Verses 8-11 list the people who worked on the “ship” of Tyre. God describes the crew of the ship, those who repaired it, and those who protected it. Although the picture language of Tyre as a ship continues in these verses, some of the clauses can only apply to Tyre the city. By listing all the countries and cities whose people worked for Tyre, God shows how great Tyre was.

The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers: The rowers were the men who pulled the oars to make the ship move along. It was a hard job that slaves often did. In areas where readers are not familiar with rowing boats, translators may use an expression that fits with how they rendered “oars” in verse 6, for example, “people who pulled the oars to make the ship move.” The people who did this for the “ship” of Tyre were the inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad. Sidon was a city on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Tyre, and one of Tyre’s main trading competitors. Arvad was a city, located like Tyre on an island, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Tyre. Translators may need to say “the cities of Sidon and Arvad.”

Skilled men of Zemer were in you, they were your pilots: The pilots were those who guided and steered the ship. According to Revised Standard Version, they were skilled men of Zemer. However, there are two problems with Revised Standard Version‘s rendering of these two lines. First, the Hebrew word rendered pilots is literally “rope-men” (Greenberg). Some translations take this word to refer to men expert in using ropes to set the sails. As such they were the “helmsmen” (New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “captains” (Contemporary English Version), or “pilots” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, King James Version / New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt) of the ship, the officer class. Others take it to refer to the ordinary “sailors” (Good News Translation, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible; similarly New International Version, New American Bible). This interpretation is preferable. The second problem is that Revised Standard Version changes the Hebrew text here to read that these sailors were from Zemer (so also New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible). Revised Standard Version makes this change on the basis of the list of nations in Genesis 10.15-20, where Zemer is side-by-side with Arvad and Sidon. However, the Hebrew text here is quite understandable as it is. Its last two lines of this verse read literally “your wise men, O Tyre, are in you; they are your sailors” (similarly New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Century Version, Jerusalem Bible). Good News Translation omits the vocative “O Tyre,” but keeps the meaning by saying “Your own skillful men were the sailors.” By calling these sailors “wise” (“experienced” in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), God suggests that they were the most intelligent, clever and talented people in Tyre. The connection of wisdom with Tyre continues in chapter 28.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .