Ezekiel 27:12

Easy-to-Read Version

"‘Tarshish was one of your best customers. They traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for all the wonderful things you sold.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘Tarshish was your trading partner because of your abundant wealth of every kind. They exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your merchandise.

Hebrew Names Version
Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.

King James Version
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

English Standard Version
"Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.

New American Standard Bible
"Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your merchandise.

New Century Version
"‘People of Tarshish became traders for you because of your great wealth. They traded your goods for silver, iron, tin, and lead.

Amplified Bible
"Tarshish [in Spain] was your customer and traded with you because of the abundance of your riches of all kinds; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares.

World English Bible
Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.

Geneva Bible (1587)
They of Tarshish were thy marchantes for the multitude of all riches, for siluer, yron, tynne, and leade, which they brought to thy faires.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares.

Berean Standard Bible
Tarshish was your merchant because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares.

Contemporary English Version
Merchants from southern Spain traded silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products.

Complete Jewish Bible
"‘Tarshish did business with you because of the quantity and variety of your resources; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your goods.

Darby Translation
Tarshish dealt with thee by reason of the abundance of all substance; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they furnished thy markets.

George Lamsa Translation
Tarshish was your market place by reason of the abundance and variety of your wealth: silver, iron, tin, and lead they brought in to you for sale.

Good News Translation
"You did business in Spain and took silver, iron, tin, and lead in payment for your abundant goods.

Lexham English Bible
"‘Tarshish was your trader; from the abundance of all of their wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise.

Literal Translation
Tarshish was your trader from the multitude of your wealth. With silver, iron, tin, and lead, they gave for your wares.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Tharsis occupide with the in all maner of wares, in syluer, yron, tynne and lead, and made thy market greate.

American Standard Version
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.

Bible in Basic English
Tarshish did business with you because of the great amount of your wealth; they gave silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.

King James Version (1611)
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinde of riches: with siluer, yron, tinne, and lead they traded in thy faires.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
They of Tharsis [were] thy marchauntes for the multitude of all riches, in siluer, iron, tin, and lead, whiche they brought to thy faires.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The Carthaginians were thy merchants because of the abundance of all thy strength; they furnished thy market with silver, and gold, and iron, and tin, and lead.

English Revised Version
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Cartagynensis, thi marchauntis, of the multitude of alle richessis filliden thi feiris, with siluer, and irun, with tyn, and leed.

Update Bible Version
Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.

Webster's Bible Translation
Tarshish [was] thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all [kind of] riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

New English Translation
"‘Tarshish was your trade partner because of your abundant wealth; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products.

New King James Version
"Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. They gave you silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods.

New Living Translation
"Tarshish sent merchants to buy your wares in exchange for silver, iron, tin, and lead.

New Life Bible
"Tarshish traded with you because of all your riches of every kind. They paid for your good things with silver, iron, tin, and lead.

New Revised Standard
Tarshish did business with you out of the abundance of your great wealth; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Tarshish was a trader of thine. For the abundance of all wealth, - With silver iron. tin and lead, Took they part in thy traffic:

Douay-Rheims Bible
The Carthaginians thy merchants supplied thy fairs with a multitude of all kinds of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead,

Revised Standard Version
"Tarshish trafficked with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.

Young's Literal Translation
Tarshish [is] thy merchant, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For silver, iron, tin, and lead, They have given out thy remnants.

THE MESSAGE
"‘Tarshish carried on business with you because of your great wealth. They worked for you, trading in silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products.

