Ezekiel 27

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: You therefore, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre, and you shall say to Tyre, which dwells at the entrance of the sea, the trade of the peoples to many islands (or from many islands): Thus says the Lord God. If I should wish to comprehend the whole prophecy against Tyre, or over the lamentation of Tyre, in a single discourse, I shall both make it long and obscure the reader's understanding, since he cannot hold everything in mind at once, especially the places in which the edition of the Seventy differs from the Hebrew in this passage, that is, what they have added or what they have taken away. Therefore we shall be content with our own translation, and wherever they disagree we shall attach theirs alongside, leaving the perfect knowledge of all things to God, and we shall briefly point out what seems right to us in each point. He who is lamented is still a concern to the one by whom he is lamented; hence Samuel too wept and lamented over Saul, and the Apostle Paul laments and mourns over those who have committed fornication and have not done penance, and Jeremiah writes lamentations over the overthrow of Jerusalem in four alphabets.

Tyre, then, or Sor, according to the letter, dwells at the entrance of the sea, either because it was formerly an island or because it receives ships coming from the deep into a most safe harbor, and it is the trade of the peoples to many islands, or from many islands, which indeed continues to this day, so that the commerce of almost all nations is carried on in it. But following the interpretation we have begun, let us refer whatever is said of Tyre to the συνοχὴν, that is, the 'straits', of this world, which is set in the evil one and is hemmed in and battered by various disturbances as if by waves — of traders of this sort it is told also in the Psalms in mystical language: Those who go down to the sea in ships, doing business in many waters, these have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep —.

O Tyre, you have said: I am of perfect beauty (or you have said: I have surrounded myself with beauty), and set in the heart of the sea. The first charge against Tyre is that, if she seems to have anything good, she thinks it not God's but her own, and reckons all the beauty that came to her from various regions to be the work of her own diligence and strength; for she said: I am of perfect beauty, or: I have surrounded myself with beauty, although she is set in the heart, that is, in the middle, of the sea, and is tossed about like an island, and is shattered by the surge and the dashing of the waves. That the heart of the sea signifies its middle, that prophetic saying also shows: Therefore we will not fear when the earth is troubled, and the mountains are carried into the heart of the sea. Their waters roared and were troubled; and our Lord too is said to have descended into the heart of the earth, that is, into its middle, and to the underworld. But true and perfect beauty is in no human being except in the body of Christ, which is interpreted as the Church, and which is gathered together from the virtues of many saints; hence he himself also speaks to the bride: You are all beautiful, my nearest, and there is no blemish in you.

Your neighbors, who built you, have filled up your beauty; with firs from Sanir they constructed you, with all the planking of the sea; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. (In place of which, intending I know not what, the Seventy translated thus: Beelim your sons surrounded you with beauty; cedar from Sanir was built for you; they took thin boards of cypress from Lebanon to make masts of fir for you; for the word 'Beelim' is not found at all in this place among the Hebrews, but in place of 'Beelim' is written 'gebulaich', which means 'your borders'; in what they said, 'your sons', too, they were deceived by the ambiguity of the word and the similarity of the writing, since the same letters, with a different pronunciation, are read as 'of masons' and 'of sons', 'bonaich' and 'benaich'.) 'O Tyre, then, you who said in pride: I am of perfect beauty (or: I have surrounded myself with beauty), although you are set in the middle of the sea, hear how much has been bestowed on you by the bounty of God: your neighbors and those who border on you, who are not from distant but from nearby regions, they themselves have filled up your beauty; and you think yours what is another's!'

And he speaks as if to a ship, τροπικῶς [figuratively] signifying the beauty of the city and its abundance of all things, so that, after he has described all its equipment — mast, yards, oars, sails, prow, keel, ropes, coverings, hides, and the other things which the use of the best-fitted ships requires — he may then announce that a storm and the south wind, by which the greatest waves will be stirred up, will come upon it, and that it will be subjected to shipwreck — by which he signifies the overthrow of the Tyrian city by king Nebuchadnezzar, or, as many think, by Alexander king of the Macedonians, who is related to have besieged and taken that very city in six months, after he had defeated Darius in Lycia —. According to the mystical understandings, the planking of the Tyrian ship, with which it is fitted and joined together, is cut from firs or cedars from Sanir, and its mast is raised from a cedar or cypress from Lebanon: from firs because of their lightness and the joints of the boards, which hold and bite into one another more gently, or from cedars because it is a wood that does not rot; and they are said to be 'from Sanir', which means 'way of the lamp' or, as we judge more truly, 'tooth of the watches', because all the prosperity and illumination of the ship came from the true light; Sanir, moreover, according to the letter, is the very mountain that is also Hermon, which others call Sarion — read the history —; it means 'whiteness' or 'whitening', which itself also pertains to grace coming from elsewhere.

