PSALM 48:9 “You (Jehovah) break the ships of Tarshish [regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea] with an east wind.”
(Review)
The word Tarshish is associated with ships and ports and the name of the Phoenician colony in the Western portion of the Mediterranean Sea with which the Phoenicians traded- being the farthest limits of the western world- remote yet rich and powerful in commerce. The ships of Tarshish trade were regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea.
The word Tarshish is associated with ships and ports and the name of the Phoenician colony in the Western portion of the Mediterranean Sea with which the Phoenicians traded- being the farthest limits of the western world- remote yet rich and powerful in commerce. The ships of Tarshish trade were regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea.
Expounded Hypothetically:
The products of Tarshish included silver [refined “words”- from far distant places, relating stories of discoveries from specialized journals and publications], iron [fig., symbolizing words of great power, good or bad, right or wrong], lead [used to symbolize a Permanent Record of Words, of either immutable truth or words of error and falsehood] and tin [trading with words that gave strength to a currently held belief of opinion], which were imported by Tyre.
The merchant ship Tyre was depicted as a highly efficient business machine, trading in all kinds of costly goods. The seemingly interminable list of her trading partners makes clear the astonishing array of her wares. For her crew was secured with the best trained veteran seamen from Phoenician cities. Tyre became a “mart of the nations,” a place of trade- allowing access to far off places- perfected in beauty having acquired a vast port of entry.
The merchant ship Tyre was depicted as a highly efficient business machine, trading in all kinds of costly goods. The seemingly interminable list of her trading partners makes clear the astonishing array of her wares. For her crew was secured with the best trained veteran seamen from Phoenician cities. Tyre became a “mart of the nations,” a place of trade- allowing access to far off places- perfected in beauty having acquired a vast port of entry.
“Ships of Tarshish” came to designate the larger sea-going vessels, regardless of their origin or ports of call. It is important to note that Tarshish has been paralleled with “the pleasant place, desire” (“beautiful craft”), suggesting that whatever the original identification of Tarshish may have been in literature and popular imagination it became a distant paradise. It was from the Phoenicians that the Mediterranean peoples learned seamanship and skill in navigation.
The Phoenicians were a powerful trading people as well as great explorers, and sent ships to trade and settle colonies. Cyprus was invaded by the “People of the Sea”. The tenth century brought the Phoenicians, who colonized Cyprus and spread from there to the shores of the W. Mediterranean. Cyprus was named after a son of Javan- the father of the Greeks. The name Javan denotes Greece. The Greeks established a high culture through the investigation of the humanities producing notable scholars, artists, and scientists. The Greeks founded and advocated the political formula of “democracy.”
The Phoenicians Invented the Alphabet
Writing was a way of recording and storing words and ideas. Famous books, the country’s laws, scientific discoveries and letters for friends are all written down, to be read or remembered for various purposes later.
The Phoenicians, living alone a 20-mile strip on the Mediterranean, made the great sea their second home, giving the alphabet to Greeks in the mutual trading area and leaving inscriptions in many sites. The Phoenicians themselves were a powerful trading people as well as great explorers, and sent ships to trade and settle colonies right across the Mediterranean as far as Spain. Being able seamen, the Phoenicians were famous in the ancient world for their capacity as sailors and pilots. They took up sea trade and developed it to a degree which was unknown till then.
The ships in which the Phoenicians made these voyages were small as compared with the great vessels of the present day, but the largest known in their age, as we may infer from the long voyages they made. Their superiority is testified to by classical writers. Their ships excelled all others in speed being impelled both by sails and oars.
Trade was the very life of Phoenicia, and they sought outlets for it by sea and land. Their position was especially favorable for commerce. In the very center of the ancient world, with the great rich and populous nations of antiquity at their back and on either side, they faced the young, vigorous and growing nations of the West, and they served them all as carriers and producers. Their caravans traded all the well-beaten routes of the East, the deserts of Arabia and the mountain defiles of Armenia and Asia Minor, and their ships pushed boldly out to sea and explored the Mediterranean and did not hesitate to brave the unknown dangers of the Atlantic in their zeal for discovery and search for new avenues of trade.
