Tyre in Biblical History

Bible History

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

What is Tyre?
TYRE and TY'RUS
(Heb. Tsor, "rock;" Arabic Sur), a celebrated city of Phoenicia, on the eastern coast of the Modern Tyre (After a Photograph) Mediterranean Sea, 21 miles south of Sidon, in lat. 33? 17' N. Situation and Extent. - Tyre was situated upon what was originally an island, or perhaps two islands, about 1 mile long, and lying parallel to the shore at the distance of half a mile. There was also a city called "Palaetyrus" ("Old Tyre") upon the mainland. Pliny gives the circumference of the island Tyre at 2 1/2 miles, and of the whole city, including Palaetyrus, at 17 miles. History. - Phoenician and Greek traditions make Tyre a very ancient city. According to Herodotus, the priests at Tyre told him the city was founded b.c. 2750. The first Scripture mention is in the time of Joshua, b.c. 1-144, and it was then "a strong city." Josh 19:29. It was coupled with the Zidonians. Jer 47:4; Isa 23:2, Ex 6:4, Jud 4:12; Josh 13:6; Eze 32:30. The two cities Tyre and Sidon, being only 21 miles apart, were intimately associated. Indeed, Tyre must have included not only the city proper, but some of the adjacent country. See Phoenicia. Tyre, under King Hiram, held friendly relations with Israel, under David and Solomon. David's census extended thither to embrace the Jews. 2 Sam 24:7. The Tyrians furnished the timber for the temple and great buildings of Jerusalem. The cedars of Lebanon were floated from Tyre to Joppa, some 85 miles, and thence taken to Jerusalem. Tyrian artists also were skilful in the fine work required. As a reward for his services, Hiram was presented with twenty cities in Northern Galilee, but he was not well pleased with them and called them "Cabul" ("displeasing" or "despicable"). 2 Sam 5:11; 1 Kgs 5:1; 1 Kgs 7:13; 1 Kgs 9:11-12; 1 Chr 14:1; 2 Chr 2:2-3, 2 Chr 2:11. Hiram and Solomon were also associated in commercial enterprises. 1 Kgs 9:27; 1 Kgs 10:11-22; 2 Chr 8:17, 2 Chr 8:18; 2 Chr 9:21. From Tyre came the many fatal influences toward idolatry which corrupted the chosen people. See Zidon and Phoenicia. At a later period the friendly relations were changed to hostility. Tyre rejoiced in the distress of Israel, and God's prophet predicted the terrible overthrow of the proud heathen citv. Isa 23:1, 1 Chr 6:5, 1 Kgs 15:8, Gen 5:15-17; Jer 25:22; 1 Sam 27:3; Jer 47:4; Eze 26:2-15; Eze 27:2-8, Matt 27:32; Eze 29:18; Hos 9:13; Joel 3:4; Am 1:9-10; Zech 9:2-3; comp. Ps 45:12; Ps 83:7; Ps 87:4. The prophecies were notably fulfilled. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, besieged Tyre in b.c. 721. The siege lasted for five years, but the city was not taken. Nebuchadnezzar besieged it for thirteen years, ending with b.c. 592; whether he captured and destroyed this city is, strange to say, a matter which history does not enable us to determine. Josephus does not make it clear, and the passage in Eze 29:18, "Yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus," is differently interpreted, some understanding that he did not take the city at all, and others that he took it, but found no adequate booty to compensate for the long siege. At any rate. Tyre came under the Persian dominion and furnished that power with a large fleet. This excited the hostility of Alexander the Great, who determined to destroy the power of the city. Not being able to reach the walls with his engines, he collected together all the remains of the ancient city Palaetyrus - stones, timber, rubbish - and threw them into the narrow channel. Thus was fulfilled in a most remarkable manner the prophecy of Ezekiel. Eze 28:3-4, Jud 4:12, 2 Chr 11:21. After a siege of seven months the city was taken. Some 8000 men were slain in the massacre which followed; 2000 were crucified, and 30,000 men, women, and children were sold into slavery. The city was also set on fire by the victors. Zech 9:4; Joel 3:7. After Alexander's death Tyre fell under the dominion of the Seleucidse, having been besieged for fourteen months by Antigonus; at a later period the Romans possessed it. In N.T. times Tyre was a populous and thriving city. Christ referred to it and visited its "borders." Matt 11:21-22; Acts 15:21;Mark 7:24. Whether he went into the city itself cannot be determined. The borders of the territory of Tyre ("its coasts") reached southward to Carmel and eastward