Oaks from Bashan they hewed into your oars, your benches they made for you of Indian ivory, and cabins from the islands of Italy. (LXX: "From Bashan they made your oars, your temples they made for you of ivory, forest houses from the islands of Chetthiim.") How great the beauty of the ship and of its equipment, that it should have oars of cedar — not from just anywhere but from Bashan —, and benches of ivory, and cabins — or storerooms in which the most precious merchandise is laid up — from the islands of 'Chetthiim' — which we have rendered as 'Italy' —, from that region which is nearer to Greece, understanding by it all the parts of the western islands! Let us say, then, according to the ἀναγωγὴν [anagogy, the higher sense], that the oars of the Tyrian ship are made from Bashan — of which it is also written in the Psalms: The Lord said: From Bashan I will turn back, I will turn back from the depth of the sea; Basan in our language means 'ignominy' —; those, then, who were in the depth of the sea and in the ignominy of sins, the Lord turns back, and turns them into oars, so that, sailing with the apostles, they may reach the land and the shores; and benches are made of ivory when they have mortified their bodies, or have devoted the use of their teeth to the praises of God; and cabins or storerooms from the islands of 'Chetthiim', which, according to the ἐτυμολογιὰν [etymology] of the Hebrew language, is rendered 'struck', so that it has been not so much killed as tested by the blows of the devil. We can speak of the 'of ivory, and forest houses' 'from the islands of Chetthiim' as those which the heretics try to construct not in the house of God but in the Tyrian ship, they themselves having their own ivory of speech, and building temples of the tongue contrary to the temple of God, and forest houses, the dwellings of beasts, whereas Scripture says that groves and woods and sacred groves are not to be planted in the house of God.

Embroidered byssus from Egypt was woven for you into a sail, to be set on the mast; hyacinth and purple from the islands of Elishah became your covering. (LXX: "Byssus with embroidery from Egypt was made for you into a spread to surround you with glory, and to cover you with hyacinth and purple from the islands of Elisee, and they became your coverings.") Because Tyre had said: I am of perfect beauty (or: I myself have surrounded myself with beauty), she is convicted as to what she has received from each region, according to that word of Scripture: What do you have that you have not received? But if you have received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it? So it is described what each province sends, according to that line of Vergil: India sends ivory, the soft Sabaeans their incense, But the hardy Chalybes iron, and Pontus the rank castoreum, and the rest. Byssus grows most of all in Egypt, and from it was woven the sail of the Tyrian ship, which is hung on the mast; and its covering, which in the heat of the sun and in calm weather affords shade to sailors and passengers, is made of hyacinth and purple, which come from the islands of Elishah, so he calls the islands of the Ionian Sea. Further, according to the Seventy, coverings of byssus are woven for the spread and for the repose of the Tyrian ship, so that, covered with these, it may be more glorious, and, surrounded with them, may have a more beautiful garment. Now we have often pointed out that byssus is referred to the earth because it springs from the earth, and hyacinth to the air, purple to the sea, from which it is made, with the twice-dyed scarlet added, of which the vestments of the high priest are woven, because it signifies the four elements: earth, fire, air and waters, of which all things consist; and these Tyre takes to herself, so as not to use God's creatures with thanks, but to say: I am of perfect beauty (or: I myself have surrounded myself with beauty).

The inhabitants of Sidon and the Aradians were your rowers; your wise men, O Tyre, became your pilots. The elders of Byblus and its prudent men provided sailors for the service of your varied equipment. All the ships of the sea and their sailors were among the people of your trade. (LXX: "Your princes who dwelt in Sidon and the Aradians were your rowers; your wise men, Sor, who were in you, these were your pilots. The elders of Byblus and its wise men were in you: these strengthened your counsel. And all the ships of the sea and their rowers became yours toward the west of the west.") He had said above: Your neighbors, who built you, have filled up your beauty; before he comes to those who dwell far off, he describes the help of the nearest provinces: 'Your inhabitants,' he says, 'or the princes of Sidon and of Aradus, which is a neighboring island, are your rowers; your wise men, O Tyre, have become your pilots' — for piloting belongs properly to the wise, as Scripture says: Those who have no piloting fall like leaves —.

So much meanwhile according to the letter; but according to the mystical understandings, since 'Sidonians' means 'hunters', and 'Aradians' 'those who put down', we say that Tyre, the glorious and most proud city, which is afterwards to be shattered when the wind blows, has citizens or princes who are hunters — of whom it is written: Our soul has been snatched like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters; for where we read 'of the hunters', in the Hebrew is written 'of the Sidonians' —; these hunt: they draw unwary souls, set on high, down to earthly things, and they become rowers to lead them to shipwreck; but the wise men of Tyre, who are taken in the bad sense, in which the sons of darkness are wiser than the sons of light, they themselves steer what has been made ready for Tyre for shipwreck; the elders of Byblus and its prudent men provided sailors to Tyre for the service, or strengthened its counsel — sacred history relates that very many elders were rejected by the Lord, and younger ones chosen, as a type of the Synagogue and the Church: the elder Cain is cast off, and the younger Abel is chosen; Ishmael, the son of Abraham, is estranged from his father, and Isaac the younger received the inheritance; of the sons of Isaac too, the elder Esau is a hunter and roams in the woodlands, the younger Jacob dwells simply at home, whence it is written also in Malachi: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated; and certainly, according to the Apostle, while set in their mother's womb they had done nothing good or bad, nor had they merit or offense, that the one should be chosen and the other cast off, except that, in a type, as we have said, of the Synagogue and the Church, the elder is rejected and the younger taken up —. All, he says, the ships of the sea and their sailors were among the people of the Tyrian trade (or toward the west of the west — just as 'Song of Songs' and 'age of ages' and 'work of works' are said, so that a song is greater than the other songs, and an age longer than the other ages, and a work more useful than the other works, so 'west of the west' is said in order to signify the greatness of the western regions —), and fittingly the ships of the sea and their sailors and rowers, who are in aid of the Tyrian ship, do not go to the east, nor to the rising of the light, where the sun of righteousness rises, but to the 'west of the west', where the light sets and whence is the beginning of darkness.

