By: Blake Giunta
Normal interpretation of the following Prophecy: Ezekiel 26 |
"The majority of the population must have lived on the mainland, while the island area was an administrative and religious center." (Bikai, Pierre, The Land of Tyre)
(v14) "I will make you a bare rock" Historical Studies and Recreations By Shoshee Chunder Dutt - page 503: "After treating Tyre with the greatest atrocity, Alexander rebuilt and replanted it, that future generations might regard him as the founder of a new city." |
References:
1. "the great Tyrian Sea Empire that knew no equal in ancient history ~"
2. Objection: "Atheist author of Skeptical Review, and Atheist Physicist Dave Matson wrote that Ushu [Coastal Tyre] was part of Tyre." See rebuttal here.
3. A long body (a coastal line of suburbs [or "daughters" (3)]
4. Objection: "Atheist author of Skeptical Review, and Atheist Physicist Dave Matson suggested that Ushu was not strongly fortified and had no walls." See rebuttal here.
5. "siege walls"; John Gill's Exposition: "a fort built of wood, and a mount made of earth, from which stones might be cast out of their engines, and arrows shot from their bows into the city, to the damaging of the houses, and the hurt of the inhabitants"
6. "roof of shields"; Keil & Delitzsch: "signifies the construction of a roof with shields, by which the besiegers were accustomed to defend themselves from the missiles of the defenders of the city wall."
7. "strong pillars"; Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown: "literally, "the statutes of thy strength"; so the forts which are "monuments of thy strength." MAURER understands, in stricter agreement with the literal meaning, "the statues" or "obelisks erected in honor of the idols, the tutelary gods of Tyre," as Melecarte, answering to the Grecian Hercules, whose temple stood in Old Tyre [my insert: Old Tyre is "Coastal Tyre")(compare Jer_43:13, Margin)."
8. coming soon.
9. Dr. John Bloom here cites: Katzenstein, History of Tyre, p. 332ff. Patricia Bikai, Heritage of Tyre, p. 52. Eichrodt, Ezekiel, p. 378, citing Zimmerli.
10. Objection: "These city-states hadcoalesced into one nation under Alexander. So it's not 'many nations'". See rebuttal here.
11. Dr. John Bloom: "Esarhaddon Prisms A and B refer to Tyre's neighbor, the Phoenician coastal city-state Sidon as a "fortress town, which lied in the midst of the sea." [Katzenstein. The History of Tyre. p. 324. Citing Unger. Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 44 (1926), p. 316.]
[ANET, 1969, p. 290-1.] Also, Prism B includes Tyre in a list of cities located "on the coast of the sea." here (John A. Bloom, Ph.D, Ph.D; citing ANET, 1969, p. 290-1.) Sennacherib's prisom on the siege of Jerusalem: Translation from: Pritchard, ANET, pp. 287-88: (ii.37-iii.49) In my third campaign I marched against Hatti... overwhelmed his strong cities (such as) Great Sidon, Little Sidon, Bit-Zitti, Zaribtu, Mahaliba, Ushu (i.e. the mainland settlement of Tyre),
12. There were approximately 40,000 people in the city. According to Arrian "6000 of its defenders were beheaded, 2000 crucified, more than 30,000 women, children, and servants sold as slaves [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15109a.htm]
