Or, waves.

18 Or, rosin. 13 Or, Meuzal. 14 Heb. clothes of freedom. 15 Heb. they were the merchants of thy hand. 16 Or, excellent things. 17 Heb. foldings. 18 Heb, heart. 19 Revel. 18. 9, &c. 20 Or, even with all. 21 Heb: heart. 23 Heb. terrors. 24 Heb. shalt not be for ever.

CHAP. XXVII-We now arrive at a very singular and interesting chapter, giving an account of the commercial relations of Tyre, to the satisfactory elucidation of which, in all the lines of inquiry which it opens, the research and study of years might be advantageously applied. If we reflect on the extensive ramifications of the commerce which this enterprising people conducted, we shall find, with Dr. Vincent, that if we consider this chapter "only as historical, without any reference to the divine authority of the prophet, it is not only the most early but the most authentic record extant, relative to the commerce of the ancients." Something has been done towards its illustration by Bochart, Michaelis, Rosenmüller, Heeren, Vincent, and some others; but upon the whole, the hints and allusions which it offers have not yet received that sort of treatment, through which it might be made to throw a strong light upon many passages of Scripture and upon the early history of commerce. It has only hitherto been treated incidentally, whereas it requires to become the principal subject of attention to minds prepared by long study and instruction.

The limits and plan of this work necessarily confine us to a few observations on the principal facts which this chapter offers, and in performing this duty we shall avail ourselves of the researches of the authors we have named, particularly of Dr. Vincent, whose commencing observations may suitably introduce the ensuing notes:-"Let us, in conformity to the opening of the prophecy, consider Tyre as a city of great splendour, magnificently built, and inhabited by merchants, whose wealth rivalled the opulence of kings-who traded to the east by the intervention of Arabia*, and to the west by means of the Mediterranean: let us add to this, that in ages prior to the celebrity of Greece and Rome, their fleets had braved the dangers of the ocean, and their people were the only mariners who were not limited within the circle of the Mediterranean; that they penetrated eastward through the Straits of Death, which were the termination of the Red Sea, and westward beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which were the boundaries of all knowledge to every nation but their own; that they advanced northward to the British Isles, and southward to the coast of Africa on the Atlantic Ocean. Let us contemplate these enterprises as completed by the efforts of a single

* Not only through Arabia, surely: compare the notes in vol. ii. p. 340. 366.

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thee,

in the

idst of

sound

come

upon

city, which possibly did not possess a territory of twenty miles in circumference; which sustained a siege of thirteen years against all the power of Babylon, and another of eight months against Alexander, in the full career of his victories; and then judge whether a commercial spirit debases the nature of man, or unfits it for the exertion of determined valour; or whether any single city, recorded in history, is worthy to be compared with Tyre." ('Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients, vol. ii. p. 624-5.)

Verse 5. "Thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir."-Senir is understood to be the same as Sirion, the Phoenician name for Hermon, a mountain of Lebanon (Deut. iii. 9). Our knowledge of the firs of Lebanon is very limited indeed. It is very possible, however, that that here intended may have been the Pinus Laricio, or Corsican pine, which very much

mal resembles the Pinus sylvestris, or Scotch fir, in appearance as well as in the structure of the cone. The wood is however more compact and flexible than that of the Scotch fir, and is therefore better adapted to the purpose indicated in the text-the planking of vessels. We are however persuaded that the word ברושberosh, was a general name among the Hebrews for several kindred of trees, and not for one species in particular. We do not know what species of fir grew in their country and neighbourhood; but as it may be be conjectured with tolerable safety that the P. Haleheard pensis and P. Orientalis were of the number, and included under the general general name, we give specimens of these, in addition to the P. Laricio. The P. Halepensis certainly grew in the neighbourhood of Palestine, as its name, derived from Aleppo, indicates; and that the P. Orientalis-distinguished for the elegance of its cone-grew in Lebanon, may shall safely be presumed. There are some grounds on which the Pinaster might also have been added.