'The old men or elders of Byblus and its prudent men provided sailors for the service, or strengthened the counsel of Tyre, and provided varied equipment; and all the ships of the sea and their sailors were among the people of the Tyrian trade, or toward the west of the west'.

Persians and Lydians and Libyans were in your army; your men of war hung up shield and helmet in you for your adornment (or hung up targes and helmets in you, they gave you your glory). That the Persians were most brave, whose king Cyrus, as is foretold by the prophecy of Isaiah, having overthrown Astyages king of the Medes, captured Babylon, both sacred and secular history relate; that the Lydians too were reckoned at that time among the most robust nations, whose king Croesus was captured by the same Cyrus, Xenophon writes most fully; and that Libyans came against Jerusalem with the Troglodytes and Ethiopians, we read in the volume of Chronicles; because in those times they were most flourishing and fighters famous in battle, they are recorded to have been defenders of the Tyrian city, and to have hung up shields and helmets on the battlements of the walls to terrify enemies. But the spiritual understanding sounds thus: that the 'Persians', who mean 'tempting' or 'tempted', and the 'Lydians', whom we understand as 'begotten', and the 'Libyans', who in the Hebrew language are called 'phut' and are rendered 'os' [mouth] — from 'ore' [mouth], not from 'osse' [bone] —, strive in vain to defend Tyre, since they are overcome by temptation and serve generation and lust, and only multiply empty words, not having the helmet of salvation nor the shield of faith, but only put forward glory and the din of words for its adornment.

The sons of the Aradians with your army were upon your walls round about; but the Pygmies too, who were in your towers, hung their quivers on your walls all around; they completed your beauty. (LXX: "The sons of the Aradians and your strength were upon your walls round about; guards were in your towers; they hung their quivers upon your battlements all around; they perfected your beauty.") The word 'gamadim' the first edition of Aquila translated 'Pygmies', Symmachus 'Medes', the Seventy 'guards', Theodotion 'gomadim', the Hebrew word itself; we see to this day the island of Aradus, which is entirely a city, and has opposite it the town of Antaradus, and is near to Tyre, and lies out off the Phoenician shore of the mainland. These are in the army of the Tyrian city and are the guards of its towers, and they hang their quivers all around and complete its beauty, so as to show that they are archers; or they are pygmies, that is, warriors and most ready for wars, ἀπὸ τῆς πυγμῆς, which in the Greek language is rendered 'into combat'. But if the Aradians mean 'those who put down', everyone who puts forward the knowledge falsely so called, and has in the quiver of his breast the fiery darts of the devil, with which he wounds and sets on fire the hearts of the deceived, is to be called an Aradian: for he desires to put down those who strive to climb to the heights, and he completes the beauty of Tyre, of which it is also written in Proverbs: Let not the desire of beauty deceive you, nor be captured by your eyes, and again: Like earrings in the nostrils of a pig, so is beauty to a woman of bad character.

The Carthaginians were your traders, by reason of the multitude of all riches; with silver, iron, tin and lead they filled your fairs. Not only in the present place, but also in Isaiah, where it is written: Howl, ships of Carthage, the other translators rendered the Hebrew word as 'Tharsis'; and that these are a colony of the Tyrians no one doubts; they themselves, from the regions of the west, filled the fairs of Tyre with silver, iron, tin and lead. 'Tharsis' in our language sounds 'exploration of joy'; but we ought not to understand the explorers here in a good sense, such as Moses had sent to explore the land of promise, but in the contrary sense, such as the Apostle too says that he avoids: Because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who came in to explore our liberty which we have in Christ, and of whom Joseph speaks: You are explorers; you have come to examine the tracks of the land, and his brothers, understanding that it is no small crime to explore other people's things through ambush, answered: Your servants are not explorers. These, then, multiply the fairs of Tyre not with gold nor with precious stone, but with silver, iron, tin and lead, having the charm of eloquence and weapons for assault, and in the tin the likeness of eloquence, which counterfeits silver, and in the lead the heaviest impiety, according to Zechariah, in whom a woman sits upon a talent of lead, and the Egyptians were sunk into the deep like lead. The discussion of the individual metals would be long, but we must strive for brevity.

