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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- 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 stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.
- Amos 1:10But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.
- Ezek 26:9And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
- Lev 14:41–45And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place:
- Jer 5:10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’s.
- Ezek 24:7–8For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
- Zech 9:3And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
- Ezek 26:12And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
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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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