Tyre
“Rock”
Summary
Tyre was the most important Phoenician city, renowned for its maritime commerce and wealth, whose king Hiram supplied materials and craftsmen for Solomon's Temple.
☩Location and Description
Tyre was situated on the Phoenician coast, on the northern boundary of the tribe of Asher, about twenty miles south of Sidon. The ancient city had two parts: the mainland city (Old Tyre) and an island fortress about half a mile offshore. The island city, with its two harbors, became the principal seat of Tyrian power and commerce. Its massive walls rose directly from the sea, making it virtually impregnable until Alexander the Great built a causeway to capture it.
☩Commerce and Wealth
Tyre was the merchant city par excellence of the ancient world, described by Isaiah as 'the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth.' Ezekiel 27 provides an elaborate catalog of Tyre's trade: silver, iron, tin, and lead from Tarshish; slaves and bronze from Javan; horses from Togarmah; ivory and ebony from distant lands. Tyrian purple dye, extracted from the murex shellfish, was world-famous, and Tyrian craftsmen were renowned for their skill in metalwork, woodworking, and navigation.
☩Relations with Israel
King Hiram of Tyre maintained friendly relations with both David and Solomon. He supplied cedar, cypress, and skilled workmen for David's palace and later for Solomon's Temple. Solomon ceded twenty cities in Galilee to Hiram as payment, and the two kings jointly operated a merchant fleet from Ezion-geber. Later, Ahab's marriage to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal king of Tyre, introduced Baal worship into Israel with disastrous consequences.
☩Prophetic Judgments
Multiple prophets pronounced judgment on Tyre for its pride, commercial greed, and rejoicing over Jerusalem's fall. Isaiah prophesied a seventy-year desolation. Ezekiel devoted three chapters to Tyre's doom, depicting its wealth and splendor before pronouncing destruction that would leave it 'a place for the spreading of nets.' Nebuchadnezzar besieged the mainland city for thirteen years, and Alexander finally conquered the island city in 332 BC by building his famous causeway.
☩New Testament References
Jesus visited the region of Tyre and Sidon and there healed the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman whose faith He commended. He declared that Tyre and Sidon would fare better in the judgment than Chorazin and Bethsaida, which had rejected greater light. Paul's ship stopped at Tyre for seven days during his final voyage to Jerusalem, where he found disciples who warned him through the Spirit about the dangers awaiting him.
Related Verses49 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Tyre," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. X (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Tyre," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 3.James Orr (ed.), "Tyre," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. V (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Tyre," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).