Yehezkiel 27:9

27:9 The elders of Gebal ¹  and her skilled men were within you, mending cracks; ² 

all the ships of the sea and their mariners were within you to trade for your merchandise. ³ 

Yehezkiel 40:3

40:3 When he brought me there, I saw ⁴  a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.

Yehezkiel 41:17

41:17 to the space above the entrance, to the inner room, and on the outside, and on all the walls in the inner room and outside, by measurement. ⁵ 

[27:9]  ¹ sn Another Phoenician coastal city located between Sidon and Arvad.

[27:9]  ² tn Heb “strengthening damages.” Here “to strengthen” means to repair. The word for “damages” occurs several times in 1 Kgs 12 about some type of damage to the temple, which may have referred to or included cracks. Since the context describes Tyre in its glory, we do not expect this reference to damages to be of significant scale, even if there are repairmen. This may refer to using pitch to seal the seams of the ship, which had to be done periodically and could be considered routine maintenance rather than repair of damage.

[27:9]  ³ sn The reference to “all the ships of the sea…within you” suggests that the metaphor is changing; previously Tyre had been described as a magnificent ship, but now the description shifts back to an actual city. The “ships of the sea” were within Tyre’s harbor. Verse 11 refers to “walls” and “towers” of the city.

[40:3]  ⁴ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[41:17]  ⁵ tc The LXX does not have the word “by measurements.” The word may be a technical term referring to carpentry technique, the exact meaning of which is unclear.