They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
- BSB They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and make her a bare rock.
- NKJV And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
- NASB They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers; and I will sweep her debris away from her and make her a bare rock.
- NLT They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down its towers. I will scrape away its soil and make it a bare rock!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Tyre's walls and towers will be destroyed and her very dust scraped away, leaving bare rock. It pictures the completeness of God's promised judgment.
Overview
Scraping away the dust to expose bare rock conveys total devastation, stripping the city to its foundations. Such thoroughness underscores that no fortification withstands the Lord's decree. The vivid finality here heightens the contrast with God's enduring city, the heavenly Jerusalem, which cannot be shaken.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 23:11He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds.
- Amos 1:10but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it will devour its palaces.”
- Ezek 26:9He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.
- Lev 14:41–45and he shall cause the inside of the house to be scraped all over, and they shall pour out the mortar, that they scraped off, outside of the city into an unclean place.
- Jer 5:10“Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh’s.
- Ezek 24:7–8For her blood is in the middle of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
- Zech 9:3Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.
- Ezek 26:12They shall make a plunder of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the middle of the waters.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 26:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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