(585--515 B. C.)
ITHOBALUS THE SECOND--TO SISINNES.
THE FIRST SIEGE OF TYRUS, &c.--FULFILMENT OF THE PROPHECY BY
JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL,--AND OF THE FIRST AND SECOND PROPHECY BY
ISAIAH.
During the war upon Egypt by the King of Babylon, (and which occurred
only seven years after the Voyage around Africa,) it is probable that
the King of Tyrus would assist Pharaoh-Necho against the invasion of
the Nile by Nebuchadnezzar. The attack by Pharaoh, at the solicitation
of Judæa [Ezekiel xvii. 15], (which nation was still paying the annual
tribute to Egypt,) had compelled the Babylonian to raise the siege of
Jerusalem:--in this movement, also, the Tyrians may have aided by
countenance or wealth. In these apparent probabilities, we find the
_political_ cause why Nebuchadnezzar turned his fury upon Tyrus,
after his conquest of Egypt, and his second and successful invasion of
Judæa, and the captivity of the Jews,--which latter event took place
588 B. C.
The fall of Judæa gave the monopolizing and pride-stricken Tyrians
great cause for rejoicing,--not from malice against the afflicted
People,--but because their own _Trading_ propensities would be
increased,--as it would (in their minds) by the downfall of any
aspiring Nation. A few years before they had witnessed the conquest of
Egypt,--and now of Judæa,--both of which were causes of peculiar joy
to the Tyrians; for those Nations had latent sparks within them, from
which the fire of Science might be created, and so illumine their own
path towards the attainment of Navigation, and thence rest upon their
own exertions for Commercial prosperity. Jerusalem had evinced this
spirit as early as the time of SOLOMON,--and also Egypt, only seven
years before her present downfall. This was the point causing the
National rejoicing of Tyrus;--it was a Commercial gladness,--thence
(with them) a _political_ one:--less rejoicing, or its entire absence,
would have been "love of neighbour,"--and which, when it affected
their interest, the Tyrians never had;--extended joy,--as if Jerusalem
had fallen for the express purpose of their own prosperity, and so
sanctioned by their Gods,--became blasphemy! They evinced this impiety
to its full extent;--therefore, the King of Babylon, in resenting his
own wrongs, was but an instrument of retribution in the hand of GOD,
to punish those, who in savage triumph rejoiced at the chastening,
and captivity of a neighbour-Nation.
EZEKIEL thus describes the _Religious_ cause why Tyrus (in her want of
charity to a fallen neighbour) should become desolate. [xxvi.] He
prophesied, 588 B. C.,
"The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of Man, _because_ that
Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, 'Aha! she is broken that was the
gates of the People: she is turned unto _me_; I shall be replenished,
now _she_ is laid waste!'"--
The Prince of Tyrus, also, uttered this blasphemy in his triumph:--
"I am a God! I sit in the seat of God!" [xxviii.]
"Therefore," continues EZEKIEL, "thus saith the LORD GOD: Behold, I am
against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many Nations to come up against
thee, as the Sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy
the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will scrape her dust
from her and make her like the top of a rock. _It shall be a place for
the spreading of nets in the midst of the Sea_; [how truly fulfilled!]
for I have spoken it, saith the LORD GOD: and it shall become a spoil
to the Nations. And her daughters which are in the field shall be
slain with the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD. For thus
saith the LORD GOD:--Behold I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon, a King of Kings, from the north, with horses, and
with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people,"
&c.
The remaining part of the Prophecy is not required,--the cause is
shewn,--the punishment and the avenger. The Prophecy was uttered by
EZEKIEL in the year in which Jerusalem was destroyed (the Temple of
which the Tyrians of a former age had erected and adorned), and
consequently three years before the commencement of the Siege of Tyrus
by the Babylonian. The doom of Tyrus was also foretold by ISAIAH and
JEREMIAH; and by the former, that the Nation should cease for _seventy
years_. He prophesied one hundred and twenty-seven years, and JEREMIAH
twenty-one years before the Siege by the King of Babylon. It was
strictly fulfilled. The investment commenced in the reign of Ithobalus
[_i. e._ Eth-baal] the Second, and lasted _thirteen_ years--the
longest Siege on record. Troy was only _ten_; the Roman Siege of Veii,
by Camillus, occupied the same period.
