They cry aloud over you and weep bitterly. They 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:
- BSB They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in 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.
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 6:26Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come on us.
- Lam 2:10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, they keep silence; They have cast up dust on their heads; they have clothed themselves with sackcloth: The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
- 2 Sam 1:2on the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn, and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the earth, and showed respect.
- Jonah 3:6The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
- Ezek 26:17They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!
- 1 Sam 4:12A man of Benjamin ran out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with dirt on his head.
- Isa 23:1–6The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
- Job 42:6Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
- Mic 1:10Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust.
- Rev 18:9–19The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning,
- Job 2:8He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.
- Ezek 27:31–32and they shall make themselves bald for you, and clothe them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
- Jer 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.
- Esth 4:1–4Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and a bitterly.
- Job 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.
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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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.