“Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor.
Ezekiel's lament turns Tyre into a great ship, and verse 10 moves from her timbers and sails to her fighting men. They came from Persia, Lud and Phut, so why did a city's hired defence count as an ornament?
The crew of the ship
Verses 8 to 11 name the ship's crew in order: sailors, pilots, repairers, traders, and now soldiers. Tyre drew these last from the far edges of her trading world.
William KellyThose near at hand are supposed to be sailors and pilots, with mercenaries from Persia on the east, Lud and Phut on the west. Tyre drew on everything and everyone, and loved to gather the most distant peoples under her banner.
Three names on the map
These three peoples are not a random list. Two of them turn up again in Ezekiel, tied to Egypt.
J. N. DarbyPersia, Lud, and Phut were among the mercenaries of Tyre, Ezekiel 27:10. Cush, Phut, and Lud are again identified with Mizraim or Egypt, Ezekiel 30:5.
Phut can be placed on the map.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe land of Phut is generally supposed to be the same as Libya, to the north-west of Egypt… The same Hebrew word is translated Libya in Ezekiel 30:5; Ezekiel 38:5; and Libyans in Jeremiah 46:9.
Armament for a trading vessel
Read as a picture, the ship of commerce carries more than cargo. She is armed. One commentator presses the meanings of the three names and takes them as the tools trade uses in its battles.
Numerical Bible NotesYet the vessel of commerce must be prepared for conflict too, and it has many a battle to fight. And we see her armament for this. First of all, Pharas (Persia) means "division," which reminds us of the old motto, "Divide and conquer." Next we have Lud, which may mean "strife." So if Pharas speaks of manoeuvring and diplomacy, Lud speaks of preparation for more open war. Put (or Phut) is given either as "trampling down," or else "despising," or "rejection."
The same writer admits this is only one possible reading: "This would give a consistent sense, but there are other conjectures which seem only that." Commentators differ here. Kelly takes the three names as hired troops from east and west, and nothing more.
Everything purchased
Tyre's defence sits in the same list as her cargo, one more thing money could buy.
H. L. RossierPrecious woods, ivory and ebony, fine linen, blue and purple, silver, gold in great abundance, spices, oil and wheat, countless flocks. And besides all this, warriors to defend her, sailors to guide her fleets, wise men to direct her and to use her resources — such, in very few words, was the wealth of Tyre. Everything the human heart could desire on earth could be found there.
Weapons that flatter
The verse says the shields and helmets gave Tyre splendour. Her armour hangs where everyone can see it. It feeds the boast that opened the chapter, and that boast is what the prophecy targets.
H. H. SnellThe city was so elegant in her own esteem that the inspired writer describes her as saying, "I am perfect in beauty," and adds, "All your men of war who are in you, and all your company that is in your midst, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin… What city is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?"
Ezekiel names her men of war again on the day she goes down. What decorated the ship sinks with the ship.
Summary
- Bought. Tyre's army was hired, not homegrown. Persia, Lud and Phut came from the far edges of her trade, like her precious woods and gold.
- Placed. The names can be mapped. Persia lay east, Lud and Phut west. Phut is usually taken as Libya, north-west of Egypt.
- Armed. The trading ship carries weapons as well as cargo. One reading hears division, strife and trampling down in the three names, though other conjectures remain.
- Displayed. The shields and helmets hang on show. Defence has become decoration, and it feeds Tyre's boast of perfect beauty.
- Sunk. Those same men of war fall into the heart of the seas on the day of her ruin. Hired strength decorates a ship right up to the moment it sinks with her.