Ezekiel 27:1–11, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ezekiel 27:1–11
Tyre Is Lamented as a Beautifully Built Trade Ship
Tyre is built on the page as a ship
Ezekiel is told to take up a lamentation for Tyre, situated at the entry of the sea, merchant of the people for many isles. Tyre says, I am of perfect beauty. The poem then names her as a ship: borders in the midst of the seas, builders who have perfected her beauty.
Fir from Senir for boards, cedar from Lebanon for masts, oaks of Bashan for oars, ivory in boxwood from Chittim for benches, fine linen with broidered work from Egypt for sails, blue and purple from the isles of Elishah for the awning: the hull is an international luxury object.
Sailors, pilots, and hired walls complete the vessel
Inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad are mariners. Tyre's own wise men are pilots. The ancients of Gebal are calkers. All the ships of the sea with their mariners are in her to occupy her merchandise. Persia, Lud, and Phut hang the shield and helmet; Arvad and Helech are upon the walls; Gammadim in the towers hang their shields.
Beauty, foreign labor, and military security are catalogued as the city's boast, not as proofs of righteousness. The ship-city is impressive because the poem wants the wreck to mean something. Admiration is not baptism.
How this should shape us
Name excellence without confusing it with holiness. A beautiful system built from other people's timber, cloth, and hired defense can still be a pride the LORD will wreck. Do not treat wealth, design, or security contractors as a moral argument.
Teach it back
Explain Ezekiel 27:1–11 in your own words. Name its place in Ezekiel, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Ezekiel 27:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 27:1–11
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 27:1–11
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: nations, Tyre, Egypt, and laments; applied to Ezekiel 27:1–11
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 2-3 study guides: nations, watchman, shepherd, and restoration; applied to Ezekiel 27:1–11
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 27:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 27:1–11
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 27:1–11
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Ezekiel course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and passage studies
Alan G. Padgett; revised by Tyler Mayfield
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised June 2023
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: nations, Tyre, Egypt, and laments; applied to Ezekiel 27:1–11
Open the Enter the Bible Ezekiel course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Ezekiel Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 2-3 study guides: nations, watchman, shepherd, and restoration; applied to Ezekiel 27:1–11
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