Greece, Tubal and Meshech, they were your dealers; they brought slaves and vessels of bronze to your people. From the house of Togarmah they brought horses and horsemen and mules to your market. (LXX: "All Greece and the parts adjacent to it, they were your traders in the souls of men, and they gave vessels of bronze as your merchandise. From the house of Togarmah they gave horses and horsemen and mules as your fairs.") 'The Ionians,' he says, '— who in Hebrew are called Iauan —, and Tubal — that is, the eastern Iberians, or the Spaniards from the regions of the west, who are called by this name from the river Iberus —, and Meshech — whom we understand as the Cappadocians, whose metropolis, which was later called Caesarea by Augustus Caesar, is to this day called Mazaca in their own language —, these made the precious commerce of Tyre, bringing slaves and bronze vessels from Corinth to Tyre, and from the house of Togarmah, that is, from Phrygia, horses and horsemen and mules, of which that province once had the greatest abundance'. The Hebrews say that 'Greece', that is, 'Iauan', means 'is and is not', which refers properly to secular 'wisdom', in which, if they find something rightly, it is called 'is', if in the contrary sense, 'is not'. For they too, by the good of nature, discourse much on duties, on continence, on despising riches — which the Stoics properly claim for themselves —, and they seem to gain the souls of the men whom they have deceived; and they have bronze vessels, with which they counterfeit the likeness of gold, which they press upon the peoples of Tyre so as to trip them up with the opinion of false doctrine; from the house too of 'Thogorma', which means 'pilgrim' and 'stranger', horses will be brought to its market and fairs, and horsemen and mules, of which it is written: A horse is a deceitful thing for safety, and in another place: All who mounted horses have slumbered, and in the Psalms: Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding; for which reason Doeg too, the accuser and slayer of the priests, was also the overseer of many; and that these are from the house of the stranger and pilgrim, who do not eat the flesh of the lamb, of whom it is written: The stranger and the hireling shall not eat of it, so that all the fairs of Tyre are filled with these wares.

The sons of Dadan were your traders. In place of which, intending I know not what, the Seventy translated 'the sons of the Rhodians', unless perhaps by the deceptive similarity of the first letter, so that instead of 'Dadan' they read 'Radan', which itself is also the largest of the Cyclades, and was once a most powerful city in the Ionian Sea and glorious in naval combat, and, because of its very safe harbor, the resort of all merchants. And since 'Rhodians' is rendered in our language 'seeing judgment', it is now said tropologically of those who discern the truth of judgment and do not themselves do it, as the Apostle says: Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, every one who judges; for in that in which you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you do the same things which you judge. But it is better to take 'Dadan' as the name of another place, as it is found in the Hebrew and among the other translators.

Therefore, according to the Seventy, the sons of the Rhodians, traders of Tyre, multiplied its trade from very many islands; according to the Hebrew, after the sons of Dadan, its traders, islands too of various nations increased its merchandise, bringing teeth of ivory from India and ebony wood — which, being of a black color, are most precious —, and exchanged them for other wares of Tyre.

Many islands were the trade of your hand: they exchanged teeth of ivory and of ebony at your price. The Syrian was your trader because of the multitude of your works: drop, purple and checkered cloths and byssus and silk and chodchod they set out in your market. (LXX: "From the islands they multiplied your trade: elephants' teeth, and to those who were brought in you paid your wages. Men were your trade from the multitude of your market: in aphec, stacte, and many-threaded cloths from Tharsis, and ramoth and chodchod they gave as your fairs.") The edition of the Seventy differs much from the Hebrew in the present place; therefore a few things must be said according to each, lest, occupied with the wares of Tyre, we pass too slowly to the remaining prophecies. The sons of Dadan, the traders of Tyre, multiplied its trade from many islands, so that they gave elephants' teeth to those who came to its commerce, and had men in the fairs because of the multitude of the trade. They had, moreover, 'in aphec' — which was added in the Seventy from the edition of Theodotion, for which Symmachus rendered 'polymita' [many-threaded cloths] —, 'stacte' too — for which all the others translated 'purple', which in Hebrew is called 'argaman' —, and 'varieties from Tharsis' — for which in the Hebrew 'bus' is said, which has been translated by all as 'byssus'. But Tharsis is not found at all in the present place —. And 'ramoth', they say, and 'chodchod' they gave as your fairs — which is found so in the Hebrew, except that for 'ramoth' Aquila translated 'silks' or 'fine stuffs'; but 'chodchod' all the translators rendered just as it is set down in the Hebrew —'.

But from many islands, to pass to the ἀναγωγὴν, which are beaten by the salty and bitter waves of this age, the traders of Dadan bring teeth of ivory, promising the whiteness of eloquence, of which it is written: From the ivory houses, from which the daughters of kings delighted you in your honor; but they are not white, nor do they imitate the bride of whom it is said: Who is this who comes up made white, leaning upon her kinsman?, but are of ebony, of a black color, who cannot change their blackness, as Jeremiah says: If the Ethiopian will change his skin and the leopard his mottling. 'The Syrian' too, that is, 'aram', who means 'lofty' and swells with pride, is a trader of Tyre, and in the multitude of the Tyrian works he brings in the knowledge falsely so called, promising many varieties and 'stacte' of the best odor, and purple of royal dignity, and checkered cloths from the dialectical art, and byssus, for which the Seventy translated 'Tharsis', given over to the works of the earth, and silk, for which in the Hebrew is written 'ramoth', which means 'vision of death' — for all earthly works hasten to destruction —, and 'chodchod', whatever it is that is understood by it, setting them out in the fairs of Tyre. 'Dadan', moreover, judging from those wares which are said to be brought by its traders and islands, is to be understood either as the region of India, or, as some suppose, as that of the Edomites and of the vast desert, and it sounds 'kinship', so that we may recognize in the heretics a likeness of the divine doctrines.

