They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
Parallel translations
- WEB and shall cause their voice to be heard over you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust on their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
- KJV 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:
- NKJV They will make their voice heard because of you; They will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads; They will roll about in ashes;
- NASB And they will make their voice heard over you And cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads, They will wallow in ashes.
- NLT They cry aloud over you and weep bitterly. They throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
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
They cry bitterly over Tyre, casting dust on their heads and rolling in ashes. It portrays intense mourning over the fallen city.
Overview
Dust on the head and wallowing in ashes were traditional expressions of profound grief and shock. The sailors' lament reflects how deeply Tyre's collapse affected the nations. Such mourning over a commercial empire's fall reveals how thoroughly people had invested their hopes in earthly prosperity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 6:26O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- Lam 2:10The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
- 2 Sam 1:2On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
- Jonah 3:6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- Ezek 26:17Then they will lament for you, saying, “How you have perished, O city of renown inhabited by seafaring men—she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people, who imposed terror on all peoples!
- 1 Sam 4:12That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
- Isa 23:1–6This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
- Job 42:6Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Mic 1:10Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
- Rev 18:9–19Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- Job 2:8And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.
- Ezek 27:31–32They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
- Jer 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
- Esth 4:1–4When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
- Job 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
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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 27:30 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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