Question 1

What sequence of outcomes does the passage describe from v.4 to v.6, and how does that sequence intensify the portrayal of ruin?

Accepted Answer

The passage escalates in steps. First it targets visible strength: Tyre’s “walls” and “towers” are brought down (v.4). Next it goes beyond ordinary destruction by picturing the remains removed—its “dust” scraped away so the site becomes “a bare rock” (v.4). Then it turns to a reversal of status and function: the location becomes a place where fishermen spread nets (v.5). After that, it adds economic loss to outsiders: Tyre becomes “spoil to the nations” (v.5). Finally, it widens the damage beyond the city to “her daughters… in the field,” who are killed (v.6).

Question 2

What does “scrape her dust… and make her a bare rock” communicate within the passage, even before deciding how literal it is?

Accepted Answer

Within the flow of the text, the “scrape her dust” image communicates thoroughness. It is not only that structures collapse; even the debris and residue of the city are removed. The result, “a bare rock,” portrays the site as stripped down to what is most basic and exposed, the opposite of a fortified, built-up place. Even if one treats the wording as vivid imagery rather than a technical description, it still functions to say Tyre’s former security and identity are erased, leaving nothing that signals power, permanence, or prosperity.

Question 3

How does v.5 reframe Tyre’s identity by using the image of fishermen spreading nets?

Accepted Answer

In v.5 Tyre is no longer portrayed as a proud trading power but as an ordinary working shoreline. “A place for the spreading of nets” is a low, practical use that contrasts with Tyre’s former wealth and maritime influence. The phrase also fits the “total stripping” theme: what once attracted merchants and projected status is reduced to a modest, everyday function. The image implies loss of economic prominence and public reputation. In the passage, it sits next to “spoil to the nations,” reinforcing that Tyre’s value is no longer self-directed wealth but something taken or used by others.

Question 4

What explicit reasons or grounds does the text give for the announced outcome, and what does it not explain?

Accepted Answer

The explicit ground given is Yahweh’s own declaration: “for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh” (v.5). That line frames the coming ruin as certain because it rests on the speaker’s authority. The text also explicitly states results—destruction, plunder, death, and recognition (“they shall know that I am Yahweh,” v.6). What it does not explain is the full identity of the attackers (“they”), the detailed timeline, or the precise mechanics of how the site becomes like “a bare rock.” It provides a theological framing and a vivid outcome rather than a campaign report.

Question 5

What does the statement “she shall become a spoil to the nations” add to the portrait of judgment?

Accepted Answer

“Spoil to the nations” adds the idea of transfer and humiliation. Tyre’s wealth, goods, and advantages do not simply disappear; they become benefits for outsiders. The plural “nations” reinforces that the outcome has an international dimension: more than one people group may participate in taking advantage of Tyre’s collapse, whether through conquest, looting, or opportunistic gain after the city is broken. In the passage’s logic, this is part of the stripping: Tyre loses not only safety and buildings but also control of its resources and legacy, which are treated as available to others.

Question 6

In v.6, who are “her daughters who are in the field,” and how does that phrase function in the message?

Accepted Answer

The phrase most naturally points to dependent communities connected to Tyre but outside the main urban center—often understood as villages or satellite settlements in the surrounding territory (“in the field”). Calling them “daughters” treats Tyre like a mother city whose reach includes outlying communities that rely on its protection and prosperity. Functionally, the phrase expands the scope of disaster: the judgment is not confined to walls and port structures but reaches people in connected places as well. The statement that they are “slain with the sword” also makes clear the ruin is not only economic and architectural but violent and deadly.

Question 7

What is the purpose statement at the end of v.6 (“they shall know that I am Yahweh”), and how does it relate to the preceding events?

Accepted Answer

The closing line gives a stated recognition outcome: the events are meant to lead to the acknowledgment of Yahweh’s identity and authority. In the passage, this is not presented as a vague moral lesson but as a result tied to concrete historical collapse—ruined defenses, stripped land, plunder by nations, and deaths in dependent communities. It interprets the catastrophe as more than politics or chance. The line also links back to “for I have spoken it” (v.5): the certainty and scope of the devastation are framed as evidence of Yahweh’s effective word and rule over what happens to powerful coastal cities and their networks.

Outcome pictured as total stripping

Outcome pictured as total stripping

Outcome pictured as total stripping

Scripture

What this passage is saying

Outcome pictured as total stripping

Scripture

What this passage is saying