Contextual Overview

¹ The word of the Lord came to me again. He said, ² "Son of man, sing this sad song about Tyre. ³ Say this about Tyre: ‘Tyre, you are the door to the seas. You are the merchant for many nations. You travel to many countries along the coast. This is what the Lord God says: "Tyre, you think that you are so beautiful. You think you are perfectly beautiful! ⁴ The Mediterranean Sea is the border around your city. Your builders made you perfectly beautiful, like the ships that sail from you. ⁵ Your builders used cypress trees from the mountains of Senir to make your planks. They used cedar trees from Lebanon to make your mast. ⁶ They used oak trees from Bashan to make your oars. They used pine trees from Cyprus to make the cabin on your deck. They decorated that shelter with ivory. ⁷ For your sail, they used colorful linen made in Egypt. That sail was your flag. The coverings over your cabin were blue and purple. They came from the coast of Cyprus. ⁸ Men from Sidon and Arvad rowed your boats for you. Tyre, your wise men were the pilots on your ships. ⁹ The elders and wise men from Byblos were on board to help put caulking between the boards on your ship. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came to trade and do business with you. ¹⁰ "‘Men from Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army. They were your men of war who hung their shields and helmets on your walls. They brought honor and glory to your city.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 38:13, Genesis 10:4, 1 Kings 10:22, 1 Kings 22:48, 2 Chronicles 20:36, 2 Chronicles 20:37, Psalms 72:10, Isaiah 2:16, Isaiah 23:6, Isaiah 23:10, Isaiah 23:14, Isaiah 60:9, Jeremiah 10:9, Jonah 1:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 10:2 - General Isaiah 47:15 - thy merchants Ezekiel 27:3 - a merchant Ezekiel 27:27 - Thy riches Ezekiel 27:33 - thy wares Ezekiel 28:5 - and by Ezekiel 28:16 - the multitude

Cross-References

Genesis 9:25
he said, "May there be a curse on Canaan! May he be a slave to his brothers."

Genesis 25:27
The boys grew up. Esau became a skilled hunter, who loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man, who stayed at home.

Genesis 27:21
Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, I will know if you are really my son Esau."

Genesis 27:22
So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau."

Genesis 27:36
Esau said, "His name is Jacob. That is the right name for him. He has tricked me twice. He took away my rights as the firstborn son. And now he has taken away my blessing." Then Esau said, "Have you saved any blessing for me?"

Deuteronomy 27:18
"The Levites will say, ‘Cursed is the one who tricks a blind man into going the wrong way!' "Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!'

Job 12:16
God is strong and always wins. He controls those who fool others and those who are fooled.

Jeremiah 48:10
Bad things will happen to those who don't obey the Lord and don't use their swords to kill those people.

Malachi 1:14
"Some people have good, male animals that they could give as sacrifices, but don't. Some people bring good animals and promise to give those healthy animals to me. But then they secretly exchange those good animals and give me sick animals instead. Bad things will happen to those people. I am the Great King and people all around the world respect me!" This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

2 Corinthians 6:8
Some people honor us, but others shame us. Some people say good things about us, but others say bad things. Some people say we are liars, but we speak the truth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches,.... Some understand this of the sea, which is sometimes called Tarshish; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it here: and the Targum,

"from the sea, or they of the sea bring merchandise into the midst of thee:''

that is, those who lived upon the coasts, or on the isles, of the Mediterranean sea. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it the Carthaginians, who were a colony of the Tyrians, and no doubt traded with them; but it seems most likely, with others, to intend Tartessus in Spain, a place not far from that where Cadiz now stands; a country which abounded with riches, and with the following things:

with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs; Pliny t says, that almost all Spain abounded in metals of lead, iron, brass, silver, and gold; which takes in the several things here mentioned, excepting tin; and that the Spaniards might have from our Cornwall, which they might import into Tyre: though the Phoenicians carried on a commerce with our isle of Britain themselves, whither they came for tin, and disposed of other goods they brought with them. Gussetius u observes, that the word עזבוניך does not signify the place of trade and traffic, as it is commonly rendered; but respects the goods traded in, and the manner of trafficking with them, by way of "exchange", as the word should be rendered; and the sense is, that the things before mentioned were what they gave in exchange, battered, and "left", with the Tyrians, for other goods they took of them; and so it is to be understood in all the following places where the word is used. So Ben Melech says it is expressive of merchandise.

t Nat. Hist. l. 3. c. 3. u Ebr. Comment. p. 594, 595.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The thread broken at Ezekiel 27:8 is taken up, and the various nations are enumerated which traded with Tyre.

Ezekiel 27:12

Tarshish - Tartessus in Spain (marginal references). Spain was rich in the metals named.

Merchant - Especially applied to those who traveled about with caravans to carry on trade (see Genesis 23:16).

Fairs - Or, “wares” Ezekiel 27:33. The word occurs only in this chapter. The foreign merchants gave their wares in return for the products delivered to them by Tyre.

Ezekiel 27:13

Jaran - Greece (Ion), including the Grecian colonies in Sicily and Italy.