We know that they had a fleet in the Red Sea and it is quite possible that they were allowed by some of the kings of Egypt to avail themselves of ports on the other branch of the Red Sea. They must have visited the eastern shore of Africa and perhaps struck across the Indian Ocean, after skirting the coast of Arabia, thus carried on trade with India.
Tyre and Sidon were the two great cities of the Phoenicians. Sidon was the mother city which was soon surpassed by her proud and rich daughter, Tyre.
The ships of the Phoenicians entered all ports of the Mediterranean Sea ad even penetrated the uncharted ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules. They were an aggressive and progressive people. As mentioned before, if was from the Phoenicians that the Mediterranean peoples learned seamanship and skill in navigation. It is fitting, therefore, that in his dirge over the downfall of the mistress of the sea, the Prophet Ezekiel should represent Tyre as a gallant ship, well built, well furnished, and well manned, broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, fallen into the heart of the seas in the day of her ruin. Ezekiel’s description brings together more of the features of the ship of antiquity than any other that has become down to us. Her builders have made her perfect in beauty with planks of fir, mast of cedar, oars of the oak of Bashan, decks of ivory, sails of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, and an awning of blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah.
The Phoenicians, living alone a 20-mile strip on the Mediterranean, made the great sea their second home, giving the alphabet to Greeks in the mutual trading area and leaving inscriptions in many sites. The Phoenicians themselves were a powerful trading people as well as great explorers, and sent ships to trade and settle colonies right across the Mediterranean as far as Spain. Being able seamen, the Phoenicians were famous in the ancient world for their capacity as sailors and pilots. They took up sea trade and developed it to a degree which was unknown till then.
The ships in which the Phoenicians made these voyages were small as compared with the great vessels of the present day, but the largest known in their age, as we may infer from the long voyages they made. Their superiority is testified to by classical writers. Their ships excelled all others in speed being impelled both by sails and oars.
Trade was the very life of Phoenicia, and they sought outlets for it by sea and land. Their position was especially favorable for commerce. In the very center of the ancient world, with the great rich and populous nations of antiquity at their back and on either side, they faced the young, vigorous and growing nations of the West, and they served them all as carriers and producers. Their caravans traded all the well-beaten routes of the East, the deserts of Arabia and the mountain defiles of Armenia and Asia Minor, and their ships pushed boldly out to sea and explored the Mediterranean and did not hesitate to brave the unknown dangers of the Atlantic in their zeal for discovery and search for new avenues of trade.
We know that they had a fleet in the Red Sea and it is quite possible that they were allowed by some of the kings of Egypt to avail themselves of ports on the other branch of the Red Sea. They must have visited the eastern shore of Africa and perhaps struck across the Indian Ocean, after skirting the coast of Arabia, thus carried on trade with India.
Tyre and Sidon were the two great cities of the Phoenicians. Sidon was the mother city which was soon surpassed by her proud and rich daughter, Tyre.
The ships of the Phoenicians entered all ports of the Mediterranean Sea ad even penetrated the uncharted ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules. They were an aggressive and progressive people. As mentioned before, if was from the Phoenicians that the Mediterranean peoples learned seamanship and skill in navigation. It is fitting, therefore, that in his dirge over the downfall of the mistress of the sea, the Prophet Ezekiel should represent Tyre as a gallant ship, well built, well furnished, and well manned, broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, fallen into the heart of the seas in the day of her ruin. Ezekiel’s description brings together more of the features of the ship of antiquity than any other that has become down to us. Her builders have made her perfect in beauty with planks of fir, mast of cedar, oars of the oak of Bashan, decks of ivory, sails of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, and an awning of blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah.
