What is the context?
Tyre sees Jerusalem’s ruin as its own opening for gain. The city’s response is an eager expectation that the broken gateway to the nations will now fill its own trade.
The coastal setting matters. UNESCO’s account of Tyre describes a Phoenician maritime center built largely on an island, with settlements on the mainland. Ezekiel’s picture of waves, bare rock, fishing nets and mainland villages speaks directly to that setting.
The Lord turns the expectation around: many nations will rise against Tyre like waves. Its defenses will come down, its wealth will become plunder, and the mainland villages will suffer. Jerusalem’s fall is no guarantee that the neighbor hoping to profit will be safe.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry understands the charge as selfish pleasure in another’s loss when that loss seems likely to benefit oneself. Wesley and the USCCB notes likewise connect the gateway language with trade turning toward Tyre.
The accusation concerns the heart behind that expectation of gain. The city treats another people’s devastation as a welcome business opportunity.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.