Tubal, and Meshech - The Tibareni and Moschi, whose lands were on the Caucasian highlands between the Euxine and Caspian Seas (see the marginal reference), were a fine race of men; from thence slaves have been continually sought. Greece too in ancient times was famous for furnishing slaves.

Ezekiel 27:14

Togarmah - Armenia.

Ezekiel 27:15

Dedan - There were two tribes (Shemite and Hamite), each bearing the name of “Dedan” (see Genesis 10:7). The Hamite (Ethiopian) Dedan may well have supplied for a payment (rather than “for a present”) horns, ivory, and ebony; the Shemite (Arabians), “clothes for chariots” (see Ezekiel 27:20).

Ezekiel 27:16

Syria - “Aram” here included Mesopotamia; and Babylon was famous for its precious stones. Many read “Edom.”

Emeralds - Rather, carbuncle.

Fine linen - The word (בוץ bûts) was used only in the times of the captivity. It is a Phoenician word, which in Greek assumed the form “byssus,” properly “cotton,” as distinguished from “linen;” the Phoenicians spinning their threads from cotton wool, the Egyptians from flax.

Ezekiel 27:17

Minnith - A city of the Ammonites, whose country was famous for wheat 2 Chronicles 27:5. The wheat was carried through the land of Israel to Tyre.

Pannag - This word occurs nowhere else, and has been very variously explained. Some take it to be “sweetwares.” Others see in it the name of a place, fertile like Minnith, perhaps identical with Pingi on the road from Baalbec to Damascus.

Ezekiel 27:18

Helbon - Chalybon, near Damascus, whose wine was a favorite luxury with Persian kings.

White wool - A product of flocks that grazed in the waste lands of Syria and Arabia.

Ezekiel 27:19

Dan also - Hebrew Vedan, a place in Arabia, not elsewhere mentioned.

Going to and fro - Better as in the margin, a proper name, “Meuzal,” or rather, “from Uzal” which was the ancient name of Senaa the capital of Yemen in Arabia. Greek merchants would carry on commerce between Uzal and Tyre.

Bright iron - literally, “wrought iron;” iron worked into plates smooth and polished. Yemen was famous for the manufacture of sword-blades.

Cassia - The inner bark of an aromatic plant.

Calamus - A fragrant reed-like plant (see Exodus 30:23-24). Both are special products of India and Arabia.

Ezekiel 27:20

Dedan - See Ezekiel 27:15. It is remarkable that “Dedan and Sheba” occur both among the descendants of Ham in Genesis 10:7, and among the descendants of Abraham and Keturah in Genesis 25:3. This seems to indicate that there were distinct nomad tribes bearing the same names of Hamite and of Semitic origin; or it may be that whereas some of the nomad Arabs were Hamite, others Semitic, these were of mixed origin, and so traced up their lineage alike to tiara and Shem. Here we have, at any rate, a number of Arabian nomad tribes mentioned together, and these tribes and their caravans were in those days the regular merchant travelers between east and west. By her ships, Tyre spread over Europe the goods which by these caravans she obtained from India and China.

Precious clothes - Or “clothes of covering,” cloths of tapestry.

Ezekiel 27:21

Kedar - The representative of the pastoral tribes in the northwest of Arabia.

Ezekiel 27:22

Sheba - Sabaea, the richest country of Arabia, corresponded nearly with what is now called Yemen or Arabia Felix.

Raamah - Closely connected with “Sheba,” whose seat is supposed to have been in the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf.

Ezekiel 27:23

Haran - Charrae in Mesopotamia.

Canneh - “Calneh” Genesis 10:10, probably Ctesiphon on the Tigris.

Eden - On the Euphrates Isaiah 37:12. “the merchants of Sheba” Here the towns or tribes that traded with Sheba. Sheba maintained a considerable trade with Mesopotamia.

Chilmad - Possibly Kalwada near Bagdad.

Ezekiel 27:24

All sorts of things - See the margin, “made of cedar” Rather, made fast.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 27:12. Tarshish was thy merchant — After having given an account of the naval and military equipment of this city, he now speaks of the various places and peoples with whom the Tyrians traded, and the different kinds of merchandise imported from those places.

By Tarshish some understand the Carthaginians; some think Tartessus, near the straits of Gibraltar, is meant; others, Tharsis in Cilicia. The place was famous for all the useful metals, silver, iron, tin, and lead. All these they might have had from Britain.