'The Syrian' too was a trader of Tyre, for which in the Hebrew is set down 'aram', in whose place the Seventy translated 'men', reading 'adam' for 'aram', deceived, as above, by the similarity of the letters 'res' and 'daleth' [r and d]. And to this day there remains in the Syrians an inborn ardor for trade: they run about through the whole world out of desire for gain, and they have such a madness for trading that, now that the Roman world has been seized, they seek riches amid swords and the slaughter of the wretched, and flee poverty through dangers; men of this kind are the traders of Tyre who deal in many-threaded cloths, purple and checkered cloths, and who set out byssus too, and silk and chodchod, in the market for her. For 'purple', which all translated, the Seventy rendered 'stacte', that is, 'drop'; but what 'chodchod' signifies I have not been able to find up to the present — the Hebrews say that all the most precious wares are signified by this name, or that it is a certain kind of precious wares which the Roman tongue does not express, or that it is the common term of those who sell trinkets —.

Judah and the land of Israel, they were your dealers in first wheat; balsam and honey and oil and resin they set out in your fairs. (LXX: "Judah and the sons of Israel, these were your traders in the commerce of grain and in ointments; first honey and oil and resin they gave in your fairs.") The Hebrew word 'phanag' Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion translated just as it is set down among the Hebrews; for it the Seventy rendered 'ointments', we 'balsam'. It is told, moreover, with what supplies the land of Judea, which is now called Palestine, abounds: grain, balsam, honey and oil and resin, which are brought by Judah and Israel to the fairs of Tyre. And since the letter is plain, according to the spiritual sense we say: the land of confession and the understanding of one who sees God, which refers to the Church, ought not to bring to Tyre the first wheat, which, falling into the earth, is multiplied and is taken for the word of God: for not by bread alone does man live, but by every word of God; then balsam, which grows in the vineyards of En-gedi, or ointment, of which it is written: Like the ointment on the head, which runs down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron; and honey, of which Solomon also speaks: Finding honey, eat as much as is enough; for if you eat more, you will vomit it up, since through excessive surfeit honey turns into wormwood; oil too, from which the lamp is lit in the tabernacle of God, lest that prophetic word be applied to us: You were selling oil in Egypt; for if it is in Egypt and in Tyre, it will be turned into its contrary, and it will be said of it: But let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head; and resin too is gentle, suited to bodies, and is taken for medicine, whence it is written in Jeremiah also: Is there no resin in Gilead; or is there no physician there? Why has the healing of the daughter of my people not gone up?; this resin Jacob too had, and he sent it to his son Joseph with honey and terebinth, nuts, incense and stacte; the Ishmaelites too, who bought Joseph from the land of Israel, were carrying these things to Egypt: incense and resin from Gilead and stacte. And that we may know more clearly what it is to bring grain, balsam, honey and oil and resin to the market of Tyre, let us hear the words of the Lord, who says: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine; to the Canaanite woman also, who was praying for her daughter, saying: My daughter is badly troubled by a demon, the Lord answered: It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs. But because she had gone out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon and was drawing near to the land of Israel, she therefore obtained what she had asked.

The Damascene was your trader in the multitude of your works, in the abundance of various riches, in rich wine, in wool of the best color. (LXX: "Damascus was your trader in the multitude of your works, out of the multitude of all your strength: wine from Chelbon and wool from Miletus.") For 'rich wine', which Symmachus translated, both in Aquila and Theodotion and in the Hebrew itself it has 'wine from Chelbon'; and again, where we have put 'wool of the best color' or 'shining', Aquila and Theodotion translated 'in wool of Soor'. It signifies, moreover, that among the other trades of Tyre, very rich wine and choice wool were brought to its fairs from Damascus, which we see to this day. But if 'Damascus' means 'drinking blood', and it is a true tradition of the Hebrews that the field in which Abel was killed by the fratricide Cain was in Damascus, whence the place too is marked with this name — rightly, too, Paul, after the killing of Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, went to Damascus to lead believers in Christ bound to Jerusalem, and, by the mercy of God, who makes the seeing and the blind, he lost the eyes of the flesh so as to receive those of the mind, and the scales of the dragon fell from his eyes, through which he had lost the light of truth, so that he went to the street which is called 'Straight', and found 'Ananias', who in our language means 'obedient' —, from this land, then, to which it was said: Cursed is the earth which opened its mouth and drank the blood of your brother, the fairs of Tyre are gathered, and rich wine or shining wool, for which 'Chelbon' means 'milky', and for 'wool of the best color', 'wool from Miletus' — or 'Soor': 'Miletus' is not found in the Hebrew, but because choice wool is brought from there, those who translated understood 'Miletus' for 'Soor' —; from which it is to be perceived that Tyre feeds on the milk of infancy, and has no garments of its own, but from elsewhere: gathered from various provinces. That 'Damascus' means 'blood of sackcloth' and 'blood of a kiss' does not suit the present place; for Hebrew names are frequently interpreted variously, according to the diversity of accents and the change of letters and vowels, especially those which have their own properties among them.

