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.

EZEKIEL 27:16KJV
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Ezekiel 27:16 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 27:16 mean?

Ezekiel 27:16 describes Tyre as a wealthy trading city whose manufactured goods attracted merchants from Syria. In exchange, those merchants brought valuable stones and finely made textiles. The verse shows how Tyre’s own products helped draw luxury goods into its markets.

Ezekiel speaks about Tyre as if the city were a person, calling its goods “thy making.” The list lets the first hearers picture a busy port filled with costly materials from distant places.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 27:16

  • “merchant” — סָחַר (sachar): This word carries the sense of trading or doing business. Here it describes Syria’s commercial dealings with Tyre.
  • “broidered work” — רִקְמָה (riqmah): This refers to decorated needlework or embroidered cloth. The phrase points to fabric valued for its craftsmanship as well as its material.
  • “fairs” — עִזָּבוֹן (ʿizzavon): This word is often understood as merchandise or goods exchanged in trade. “Fairs” here pictures trading activity, rather than necessarily a festive public gathering.

Why Ezekiel 27:16 matters

  • Tyre’s wealth was part of a wider network of exchange. The phrase “by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making” links the goods Tyre produced with the goods merchants brought.
  • The list helps explain the force of the disaster described later. Ezekiel 27:27 pictures Tyre’s riches and merchandise sinking with the city, so the luxury goods in verse 16 become part of the picture of loss.

Where else these words appear

“coral” Hebrew H7215 · used in 2 verses

  • Job 28:18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

“agate” Hebrew H3539 · used in 2 verses

  • Isaiah 54:12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

“emeralds” Hebrew H5306 · used in 4 verses

  • Exodus 28:18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
  • Exodus 39:11 And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
  • Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

“fairs” Hebrew H5801 · used in 7 verses

  • Ezekiel 27:12 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.
  • Ezekiel 27:19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
  • Ezekiel 27:27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.