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لو

"Cedars from Lebanon to make masts."-It is by no means certain that the tree to which naturalists have given the name "cedar of Lebanon," is the same as the "arez )ארז( of Lebanon" so often mentioned in Scripture. As the word in the Aramean dialects is applied to several similar trees of the pine tribe, it may very possibly have been the - same in the Hebrew. Under this view it might sometimes denote the "cedar of Lebanon," and often other trees of a similar character; and if so, those equally err who insist that this tree can only be intended, and those who contend for some other particular species to the exclusion of all the rest. This is a subject of some interest, to which we may possibly return in some less occupied place. Meanwhile we may observe that the so called "cedar of Lebanon" can hardly be intended in this particular text, as, although the trunk of this tree is large, it is neither long nor straight, and therefore utterly unfit to be the mast of a ship. To which we may add that the wood is soft, and inferior to the worst kinds of deal. The Seventy seem to have felt this difficulty, and here render the word by "cypress."

6. "Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars." The common oak (Quercus robur) does at this day occur rather frequently in Bashan and the neighbouring districts east of the Jordan. We do not however recollect any instance in which oak occurs among the timbers used in ancient ship-building; and from its heaviness and want of elasticity it seems peculiarly ill adapted for oars, hence Houbigant translates "alders." But, although it is by no means

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certain that oak is intended, it may be well to recollect that the oars used in the ancient shipping were often of great length, and must hence have been employed at a greater mechanical disadvantage, and consequently with more force than is required by any use of the oar among ourselves. The same qualities were therefore not required in the wood they employed, and we indeed read of oars covered with brass or silver.

"The company of the Ashurites," &c. It is very difficult to comprehend this verse as it stands in our translation. We do not know who may be intended by "the company of the Ashurites;" that benches should be made of ivory is wholly improbable; neither was ivory brought from any of the places supposed to be denoted by the name "Chittim." The Targum and R. Jarchi, followed by most modern interpreters, by a very simple alteration, that of reading בת אשרים as one word, produce a very clear sense-"Thy benches have they made of ivory, inlaid in box from the isles of Chittim." This supposes that the benches were made of box inlaid or covered with ivory-an employment of ivory very probable, from the manner in which we know ivory to have been anciently used for the interior decoration of houses. In ancient vessels there are many benches for the numerous rowers to sit on; but here perhaps the distinguished seats, in what appears to have been a magnificent galley, may be intended. It is however uncertain whether seats be at all indicated.

"Chittim." This seems to be a name of large signification (such as our "Levant"), applied to the isles and coasts of the Mediterranean, in a loose sense, without fixing the particular part, though particular and different parts of the whole are probably in most cases to be understood. Some however would restrict it to some particular part, but with such difference between them as seems to corroborate this explanation. Josephus makes it Cyprus; the 1st of Maccabees applies it to Macedonia; the Vulgate has Italy; and Bochart makes it the same, with the islands around it, particularly Corsica, where the best box grew in abundance; Jerome ascribes it to the islands of the Ionian and Egean Sea, "The latter," says Dr. Vincent, "appears to correspond best with the importation of box-wood from Cytorus in the Euxine, the place most celebrated poetically for that production; and the box-wood of Pontus and Asia Minor is imported at this day into the port of London from Smyrna." Any of these places, which seems most probable, may be intended as included in the larger acceptation of the word "Chittim."

7. " Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt... to be thy sail."-Fine Egyptian linen, embroidered, was not very well adapted, one would think, for the sails of vessels, in any other than holiday navigation; nor would be very eligible even then. It seems therefore better, with the Targum and Vulgate, to understand a flag or ensign, which the original will sanction; and this the rather, from the mention of embroidering upon it. The flags of ancient vessels were usually placed at the prow, and in most cases each ship had its own particular flag, by which it was distinguished from others. It usually contained the representation of a mountain, a tree, a flower, a bird, a beast, or some imaginary creature.

"Blue and purple from the isles of Elisha... covered thee."-Elisha was one of the sons of Javan (Gen. x. 4); and as Javan is the general title for the Greek nation, Elisha may well be taken for a part, and that part Elis, Hellas, or Peloponnesus. It seems odd that the Tyrians, who were themselves so famous for their purples, should have required this from Elisha. But "the purple of Laconia was the finest dye next to the Tyrian; and the purple cloth of that province was possibly employed because it was cheaper than that of Tyre, which was reserved for the use of kings" (Vincent). It seems to have been employed for coverings or awnings to the galleys, which were sometimes very magnificent. Our readers will remember that the famous galley in which Cleopatra went to meet Anthony had an awning of cloth of gold. Indeed, it is observed by Bishop Newton, that "Cleopatra's sailing down the river Cydnus, to meet her gallant, Anthony, was not with greater finery and magnificence; nor have the historians and poets painted the one in more lively colours than the prophet has the other."

