Ezekiel 27:16

Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Ezekiel pronounces an oracle against the mercantile city of Tyre, detailing its commercial alliances at a moment of impending judgment.

The words — אֲרָ֥ם ('a.Ram) = Aram; מֵ/רֹ֣ב (me./Ro) = from the abundance of. These terms anchor the verse’s declaration that a specific nation traded because of Tyre’s plentiful merchandise.

The thread — Genesis 10:22 records Aram as a son of Shem, Judges 10:6 lists Aram among the deities Israel later worshiped, and Ezekiel 28:13 mirrors the verse’s inventory of precious stones in its description of a former exalted condition.

Why it lands — The text states that Aram exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered cloth, fine linen, coral, and rubies for Tyre’s goods, listing commodities without moral evaluation. It requires the reader to observe how dense economic networks operate as a visible system before any prophetic assessment of their fragility.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אֲרָ֥ם'a.RamAram סֹחַרְתֵּ֖ךְso.char.Te/kh[was] trader/ your מֵרֹ֣בme./Rofrom/ [the] abundance of מַעֲשָׂ֑יִךְma.'a.Sa.yi/khproducts/ your בְּ֠נֹפֶךְBe./no.fekhfor/ turquoise אַרְגָּמָ֨ן'ar.ga.Manpurple וְרִקְמָ֤הve./rik.Mahand/ multicolored cloth וּבוּץ֙u./Vutzand/ fine linen וְרָאמֹ֣תve./ra.Motand/ corals וְכַדְכֹּ֔דve./khad.Kodand/ ruby נָתְנ֖וּna.te.Nuthey exchanged בְּעִזְבוֹנָֽיִךְ׃be./'iz.vo.Na.yi/khfor/ wares/ your

King James Version

Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.

Cross-references

Judges 10:6 And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
Genesis 10:22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
Genesis 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
2 Samuel 8:5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.
2 Samuel 10:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.
2 Samuel 15:8 For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
Isaiah 7:1 Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.