Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
Dan and Javan took part in the wide international trade of Tyre, bringing bright iron, cassia and calamus to its fairs and market. The cassia was an aromatic plant of Syrian commerce, the same plant named in Psalm 45:8. The verse stands in the lament over Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28, foretelling the utter ruin of that great commercial city. Its commerce displays a corrupt spirit that puts trade and wealth above honor, integrity and God, even seeking control over nations and over bodies and souls of men. Tyre's fall therefore warns cities that forget and defy God of the judgment their open wickedness invites.
Tyre's Market and Goods
Dan and Javan took part in the trade of Tyre, bringing bright iron, cassia, and calamus to its market. Their goods were part of the wide-ranging international commerce, with peoples supplying goods of great reach and variety, that made Tyre a great trading center. Arabia also traded in the fairs of Tyre and brought bright iron, cassia, and calamus into her market, along with lambs and rams and goats. This was part of a trade in which all nations came to Tyre with all manner of merchandise, so that Tyre held world's fairs 2,500 years ago.
The verse belongs to the chapter's account of Tyre's extensive commerce as a major center of trade. Merchants brought goods from distant lands and distant places to be traded in its market. It contributes to the picture of Tyre as a merchant city receiving and trading many kinds of goods.
The cassia in the verse was cassia cinnamon, an article of Syrian commerce in the market described. The plant is an aromatic root dug up in autumn and exported to China to be used as an ingredient in incense in temples. The cassia named here is the same plant as the cassia named in Psalm 45:8, though a different Hebrew word is translated cassia there. The listing of goods traded in the markets of Tyre, including bright iron, cassia, and calamus, helps explain why Tyrian merchants brought goods to Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath.
Prophecy of Tyre's Ruin
Ezekiel 27:19 belongs to the lamentation over the destruction of Tyre found in Ezekiel 26-28, which are prophecies against the nations predicting the utter ruin of Tyre. It is included in Ezekiel 25-27, a section that contains prophecies against Tyre, the great commercial city, whose pride would be brought down and whose place would become a site for spreading fishing nets.
The verse forms part of the prophecy concerning Tyre as an ancient commercial metropolis, whose ruins fulfilled the prophecy that it would become a place for spreading nets. Its ruin became an object lesson of fulfilled prophecy. It stands as part of the prophecy concerning Tyre among the prophecies of other nations in Ezekiel 25-31 concerning Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt, and the fulfillment of these remarkable prophecies is evident today.
Judgment and Modern Warning
The long catalogue of trade to which Dan and Javan bringing bright iron, cassia and calamus belong shows the commercial spirit that later marks Babylon, a corrupt grasping for wealth that puts trade above honor and integrity and above God Himself. That spirit reaches to control nations and their merchandise, even to traffic in human bodies and souls, and it stands under God's judgment. The chapters describing Tyre, including this account of its market, stand as a lesson for cities that forget and defy God. Tyre's fate warns what judgment is invited by open, defiant wickedness, and that warning is applied to San Francisco and to other cities that forget or defy God.
The same list of varied goods received and exchanged helps portray Tyre as a merchant city taking in and trading many kinds of merchandise, a part likened to San Francisco as the great market and trade center of the West. Tyre is described as a wealthy city of the sea living by maritime trade, and San Francisco is compared to Tyre because it likewise stood by the sea and served as the great center of trade and shipping for the West.
Dan and Javan took part in the wide international trade of Tyre, bringing bright iron, cassia and calamus to its fairs and market. The cassia was an aromatic plant of Syrian commerce, the same plant named in Psalm 45:8. The verse stands in the lament over Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28, foretelling the utter ruin of that great commercial city. Its commerce displays a corrupt spirit that puts trade and wealth above honor, integrity and God, even seeking control over nations and over bodies and souls of men. Tyre's fall therefore warns cities that forget and defy God of the judgment their open wickedness invites.
Tyre's Market and Goods
Dan and Javan took part in the trade of Tyre, bringing bright iron, cassia, and calamus to its market. Their goods were part of the wide-ranging international commerce, with peoples supplying goods of great reach and variety, that made Tyre a great trading center. Arabia also traded in the fairs of Tyre and brought bright iron, cassia, and calamus into her market, along with lambs and rams and goats. This was part of a trade in which all nations came to Tyre with all manner of merchandise, so that Tyre held world's fairs 2,500 years ago.
The verse belongs to the chapter's account of Tyre's extensive commerce as a major center of trade. Merchants brought goods from distant lands and distant places to be traded in its market. It contributes to the picture of Tyre as a merchant city receiving and trading many kinds of goods.
The cassia in the verse was cassia cinnamon, an article of Syrian commerce in the market described. The plant is an aromatic root dug up in autumn and exported to China to be used as an ingredient in incense in temples. The cassia named here is the same plant as the cassia named in Psalm 45:8, though a different Hebrew word is translated cassia there. The listing of goods traded in the markets of Tyre, including bright iron, cassia, and calamus, helps explain why Tyrian merchants brought goods to Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath.
Prophecy of Tyre's Ruin
Ezekiel 27:19 belongs to the lamentation over the destruction of Tyre found in Ezekiel 26-28, which are prophecies against the nations predicting the utter ruin of Tyre. It is included in Ezekiel 25-27, a section that contains prophecies against Tyre, the great commercial city, whose pride would be brought down and whose place would become a site for spreading fishing nets.
The verse forms part of the prophecy concerning Tyre as an ancient commercial metropolis, whose ruins fulfilled the prophecy that it would become a place for spreading nets. Its ruin became an object lesson of fulfilled prophecy. It stands as part of the prophecy concerning Tyre among the prophecies of other nations in Ezekiel 25-31 concerning Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt, and the fulfillment of these remarkable prophecies is evident today.
Judgment and Modern Warning
The long catalogue of trade to which Dan and Javan bringing bright iron, cassia and calamus belong shows the commercial spirit that later marks Babylon, a corrupt grasping for wealth that puts trade above honor and integrity and above God Himself. That spirit reaches to control nations and their merchandise, even to traffic in human bodies and souls, and it stands under God's judgment. The chapters describing Tyre, including this account of its market, stand as a lesson for cities that forget and defy God. Tyre's fate warns what judgment is invited by open, defiant wickedness, and that warning is applied to San Francisco and to other cities that forget or defy God.
The same list of varied goods received and exchanged helps portray Tyre as a merchant city taking in and trading many kinds of merchandise, a part likened to San Francisco as the great market and trade center of the West. Tyre is described as a wealthy city of the sea living by maritime trade, and San Francisco is compared to Tyre because it likewise stood by the sea and served as the great center of trade and shipping for the West.