Tyre, (as a figurative prototype of the ships of Tarshish), was perfect of beauty, well-build and well-fitted with money and trade, well set up owing to her perfect beauty. Thusly, the format of Tyre, became the standard for others.
The mast was, her first position for effectiveness, force and speed of the ship. Therein is found the power and strength of the ship manifest within the “corporate fountainhead” providing the supply and support. Her oars were made of oak, the strength of Bashan, notable specimens- men of aggressive genius. The outward appearance of the deck the surface area of the operation exposed to the view of the public, they made with ivory, the rare and expensive material attained through the expertise of the astute men of Cyprus, those who established a high culture through investigation of the humanities- of those who walk in wise and sensible paths and ways of life.
The merchant ship Tyre is depicted as a highly efficient business machine, trading in all kinds of costly goods. The seemingly interminable list of her trading partners makes clear the astonishing array of her wares. By covering all points of the compass and virtually every imaginable precious commodity, the picture is established of Tyre as the commercial crossroads of the world…as mercantile emporium of the peoples of many sea coasts, both from the east and from the west: “A Mart of Nation”.
Informing, Educating, Marketing & Merchandising
(Marketing & Merchandising) – There is no dispute over the power of advertising to inform consumers of what products are available. In a free-market economy effective advertising is essential to a company’s survival, for unless consumers know about a company’s product they are unlikely to buy it. (Magazines are a chief print medium for advertising, offering the manufacturer of products to make contact with their most likely customers.)
The king of Tyre maintained a refinery and ship-building center with which he operated ships of Tarshish.
EZEKIEL 27:12 “Tarshish [regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea- fig. brought to port news related discoveries concerning the physical world and its phenomena] (they were) your traders [Tyre, for the riches of the world flowed into your harbor from specialized journals of original entry] from the plenty of (your) wealth [as a “broker of the peoples” a “mart of the nations”]…”
(Continuing Isaiah 2:12-22) Verse 14 “…and against all the lifted up hills [unlawful- illicit sites of worship]; and against every tall tower [when human aspirations of men, claiming divine entitlement go beyond the limits of the law] and against every [strongly] fortified [militaristic] wall [of protection designed to safeguard ruthless oppression]; and against all the ships of Tarshish; and against all the desirable craft.”
PSALM 48:9 “You (Jehovah) break the ships of Tarshish [regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea] with an east wind.”
EZEKIEL 27:12 “Tarshish [regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea- fig. brought to port news related discoveries concerning the physical world and its phenomena] (they were) your traders [Tyre, for the riches of the world flowed into your harbor from specialized journals of original entry] from the plenty of (your) wealth [as a “broker of the peoples” a “mart of the nations”]…”
(Continuing Isaiah 2:12-22) Verse 14 “…and against all the lifted up hills [unlawful- illicit sites of worship]; and against every tall tower [when human aspirations of men, claiming divine entitlement go beyond the limits of the law] and against every [strongly] fortified [militaristic] wall [of protection designed to safeguard ruthless oppression]; and against all the ships of Tarshish; and against all the desirable craft.”
PSALM 48:9 “You (Jehovah) break the ships of Tarshish [regarded as the caravans that bore the merchandise of the mistress of the sea] with an east wind.”
THIRD PART OF SHIPS DESTROYED
The Tyrian merchants sailed to all ports and colonized almost everywhere. To emphasize the certainty of Tyre’s judgment, the Lord told Ezekiel to lament the city’s doom in advance. Tyre is compared to a large commercial ship made from the best wood, adorned with beautiful sails, and manned by skilled sailors. Its list of trading partners included virtually every nation and city in the known world. However, a storm (the Lord’s judgment) would destroy this great ship. All of its sailors and merchants would sink into the sea, causing its trading partners looking on from the shore to lament over its fate.
THE SINKING OF TYRE
(With your eyes you shall see the reward of the wicked)
Calvin Commentary.- It is of importance to remember, that those whom God has taken under His care are in a state of the most absolute safety.