Dan and Greece and Mozel set out wrought iron in your fairs; stacte and calamus were in your trade. (LXX: "※ Dan and Iauan and Mozel in your fairs ⁚" — which in their edition were added from Theodotion —; "iron made by workmanship and a wheel is in your mixture.") From the name of the patriarch Dan both the tribe and the place in which the tribe dwelt received their name, where today is Paneas, which was formerly called Caesarea Philippi, whence the river Jordan too obtained its name: 'Ior', that is, stream, 'Dan', which flows from Lebanon; 'Iauan', moreover, sounds 'Greece', which means, as we have said, 'is and is not'; for 'Mozel' too Symmachus translated 'bringing', so that the sense is: 'Dan and Greece brought wrought iron into your fairs, and the rest'; but Aquila for 'Mozel' put 'from Uzal', from which regions we must believe that iron and stacte and calamus were carried to the fairs of Tyre. And let us say that Greece, that is, Iauan, has wrought iron, most ready for wars and constructed by the dialectical art, boasting that it brings forth all things by judgment and reason, and that it promises a vocal sound, which is interpreted in the calamus, and stacte of the best odor; or wrought iron, and a wheel which revolves in the composition of words and has the course of speech.

Dadan were your dealers in carpets for sitting. (LXX: "Dedan were your traders with choice beasts for chariots.") The Hebrew and the Seventy differ much in the present place, except for the name of the region, which is close: 'Dedan' and 'Dadan'. For there is an infinite distance between 'carpets for sitting' and 'choice beasts for chariots'; nor is there any doubt that four-horse teams, chariots and horses are taken in the bad sense if they are earthly; otherwise, of heavenly ones, Elijah too is carried off in a chariot, and is called by Elisha: Father, father, charioteer and chariot of Israel, and the eyes of Gehazi are opened, so that he sees chariots on the mountain and horses without riders, prepared for the Lord's seat; but in the carpets the beauty of words is shown, on which the dealers of Dedan ride and rest, in a composed sitting, coming to the fairs of Tyre.

Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were the traders of your hand; with lambs and rams and kids they came to you. For 'lambs, rams and kids' the Seventy translated 'camels and rams and lambs'. Arabia and the princes of Kedar — which today is the region of the Saracens —, as has been shown most fully in the discourse of Jeremiah which is written against Kedar, abound in these animals, namely lambs and rams and kids — and it multiplies the fairs of Tyre by this importation —, and it is also a region most fertile in camels, because of the breadth of the desert's pastures and the mildness of the air, in which this animal delights. 'Arabia', moreover, means 'evening', and 'Cedar' 'darkness', of which it is also said in the Psalms: I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar; these regions bring to Tyre camels weighed down with the heaviest burdens of sins, or lambs and rams and kids, which they sacrifice on their altars, which they have feigned out of an iniquitous, rebellious heart. But in this same prophet too, in the vision of the shepherds, we read of rams troubling the purest waters and thrusting at the sheep with their flanks and fighting with their horns; of kids too, which are accustomed to stand at the left; and of lambs, which counterfeit the lamb of whom it is written: Behold the lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. But in the good sense: Isaiah writes that camels from 'Madian' — which means 'judgment of the Lord' — come to Jerusalem, and Ephah, and the rams of Nebaioth, and Sheba, bringing gold and frankincense — the last two of which are also offered to the Lord by the Magi —; and these camels, having laid down the burden of sins, can enter the strait and narrow way which leads to life.

The sellers of Sheba and Rema, they were your traders, with all the first spices and with most precious stone and gold, which they set out in your market. In the Psalms, where it is written: The kings of the Arabians and of Saba will offer gifts to you, in the Hebrew it has: The kings of Saba and Saba will offer gifts to you, of which one 'Saba' is written with the letter 'sen', the other with 'samech', which is like our letter. Since, then, 'Saba' means 'conversion', this must be said: that in the present place it signifies not 'conversion' but 'aversion', from which gifts are brought to Tyre, with all spices and the best odors and precious stone and gold, all of which are set out in the fairs of Tyre; for they too counterfeit the best odor, and the precious stone with which they strive to build the churches of their perversity, and the gold which they promise in meaning, and all things are perverse — for they receive nothing freely nor give freely, but trade in everything, whereas the kings of the Arabians and of Sheba offer gifts to Christ freely —; these are they who do all things for the sake of shameful gain, and they have received these gifts from him who says in the Gospel: All these have been delivered to me, and these, if you fall down, I will give you. 'Rema', or, according to the Seventy, 'Regma', I have not been able to find in any other place of the Scriptures, nor what region it is, or what it signifies, except, what is clear, also from the fact that it is joined to Saba, that it is a region neighboring this province.

