A lamentation - We ought to mourn for the miseries of other nations, as well as of our own, out of an affection for mankind in general; yea, tho' they have brought them upon themselves.
They - The shipwrights. Shipboards - The planks and benches, or transoms for their ships. Fir - trees - Of the best and finest fir - trees. Lebanon - Whose cedars excelled others.
With box - From the isles, and parts about the Ionian, Aegean, and other seas of the Mediterranean, where box - tree is a native, and of great growth and firmness, fit to saw into boards for benches; they were conveyed to Tyre, where their artists inlaid these box boards with ivory, and made them beautiful seats in their ships.
The isles of Elishah - Probably the sea - coast of Aeolis in the lesser Asia, the inhabitants whereof were excellent in the skill of dying wool. Which covered - He speaks of the coverings they used in their ships or galleys: their tilts, as our boat - men call them.
Zidon - An ancient town and haven of Phoenicia, not far from Tyre. Arvad - Or Aradus, an island belonging to Phoenicia, twenty furlongs from the continent. Mariners - Rowers in thy galleys; the rich Tyrians would not employ their own in such servile works, they hired strangers. Wise men - Thy learned men: for navigation was the great study of the Tyrians.
The ancients - Old experienced workmen. Gebal - A town of Phoenicia near the sea. The wise men - Skilful in their trades. Were in thee - Who dwelt in Tyre for gain. All the ships - Ships from all parts of the sea, full of mariners, not only to manage the ships at sea, but to offer their service to the Tyrians for bringing in, or carrying out their wares.
Lud - Lydians, not those Cresus was king over, but those that dwelt in Egypt about the lake Maraeolis. Phut - Lybians, a people of Africa; these were their hired soldiers. Hanged the shield - In time of peace. They set forth - These stout, expert, well armed guards, were an honour to thee.
Javan - The Grecians, particularly the Ionians. Tubal - The Asiatic Iberians, and the Albanians toward the Caspian sea. Meshech - The Cappadocians. They traded - Brought men to sell for slaves.
Of the house - Of the country. Togarmah - Armenia the lesser, Phrygia, Galatia, or Cappadocia. Horsemen - It is likely they might sell grooms, as best able to manage, and keep those horses.
Isles - In the Indian seas, and in the Red - sea traded with thee. Horns - Elk's horns, or wild goats. Ebony - Is a very solid, heavy, shining, black wood, fit for many choice works.
Haran - In Mesopotamia, where Abraham dwelt. Canneh - This is supposed to be the same with Calneh, Gen 10:10, afterwards Ctesiphon, a pleasant city on Tigris. Ashur - Assyria. Chilmad - A country between Assyria and Parthia.
Thy rowers - Thy governors and counsellors. Great waters - Dangers and difficulties. The east wind - The king of Babylon with his army. Hath broken - As surely will, as if he had already done it. In the midst - Where thou thoughtest thyself impregnable.
Shall come down - ln the allegory of a miserable shipwreck, the prophet sets forth the fall of Tyre; and in this verse he represents them all shifting out of the sinking ship, in great confusion.