Barnes Commentary.- Though a thousand shall fall at you side, or close to you, no matter how many fall around you, on the right hand and the left, you will have nothing to fear. You will be safe. You may feel assured of the Divine protection; calmness will conduce to your safety. The only thing which you have to anticipate is, that you will see how God punishes sinners. “With your eyes you shall behold and see the reward of the wicked.” Your own eyes shall see it.
PSALM 37:27-40 (David Penned) “Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip. The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives; but the Lord will not leave them in their power or let them (the righteous) be condemned when brought to trial. Wait for the Lord and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. Consider the blameless, observe the upright; the future of the wicked will be cut off. The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their stronghold in times of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.”
THE CHARACTER OF THOSE TAKING REFUGE IN GOD REVEALED
(The Ethos of the Church and its Righteous Dominion over all the Earth)
[Aliens Protected - New Jerusalem a City of Refuge]
ISAIAH 14:1-2 (Apocalyptic Rendering) “For Jehovah will have pity on Jacob [the patriarch of the Israelite Tribes], and will chose yet among Israel, and give them rest on their [home] land. And the alien [(non-Jew, non- Christian) left helpless in the face of oppression- who of necessity relied upon others for justice, since they were not in a position to demand it, or mete it out themselves] shall be joined to them; and they shall cling to the house of Jacob [in the thick of the battle of life- for Jacob is in enemy territory and threatened by a hostile world]. And peoples [the Persians (anti-terrorism forces)] shall take them and bring them to their place. And the house of Israel [whose very covenant safeguards the liberties of others] shall [within the scope of liberal arts] possess them [in an ethical sense] on the land of Jehovah for slaves and slave girls [who meekly accept being ruled by the laws of a democratic society], and they shall be [socially restrained] captives of their [law enforcing] captors [restoring and maintaining the boundaries of the law], and [in such a social posture] they shall rule over their [lawless and cruel] oppressors [the ruthless Babylonians].”
THE SHIP TYRE UNDER DIVINE JUDGMENT
(The Character of those NOT afforded protection of the New Jerusalem)
Revelation 22:14-15 “But the dogs (are) outside [i.e., the wickedly enraged and unpitying malicious wretches who hound the god fearer to their doom] and (are outside) the sorcerers [a druggists or poisoner- employing the weaponry of the “dark arts” of medicine to gain power and control over others; they are “outside” the city; there they are “in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, the second death”], and the fornicators [those who wantonly compromise the principles of conventional restraint, neither keeping to the paths of justice- safeguarding the rights and liberties of others, nor maintaining the boundaries of the law] and the murderers [who deliberately kill others through acts of crime] and the idolaters [paying homage to the self-deification of man], and everyone loving [delighting is that which is false] and making a lie [for a belief].”
Barnes Commentary.- You will see the just punishment of the ungodly, the vicious, the profane. You will see what is the proper fruit of their conduct; what is the just expression of the view which God takes of their character.
(Why was Tyre to Sink in the Heart of the Seas?)
Lamentation For Tyre - Tyre, the capital of the Phoenician Empire, likened to a great ship is wrecked.
Under the Seleucid kings who followed after Alexander, Tyre rose again slowly, and was the major center of the Phoenician coast in the Hellenistic periods. It became a part of the Seleucid kingdom when Antiochus III drove the Ptolemies from Syria, and the SELEUCID KINGS regarded it of importance and GAVE IT THE RIGHT OF ASYLUM (an inviolable place of REFUGE and security).
Trade and industry were again developed. Pottery and glassware were produced. The glass from Sidon and Tyre was excellent and had high reputation in all countries of the Western world.
Trade and industry were again developed. Pottery and glassware were produced. The glass from Sidon and Tyre was excellent and had high reputation in all countries of the Western world.
(Next)
The GLASS of Tyre. The Cargo.
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