to Ituraea, according to Josephus. Paul spent seven days at Tyre. Acts 21:3-4, which early became the seat of a Christian bishopric. In the fourth century Jerome speaks of it as the most noble and beautiful city of Phoenicia, and as still trading with all the world. During the Middle Ages it was a place of some consequence, and was regarded as well nigh impregnable. On the side next the sea it had a double, and on the land side a triple, wall. After being subject to the Romans for four hundred years, Tyre came under the dominion of the Saracens in the seventh century. In a.d. 1124 the Crusaders captured it. In 1291 the Muslims gained possession of the city, which was destroyed by them, and has never since regained its prosperity. There is an interesting description of the siege of Acra (Ptolemais) and the possession of Tyre by the army of the sultan of Egypt and Damascus. It is given by Marinus Sanutus, a Venetian, in the century following the capture: "On the same day on which Ptolemais was taken, the Tyrians, at vespers, leaving the city empty, without the stroke of a sword, without the tumult of war, embarked on board their vessels, and abandoned the city to be occupied freely by their conquerors. On the morrow the Saracens entered, no one attempting to prevent them, and they did what they pleased." About a.d. 1610-11 it was visited by Sandys, who said of it: "But this once famous Tyre is now no other than a heap of ruins; yet have they a reverent aspect, and do instruct the pensive beholder with their exemplary frailty. It hath two harbors, that on the north side the fairest and best throughout all the Levant (which the cursours enter at their pleasure), the other choked with the decayes of the city." Maundrell (1697) says of Tyre: "On the north side it has an old Turkish castle, besides which there is nothing here but a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, etc., there being not so much as an entire house left. Its present inhabitants are only a few poor wretches that harbor in vaults and subsist on fishing." - Smith's Bible Dictionary, vol. iv., p. 3337. Present Condition. - The present town lies at the north-west end of the former island, which has an area of about 125 acres. The large embankment or causeway thrown up by Alexander the Great was 60 yards wide and one-fourth of a mile long. But this has been widened, by the gradual deposit of sand, to a mile on the main land and 600 yards where it reaches the old ramparts. The west and south sides of the island are now used for gardens and burial-grounds. Traces of the ancient wall are found. One stone is 17 feet long and 6 1/2 feet thick. There are huge stones and fragments of marble columns along the shore and beneath the water. They are bare as the top of a rock, and there the fishermen spread their nets - a wonderful fulfilment of a prophecy uttered nearly twenty-four hundred years ago: "I will make thee like the top of a rock; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon." Eze 26:11. The most interesting of the old buildings yet remaining is the church of the Crusaders, which probably occupies the site of a church consecrated a.d. 323, when Eusebius preached the sermon. The modern city has miserable streets and dilapidated houses. Its shipping consists of a few fishing-boats. Cotton, tobacco, and millstones from the Hauran are exported. The population numbers about 5000, nearly half of whom are Muslims, while the other half consists of Christians and a few Jews. A Franciscan monastery and a convent of the French order of the Sisters of St. Joseph are established here, and schools have been founded by an English mission. A short distance from the city, on the main land, is the traditional tomb of Hiram; the remains of the ancient aqueduct by which the city was supplied with water from Ras el 'Ain can be traced.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'tyre' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
bible-history.com - Schaff's

Copyright Information
© Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Schaff's Bible Dictionary Home
Bible History Online Home

Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
Online Bible (KJV)
Naves Topical Bible
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
Hitchcock's Bible Dictionary

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Popular in the New Testament

Popular in the
New Testament