THEOSISJerome of Stridon
In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the Lord spoke to me, saying, Son of man, concerning what Tyre has proclaimed about Jerusalem: the gates of the nations are shattered; they have turned to me, I will be satisfied; it has become desolate. Thus declares the Lord God, Behold, I am coming against you, Tyre, and I will assemble many nations against you like the rising of the tumultuous sea. They shall dismantle the walls of Tyre and demolish its towers; I will cause it to be cleared away and transformed into a bare rock. It shall serve as a place for drying fishing nets in the middle of the sea, for I have decreed it, says the Lord God, and it will be a spoil for the nations.
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Moreover, its daughters in the countryside shall fall by the sword, and they will know that I am the Lord.
The prophet's message unfolds in a precise order. He condemned the descendants of Ammon, Moab, and Seir, who are also identified as Edomites, and the Philistines who inhabit the coastal regions. Following Palestine lies the territory of the Phoenicians, with Tyre serving as their principal city, known in Hebrew and Syriac as Sor. Because, upon the fall of Jerusalem, Tyre rejoiced and boasted, The gates of the nations are shattered; I have a secure harbor. When Jerusalem fell, all the multitude he governed turned to me, and with the city desolate, I will be filled, or, the formerly full place shall become a wasteland.
Therefore, since you have expressed these sentiments and exulted at the destruction of Jerusalem, which was ordained by God due to its transgressions—not through messengers, nor by any other means, but by My hand alone—I will set Myself against you, O Tyre. I will bring against you the Babylonians and many nations, just as the waves of the sea crash. Their assault will bring down your walls and towers, causing them to crumble, and your ashes will be scattered, so that it will be reduced to a naked rock. The devastation in the once-bustling city will be so profound that fishermen will spread and dry their nets in its ruins. For this, I, the Lord, whose promises are certain, have spoken, and I will hand it over to the nations to be looted.
The daughters of Tyre, those cities and strongholds on the Phoenician coast, shall also perish by the sword. He refers to them metaphorically as daughters; through their destruction, they will come to know that He is the Lord who commanded these events to unfold. The Hebrew term for 'sor' suggests tightness or turmoil, which can symbolize any soul in distress—those who, upon witnessing the destruction of Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the vision of peace due to its sins and transgressions, rejoice, believing that the splendor of Jerusalem will now belong to them.
This may also refer to those who oppose the truth and rejoice when a devoted individual falters through carelessness, as if the downfall of others is their own victory. Hence, the Lord warns that He Himself will rise against such people and will rally numerous nations against them, like the swelling waves of the sea. They will dismantle all they perceive as strongholds, reducing their arguments to dust. He will cause them to abandon their nets—those with which they lured the misled—and they will be laid to dry in the desolate city, replaced by new fishermen sent by the Lord to gather the lost.
Furthermore, his daughters, once thought to exist in tranquility and regarded as impervious due to their secretive doctrines, will be revealed for all to see and will meet their demise by the sword of the Church so that all may know that He is the Lord, who gradually abandoned Jerusalem for its sins and dismantled Tyre for its joy at Jerusalem’s fall.