Aran and Chenne and Eden were traders, Saba, Assur, Chelmad your sellers. They were your traders in many ways, in wrappings of hyacinth and of many-threaded cloths and of precious treasures, which were wrapped and bound with ropes. (LXX: "Charran and Channa and Edne, these were traders, Saba, Assur and Chalmad your dealers, bringing trade ※ in Machalim and in Galima ⁚ hyacinth, and ※ polymita ⁚ choice treasures bound with ropes.") These too are nations containing the names of various places. What was added in the Seventy from Theodotion: In Machalim and in Galima, Symmachus translated: In precious wrappings; 'polymita' too, for which Theodotion translated 'varied', we added from Aquila and Symmachus — the garments of the traders were so precious that they were carried in wrappings and bound with ropes of hyacinth —; 'Aran', or, as the Seventy said, 'Charran', sounds in our language 'holes'; 'Chenne', 'preparation'; 'Eden', 'delights', for which among the Seventy is 'Edne', which is not found in the Hebrew; what it sounds we do not know, and we ought not to seek the ἐτυμολογιὰν of a fictitious name. In the trade of Tyre, then, through the fleshly senses, which are indicated in the holes, is the whole preparation of the men of the world, who think it the only delights if they increase the commerce of the Tyrian city. Of 'Saba' we have spoken above; 'Assur' means 'directing'; 'Chelmad', or, as is contained in some copies, 'Cherma', is rendered 'vineyards'; no doubt those of the Sodomites, who come into the market of Tyre so that they may direct crooked things, or rather may rebuke with punishments and correct what had been perverted, according to that which is said in the Psalms: That you may destroy the enemy and the avenger.

And they have manifold equipment, distinguished with incredible variety, which is bound in wrappings of hyacinth; or their treasures, which they have treasured up for themselves on earth, are bound with ropes, according to what is written: Each one is bound with the ropes of his own sins, and they did not have a free trade, but bound everything with the chains of sins. The wrappings of hyacinth, because of the similarity of the color, I shall refer to the powers of the air, which lavish their treasures on the fairs of the world.

They also had cedars in your trades. The ships of the sea (or, as is contained in the Hebrew: Tharsis) were your princes in your trade. For 'cedars' the Seventy translated 'cypresses'. And since we have spoken of both above, it is superfluous to increase the reader's weariness.

And she was filled and glorified (or weighed down) exceedingly in the heart of the sea. 'Nothing,' he says, 'was lacking to you that pertains to the riches of the islands; yet that glorification was a weighing down of the possessor, since you cannot bear riches with moderation, although poverty too is often a temptation' — whence Solomon too asks only for necessities, and detests riches and poverty alike, lest pride creep in in the one, and in the other impatience and lying.

Your rowers brought you into many waters. Above we read that the rowers of the Tyrian city were the 'Sidonians' and the 'Aradians', of whom the one mean 'hunters', the others 'those who put down': for they hunt the souls of those whom they lead by their own will amid the waves of this age, and they do not lift them up to the heights but sink them into the depths; nor do they imitate those who, sailing until the morning watch, broke the raging waves of the sea and were found worthy to receive the Lord Savior, and at once, with such a passenger and companion, reached the harbor of rest. Of which it is written more fully in the Gospel.

The south wind has shattered you in the heart of the sea. All the riches of Tyre perish when the 'south wind' blows, which more expressively is called in Hebrew 'cadim', and is rendered in Greek καύσων, which we can translate as 'burning wind'; of which the holy man also said: By day the sun will not burn you, nor the moon by night. By this wind Jacob had been burned, and yet not shattered, when he says: I was burned by day by the heat and by the frost of night; those too who were hired from the first hour bore the heat and burning of the whole day, and yet they receive the denarius, because they were burned and not shattered; whence the bride too says in the Song: I am black and beautiful, because there has looked down on me (or, as is better contained in the Hebrew, there has discolored me) the sun.

Your riches and your treasures and your manifold equipment. Many read thus: In the heart of the sea are your riches and your treasures and your manifold equipment, so that all the riches of Tyre and all its substance are set in the heart of the sea and are overwhelmed by the waves of the world, and its inhabitants have nothing stable and lasting, that Gospel word being fulfilled: Fool, this night they will take your soul from you; and what you have prepared, whose will it be?, and that apostolic one: Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and many snares, and are dragged down into the depth. The history is plain; and therefore we fit short little comments to almost each little verse. For our discourse is already hastening to the end of the book.

Your sailors (or rowers) and your pilots, who held your equipment and were over your people; and your men of war who were in you, with all your multitude which is in your midst, will fall in the heart of the sea on the day of your ruin. The rowers, or sailors, of the Tyrian city — we read that they are the Sidonians and the Aradians, of whom we have already spoken, and, according to the edition of the Seventy, the counselors of 'Byblus', which in Hebrew is called 'gebal' —, its men of war too — Persians, Lydians and Libyans —, will all fall and be shown to be of no account, when Tyre has fallen and all its glory has had the end of ruin; but the multitude — which the Seventy translated 'mixture' —, apart from the princes, signifies the common people, who, without titles of dignity, will be crushed by a like judgment. And the prophecy is mixed between the city and the ship, so that from the one you may understand the other; and yet both pertain to the consummation of the age and to shipwreck.