8-11. These verses are very instructive, and the information they furnish is too clear to require explanation. "The Tyrians themselves were wholly devoted to commerce and the management of their vessels; while the kindred Phenicians furnished them with mariners and shipwrights. Like the Carthaginians, also their kindred, their army was composed of foreign mercenaries, obtained by them from Persia and Africa; while the important trust of forming the garrison of the city, was given to native Phoenicians, the men of Arvad (Aradus) and the Gammadim. Of the latter, we do not elsewhere read; but "they were probably a people of Phoenicia; and perhaps the inhabitants of Ancon, ̓Αγκαίν and both signifying a cubit. Pliny mentions Gamah, a city of Phoenicia; for which some propose to read Gamade" (L. ii., c. x., 91) - Newcome. Perhaps no certainty can be obtained on this point. But it appears that the mercenaries were for foreign, or more properly colonial, service; while the Aradians, at least, as joined in the same commercial interest, had the defence of the city confided to them; and the same people, with the Sidonians, manned the ships of Tyre.

12. "Tarshish." Whatever may be sometimes the more extended signification of "Tarshish," it is probably here to be understood with reference to Tartessus in Spain (see the note on 2 Chron. ix.), as the articles mentioned are those which the Phoenicians obtained from Spain, or from the coasts in the Atlantic to which they traded; and the commodities of which they appear to have brought in the first instance to Tartessus, where the cargoes seem to have been finally made up for Tyre. It is well to understand that Tartessus was not only the port for the products of Spain, but the general entrepôt for the western commerce of the Phoenicians. The tin probably came from Britain.

13. "Javan. Tubal, and Meshech." -Javan has already been explained to mean Greece, in the large sense. With respect to the others, we see no reason to dissent from the opinion that they designate countries situated between and near the Black and Caspian Seas. This is very much confirmed by the fact that the merchandises named continue to he those of the same countries. The inhabitants of the north-east angle of Asia Minor have been in all ages, and still are, the manufacturers of steel, iron, and brass, for the supply of Armenia, Persia, Greece, and the eastern countries of the Mediterranean; and the Caucasian countries have always been a source from which a highly-valued class of slaves was drawn. The race of men inhabiting this region has always been considered eminent for personal comeliness; and in this kind of commerce, this consideration has been much regarded, The important part which the male slaves from these countries have taken in the Turkish empire is well known; and none are ignorant that the harems of the rich Turks and Persians have always been filled, in preference, with female slaves from Georgia and Circassia. It seems, from the present text, that the Tyrians obtained slaves and vessels of brass, as well intermediately through the Greeks, as directly from the native merchants.

14. " Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses." - Togarmah, we believe, with Michaelis, to have been Armenia. This country was in very ancient times celebrated for its horses. It was in this country and Media that the Persian kings bred horses for themselves and their armies; and in later times the Armenians paid their tribute in horses. The word rendered horsemen" )פרשים parashim) has certainly sometimes that meaning, and may here imply, that along with the horses were sold slaves skilled in the care and treatment of those animals. But the word also means horses for

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riding, as distinguished from others; and if thus understood here, the others were probably chariot-horses. Michaelis thinks that the two words סוסים susimand פרשים parashim) distinguish the common and more noble breeds; and if so. this is a distinction anciently applicable, so far as we know, to no other part of the East than Armenia; and we may recognize in the latter the famous Nysæan horses, which were in those times the coursers of luxury, and which were admired not less for the colour and brightness of their hair than for the elegance of their forms, on which account they alone were held worthy to draw the chariots of the Persian kings. Compare Michaelis, Heeren, and Vincent, on this verse.

