and casks of wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise.
Ezekiel 27 lists the nations that traded with Tyre, the great merchant city of the ancient world. Verse 19 is one line in that long cargo list. It is also one of the hardest lines in the chapter to translate. Two questions meet here: who were these traders, and why does God record their goods at all?
The reading of the names
Translations differ sharply here. The ESV reads "casks of wine from Uzal"; others read the names of traders instead. Commentators who compared the oldest Greek and Syriac translations found a place name that older English had hidden:
William KellyThe Authorized Version of Ezekiel 27:19 has hidden an important reference, and the Revised Version is no better. Dr. Henderson and Mr. Darby present it like this: "Vedan and Javan of Uzal traded in your [Tyre's] markets: wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were in your barter." The Septuagint renders it "from Asel," the Syriac and Aquila "from Uzal."
So this line names a real city in southern Arabia, and its identity is clear:
William KellyUzal... gave his name in ancient times to the capital city of Yemen, which afterwards became, and is still, Sanaa... The Jews, who have been settled there beyond memory, know it only by the name of Uzal.
Who the traders were
In verse 13 of this chapter, the name Javan means Greece. In verse 19 the same name may point elsewhere:
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn Ezekiel 27:13 the Javan that traded with Tyre doubtless also refers to Greece. But in Ezekiel 27:19 it is thought to point to southern Arabia. The verse is better translated: "Vedan and Javan of Uzal traded in your markets."
Commentators differ over the first name:
William KellyVerse 19 seems to join Dan and Javan from "Uzal" in an odd way (the Authorized Version translated Uzal as "going to and fro"). It is unusual for a verse to begin with the joining word "and." Some therefore, instead of translating it "Dan also," say "Dedan and Javan." Others decide for Aden.
The goods themselves
Two of the three goods in this verse are spices. Calamus had another use as well:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe word is qaneh, and is often translated "reed." It was one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23). It appears in a list of spices, and it came to the market of Tyre (Song of Solomon 4:14; Ezekiel 27:19). It is the calamus odoratus, a reed growing in India and Arabia... It has a fragrant smell, and when dried and pounded forms a valuable ingredient for rich perfumes.
Sacred spices sold across a counter
One writer sees more in these two spices on Tyre's market shelves than ordinary trade:
Samuel RidoutCassia. This word appears in only one other passage, and there too alongside calamus (Ezekiel 27:19), among the goods Tyre traded in. For the world would make merchandise of the excellencies of Christ. Satan, its prince, seeks to rob the Lord of what is His alone.
The third item is the wrought iron. Another writer links it to Yemen, then draws a lesson from the whole list:
Numerical Bible NotesThe wrought iron may remind us, as one has suggested, of the sword-blades of Yemen, since Uzal was the ancient name of Sanaa, its capital. Cassia and calamus are also Arabian products. If Javan and Uzal both speak in different ways of man's departure from God, they may remind us of what Scripture devotes to Him, now turned aside to self-indulgence. The wrought iron may speak of man's many inventions. Man credits them to necessity as their mother. God traces them to his departure from original uprightness, which is how he got into necessity (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
Why an old cargo list still matters
It is easy to skip a cargo list. Yet the chapter it belongs to paints something that keeps coming back:
Numerical Bible NotesWe have now an analysis of all the sources of greatness such as we see in Tyre... God has put this picture before us in much detail. If we had eyes to see further into it, we would surely grasp what it means for us. Tyre itself has passed away. Yet no one can doubt that it has had many successors in the generations since, and that the world today is marked in large part by what we find in Tyre.
Summary
- Read it again. Older English hid a place name behind "going to and fro": Uzal, in southern Arabia.
- Admit the doubt. Commentators differ over the first name — Dan, Dedan, Vedan, or Aden — and they say so plainly.
- Notice the cargo. Calamus was no ordinary good. It was an ingredient of the holy anointing oil.
- Weigh the transfer. What God set apart for Himself shows up here as stock in a market, and the world still makes merchandise of what belongs to Christ.
- Apply the picture. Tyre is gone, but it has had many successors — so this list is a mirror, not a museum label.