It has already been shewn, upon the authority of ISAIAH and EZEKIEL,
that the _Island_ of Tyrus must have been partly inhabited, for they
distinctly allude to the "Isle." The metropolis proper, with its
Temples and splendour, was on the mainland,--and this was the _City_
besieged by the Conqueror of Egypt and Judæa. The Island he could not
reach from the want of Galleys; his force consisting of Chariots,
Cavalry, and Infantry. It was impossible, therefore, to take Tyrus
(one side being on the Sea) as he had captured Jerusalem, through the
terrific means of Famine,--the horrors of which are so powerfully
depicted in the Lamentations of JEREMIAH; and in reference to Judæa,
foretold by the first Lawgiver nearly nine centuries before!
The Tyrians, through the means of their shipping, continually supplied
the Capital with provisions,--thence the duration of the Siege, and
Nebuchadnezzar had not the genius of the subsequent and final
Conqueror of Tyrus--the heroic Macedonian.
The Babylonian had therefore to erect his forts and mounds, and with
his engines of war make a breach into the mainland City. During the
several years, thousands were slain on either side; those of the
Tyrians were replaced by her "wise-men" of the Ocean,--her pilots and
mariners; and as they left their vessels for the Metropolis, the
Galleys were sunk at Sea to prevent their falling into the enemy's
hands, and thereby enable them to turn upon the Island, the only place
of Tyrian retreat. After a Siege of thirteen years, and more than
three-quarters of the male population destroyed, breaches were made in
the walls,--for men were no longer there to defend them,--the
Metropolis was entered by the foe, and every part destroyed; Temples,
Palaces, and houses laid in ashes, or razed to the ground, and the
inhabitants slain, excepting those that had fled to the Island. These
consisted principally of Women and Children; and to the rescue of the
great proportion of the former, and thus preventing Rapine and
Slaughter by the besiegers, may reasonably be attributed the cause of
the rapid increase of the Tyrian population upon the _Island_, and
which has always confounded writers upon this Siege, and led some to
doubt the fulfilment of the Prophecy.
The Babylonian could not reach these fugitives for the reason
stated,--viz., the want of navigable means. And besides, the
Metropolis was destroyed, and that was his intent; and that
accomplished, he would be willing to receive a tributary capitulation
from the Islanders. In the course of the Siege, the King of Tyrus
died, and also the Prince. [These deaths were prophesied by EZEKIEL.]
The Tyrian Monarch was succeeded by Baal, a branch of the Royal House.
Nebuchadnezzar finding that the Island could not be subdued [572 B.
C.], offered terms to Baal,--they were accepted, and Baal was
appointed his tributary Viceroy, and remained the vassal king of Tyrus
for ten years, and died 562 B. C. The shadowy dignity of Viceroy was
then abolished, and Magistrates were appointed to administer Justice,
and preside over the affairs of State. This Magisterial Government
continued only for six years, when it was abolished, and the
Sovereignty restored in the person of Balator, but still depending on
the Assyrian Monarch for all power and authority. [556 B. C.] This
vassalage of the Tyrians was continued to the time of Sisinnes, regal
governor of Phœnicia, who, by the command of Darius, King of
Babylon, assisted by the Tyrians, materially aided in building the
_Second_ Temple of Jerusalem, upon the restoration of the House of
Judah; and in the same spirit as Hiram the Great aided Solomon king of
Israel.
515 B. C.] The Second Temple was finished and dedicated in the year
515 before Christ. Now taking the Prophecy of ISAIAH, to commence at
the _beginning_ of the Siege of Tyrus (for Tyrus had then ceased to be
free, _i. e._ as a Nation), which was in 585 B. C., the "seventy
years" will be _exactly accomplished_ at the dedication of the Second
Temple.
Thus were the first and second Prophecies by ISAIAH fulfilled,--viz.,
the fall and subsequent freedom,--for the destruction did take place,
and at the termination of "seventy years" the Lord of Mercy _did_
"visit Tyrus," and made her again a Nation;--for her scorn and boast
upon the destruction of Jerusalem had been forgotten and forgiven, in
her stretching forth her hand again to aid the building of the Sacred
Temple to The One and Only GOD!
As an instance of Divine Justice, it may be observed, that the freedom
of Tyrus did not take place _before_ the restoration of Judæa,--and
that the former nation had to endure the remorse of knowing that the
latter from her new throne of liberty, could behold the manacles of
thraldom upon that country, which (in prosperity) had shouted in
impious triumph upon _her_ desolation!