15. "Dedan," &c. The common explanation is, that this Dedan was on the southern coast of Arabia; the people of which brought to Tyre, in their caravans, the produce of India. Heeren, however, following a hint thrown out by Michaelis, considers that this passage rather points to the Indian trade, which visited Tyre through the Persian Gulf, and to which we have already had occasion to refer in the note to 2 Chron. xx. Dedan, he considers to have been one (that called Tylos) of the isles on which the Phoenicians established themselves in the Persian Gulf, to facilitate their trade in that direction. In these isles the Phoenicians would appear, from his collections and reasonings, to have arranged much of the trade of the far east before it was finally transmitted to Tyre, as they did at Tartessus, in Spain, that of the far west. The case of the men of Dedan and merchants of the isles therefore would be analogous, in an opposite direction, to that of Tarshish, already mentioned. We unwillingly refrain from any longer statement on this subject, referring the reader to Heeren's Phoenicians,' sect. i. ch. 4; Babylonians,' sect. ii. ch. 2; and also to the above-cited note. We may add, however, that this view is in our opinion much strengthened by our observing another Dedan mentioned below (verse 20), which appears clearly, from the connection, to be that of Arabia.

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"Horns of ivory and ebony."" Horns" of ivory would mean tusks, from their resemblance to horns; but, indeed, the better and more received reading is "horns, ivory, vory, and ebony." What the "horns" were has been disputed. Some have it to be the horns of the ibex, or some other kind of goat. However, it is not necessary to suppose that horns are actually intended. That the substance resembled horn, or that the article bore the shape of a horn, are probable alternatives. Hence some suggest tortoise-shell; and Heeren, following Michaelis, proposes the tusks of the narwal, which is found in the Indian Ocean. All these products might, it seems, be derived from the coasts of Ethiopia, as well as from India; but whether Dedan be placed in the Persian Gulf, or near it on the coast of Arabia, it is equally allowed that they were derived in this instance from India. The best kind of ebony, at least, seems to have been by the Romans regarded as peculiar to India. Thus, Virgil,

"India alone will the dark ebon bear."-Georg. ii. 117.-SOTHEBY.

That ebony is intended by the הבנים habenim of the text. is one of the least doubtful of the conclusions concerning the botanical products mentioned in the Bible. The similarity of the names alone is of great weight with regard to an Oriental production, the name of which usually passed with the article itself into Greece; and the derivation of the

names ἔβενος, ebenum, ebony, from the Hebrew habenim, seems clear enough. In this, and with respect to other costly woods, the name occurs only in the plural; probably, as Gesenius suggests, because the wood was brought from abroad divided into planks. The ebony is the heart wood of a tree called, in botanical language, Diospyros ebenum, or the ebonytree, a native of India. It belongs to the family Ebenacea of Brown; and bears a berry that is eaten by the natives, when ripe. The leaves are elliptical, with numerous veins. The corolla or coloured part is shaped like an antique vase, and bears eight stamens, with which the eight cells and eight seeds in the berry correspond. The white wood which surrounds the heart or ebony is soft, and soon fails a prey to insects.

16. "Syria," &c.-Syria, in the original, is Aram, or Aramea: and Aram, in Scripture, is sometimes Mesopotamia, sometimes Damascus, and likewise the country about Libanus and the Orontes. With a due regard to the nature of the articles enumerated, Dr. Vincent reasonably concludes that they were all brought by land from the Gulf of Persia, through Mesopotamia or Damascus, in exchange for the manufactures of Tyre.

17. "Judah, and the land of Israel." -This verse is of much importance, as showing that the Hebrews were included, as indeed from their vicinity they could not help being, among the number of nations affected by the Tyrian commerce. We see that Tyre afforded a ready market for the redundant produce of their fertile country, and in return for which they doubtless obtained those manufactured articles and foreign commodities which they could not otherwise have procured. Thus we may consider, that in exchange for their own valuable produce, they might have obtained any of the articles mentioned in this chapter, and for which the known world was ransacked to furnish the great markets of Tyre: and we should probably, for instance, not be mistaken in concluding, that through this source, the tin used by them came originally from Britain. The neighbourhood of an agricultural people, like the Hebrews, was, on the other hand, a great advantage to the Tyrians, who were not addicted to cultivation, and the mountainous character and limited extent of whose territory would at all times have prevented them from raising the supplies they required. The Hebrew territory was thus in some sort the granary of the Phoenicians, and the tie of mutual benefits may explain the generally friendly character of the relations which subsisted between them. Heeren well observes, with reference to this verse, "The corn of Palestine was the best then known, not excepting even that of Egypt; whence we may infer, that the proximity of this country was not the only motive which engaged the Phœnicians to draw their supplies from it. The other products of Palestine, of which the prophet makes mention, were also of a superior quality. The vine, which was at all times cultivated, afforded abundance of delicious raisins. The olive, as still cultivated by the actual population, is said to furnish an oil superior to that of Provence, notwithstanding the ignorance and barbarism into which the country has fallen under the Ottoman despotism. And the balm which is collected in the neighbourhood of the lake of Genesareth is the same which still enjoys so great a reputation under the name of "the balm of Mecca."