At the sound of the cry of your pilots the fleets will be troubled, and they will come down from their ships, all who held the oar (or the sailors and all the pilots of the sea), and the passengers and the prow-men will stand on the land, and they will wail over you with a loud voice and cry out bitterly, and they will cast dust upon their heads and be sprinkled with ash (or will strew ash for themselves). But what follows, ※ And they will shave baldness over you, and gird themselves with sackcloth, and weep for you in bitterness of soul with most bitter weeping, and take up over you a mournful song, and lament you ⁚, is not found in the Seventy, but was added from the edition of Theodotion. When Tyre has fallen, its pilots will be troubled and will come down from the fleets, and the rowers and passengers and prow-men — or the sailors and all the pilots of the sea —, tossed by the waves, will at last stand with a firm step; they will wail with a loud voice over her whom they formerly enriched with their wares, and will mark the bitterness of their mind with a cry; dust too — or earth — they will cast upon their heads, doing penance for earthly works, and they are sprinkled with ash, either of the heifer according to the law, so that they may be purified, or at least they will strew ash under themselves — according to what is said to Jerusalem: Sprinkle earth upon your head, and strew ash under you, and make lament, and in the Gospel it is written: If these signs had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have done penance in sackcloth and ash, and the psalmist says: I have eaten ash like bread —; and they will shave the head over Tyre and make baldness, which is customarily done in mourning, at the time when the greatness of grief has shut out all gladness — but the hairs of the apostles were numbered, because they had consecrated their hair to the Lord after the manner of the Nazirites; and Samson, as long as he had his locks, possessed strength; when his hair was taken away, he was captured by the foreigners —; and when it is said: And they will gird themselves with sackcloth, the old lust of the loins is condemned, so that those who had lived in delights may afterwards, doing penance, live in austerity and hardness — the Ninevites had sackcloth; and again it is said to Jerusalem: Lament to me like a bride girded with sackcloth over the husband of her virginity —.

Some, ridiculously — but still, what we have read must be told — interpret the 'pilots' as the bishops of the heretics, the 'counselors' as the presbyters, the 'prow-men' as the archdeacons, the 'rowers' and 'sailors' as the deacons, and they refer the 'passengers' to the whole people — if they had added the 'shipmaster' as the devil, they would have completed the tragedy —, who will all wail together and weep most bitterly and do penance after they have perceived the shipwreck of their ship and have stood on land, and have lost all the beauty of the knowledge falsely so called, and in place of joy and gladness have marked their penance with grief in bitterness of heart.

Who is like Tyre, which has become dumb (or has fallen silent) in the midst of the sea? — which is not found in the Seventy —. You who, in the going out of your trades (or what reward you found), from the sea filled many peoples, in the multitude of your riches and of peoples enriched many kings; now you have been crushed by the sea (or in the sea), your wealth is in the depths of the waters (or your trade); and all your multitude which was in your midst have fallen. All the inhabitants of the islands were astonished (or were crushed) over you, and all their kings, struck by the storm (or turned to madness), changed their countenances (or wept); the traders of the nations (or of the peoples) hissed over you: you have been brought to nothing (or you have become perdition), and you will be no more for ever (or in perpetuity). The pilots, rowers, prow-men and passengers will recall these things in the lament of Tyre: what other of the cities has so fallen silent that it had no confidence to speak, and heard that Gospel word: Be silent and be dumb, and that from the Psalms: But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my righteousnesses, and take my covenant in your mouth?.

'With how great wares, O Tyre, have you been enriched? And what have you sought with so much labor, that by day and by night you should gather what was to perish by shipwreck? You did indeed fill many peoples and enriched kings with your wealth — of whom it is written: The kings of the earth stood by, and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ —; but now you have been crushed in the sea and in the depths of the waters' — according to what is written of Pharaoh: The chariots of Pharaoh and his strength he cast into the sea, who sank into the depth like a stone and could say: I came into the depth of the sea, and the storm sank me —.

All these things, moreover, we can refer to the person of the heretics, who, in the crushing and shipwreck of Tyre, will perceive their error, and, set in the midst of the sea, will long to free their souls, and will lament the riches wrongly gathered, with which they had enriched many kings, namely their patriarchs, and the ignoble common people, whose wealth will collapse in the midst of the sea; the inhabitants too of all the islands — if, however, we wish to refer what has been said to the good sense — will be astonished over the crushing of Tyre, and the kings of all the islands either will themselves, as if struck by a storm, change their countenances, or at least will show the grief of their heart with weeping and tears, and will testify to the greatness of their stupor with wonder and hissing, at how she has been brought to nothing and has perished who promised salvation to many nations; and she will be no more, not at all for a fixed time — so that we should interpret αἰῶνα as 'in the age' —, but in perpetuity, because the same word signifies both.

'All the islands, or the inhabitants of the islands, which are beaten by the waves of this age, will be astonished over you, and their kings, struck by the storm, will perceive their own destruction, and, imitating the voice of the serpent, will hiss and say: You have been brought to nothing (or you have become perdition) — so that you had not the nature of perdition, but the will —, and you will not be' — if he had spoken up to this point, a great question would arise: how it should not be, when we now see it built up; but from what follows: 'for ever', he shows the time of one age, which, according to the age of man, is reckoned in a cycle of seventy years —, or 'you will not be to God' — as the Apostle says: Who called the things that were not, and Isaiah the prophet: Behold, all your adversaries will be confounded and will blush; for they will be as though they were not, and Esther, according to the Seventy translators: Do not hand over your scepter to those who are not, and in the Psalms: Spare me, that I may be refreshed before I depart and be no more; in what sense these testimonies are to be taken we have said above —.