Verse 2
Divine judgment would come on this city-state because its people rejoiced at Jerusalem’s destruction (cf. 25:3; Genesis 12:3; Proverbs 15:5 b). According to other prophets the Tyrians had also sold Jews as slaves to the Greeks and Edomites (Joel 3:4-8; Amos 1:9-10). The Tyrians viewed Jerusalem’s destruction as advancing their commercial interests. The Tyrians controlled the sea routes, but Judah had controlled the land routes. Controlling trade routes enabled a nation to impose tolls and so obtain revenue. Now Jerusalem would cease to compete with Tyre for this income. The Babylonians thus opened Jerusalem’s gates to Tyre.
"When Judah was strong and subjugated Edom, she controlled the caravan routes to the Red Sea, thus hindering the Phoenician tradesmen from gaining all the profit they hoped for." [Note: Feinberg, p. 148.]
The prophetic perfect tense in Hebrew describes a future event as though it were past, as well as describing past events. Jerusalem fell on the tenth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (2 Kings 25:8; Jeremiah 52:12), which was the eleventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. Dyer dated the fall of Jerusalem on July 18, 586 B.C. [Note: Dyer, "Ezekiel," p. 1278.] Because of the absence of reference to the month of this prophecy, it is impossible to date it definitely before or after the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel, however, gave it before news of Jerusalem’s fall reached him and the other exiles (cf. 33:21).
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