18. " Damascus." It seems from this verse that Damascus received the richest manufactures of Tyre in exchange for wine of Helbon and white wool-that is, wool in the fleece, or unwrought. If Tyre bought wool in the fleece, and manufactured it, it is the same policy as Flanders formerly adopted in regard to the wool of England. The wine of Helbon is the Chalybon of the Greeks; the kings of Persia drank no other. The eastern name of Aleppo is still Haleb; and Haleb, Halebon, or Chalybon, are only varied by different aspirations or Greek terminations. (Vincent, vol. ii. р. 645.)

19. " Dan also."-"Dan also" )דן(( may read "Vadan," or "and Dan." Michaelis, followed by Heeren, thinks it may be Vadan, a city in Arabia, considering it difficult to connect the Hebrew tribe of Dan, as in this verse, with the trade of Tyre. But, as Vincent remarks, the situation of this tribe, between the Philistines and Joppa, was very commodious for its receiving the caravans from Arabia, in that age, which came to Rhinocolura in a later; and equally convenient for embarking at Joppa the commodities brought by the caravans to be conveyed to Tyre.

"Javan." This, most clearly, cannot be the Javan of Greece; but, as the commodities are Indian, we are to look for it in Arabia. Indeed the distinction between the two names is pointed out by the adjunct, which in our version is ren. dered "going to and fro," but which in the original is, מאוזל me-Uzal, and Uzal is explained by Gen. x. 27, where Uzal is the son of Joktan, joined with Hazarmaveth (Hadramaut), Theba, Ophir, and Havilah; all of which we know to be in Arabia, and consequently Javan-me-Uzal is so likewise. The "cassia and calamus" brought by these are evidently Oriental, indeed Indian, and probably also the iron, for Indian iron is likewise a part of the eastern invoice in the Periplus. We have already alluded to the intercourse which the Phoenicians had with India through the Persian Gulf; and the present verse is of great interest in Dr. Vincent's view, as clearly intimating their intercourse with India through Arabia, and as furnishing the most ancient record of the trade between India and Arabia that can be called historical. "For although spices are mentioned frequently, that term is not decisive, as all the gums and odours of Arabia are comprehended under that name. Cinnamon, cassia, and calamus alone prove an Indian origin; and notwithstanding these are mentioned by Moses, David, and Solomon, the conveyance of them by caravans from the southern coast of Arabia is nowhere specified till we arrive at this passage in Ezekiel."

20. "Dedan...precious clothes for chariots." This was probably the Dedan of Arabia, if it were not rather the one of Edom. (Jer. xlix. 8.) The verse is altogether very obscure. We do not know whether the cloths were a native manufacture, or obtained from countries more to the East; nor how they were employed, the term rendered "chariots" being very indefinite, literally, "riding," and may apply either to horses, horsemen, chariots, or charioteers.

21. "Arabia." This verse refers to the trade of the Bedouin Arabs with the produce of their flocks and herds. 22. "The merchants of Sheba and Raamah." This verse seems to relate to the trade which Arabian nations in the south of the peninsula carried on with Tyre, in both the produce of their own country and commodities which they obtained from Arabia. This and preceding verses open interesting views concerning the commerce between Tyre and Arabia. and being ourselves obliged to abstain from the subject, we may refer the reader to the valuable particulars, in relation to it, which have been given by Heeren.

23. "Haran," &c.-Michaelis, followed as usual by Heeren, would place these names also in Arabia; but we have no hesitation in agreeing with Vincent in fixing them to Mesopotamia and Assyria. Indeed most of the names are such as we at once recognise as applied in Scripture to places in that quarter. The single name of Ashur would show this, if those of Haran and Canneh (Calneh) should be doubtful. With respect to the commodities mentioned in the next verse, Vincent also observes, "The chests of cedar bound with cords, seem to imply great caution adopted for the preservation of the clothes, which were the costly manufacture of Babylon, if not of India; and this caution seemas more necessary for a conveyance overland, not only to prevent injury to the goods, but robbery likewise."

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