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Tyre - location profile

Location and Setting

• The home of the sea-faring Phoenicians, Tyre guarded the eastern Mediterranean coast, serving as an important seaport, not only for Phoenicia, but also for Israel and Syria.
• Tyre’s identity was often linked with Sidon, the other major Phoenician seaport, twenty-five miles to the north. Together with Tyre and Sidon, the coastal cities of Byblos and Aradus farther to the north formed the four major seaports of the Phoenicians. Each city functioned as an independent city-state, with little political unity among them.
• In addition to its being an important seaport, the city of Tyre was known for cedar timber from the mountains of Lebanon, just inland from the coast. Other industries included the processing of purple dye from murex shells, a shipping fleet, and the mining of tin, silver and copper.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Joshua allotted the region of Tyre to the tribe of Asher (Josh 19:29) but the Asherites did not fully drive the Canaanite tribes out of the region (Judg 1:32).
• Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre, sent cedar lumber and supplied builders to King David for the construction of his palace in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:11).
• Many years later, King Hiram supplied the cedar and cypress wood as well as builders for Solomon’s elaborate temple and palace in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 5:1). The relationship between Hiram and Solomon was mutually beneficial. Solomon received cedar lumber and craftsmen while Hiram gained access to the port of Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqaba, the southern-most border of Israel during Solomon’s reign.
• The prophets spoke out against Tyre. Isaiah warned that Tyre would be destroyed and forgotten (Isaiah 23). Ezekiel prophesied that the walls and towers of Tyre would be destroyed and that the city would become a place where fishermen would spread their nets (Ezekiel 26:1-28:26).
• Tyre continued to be a significant city during the first century A.D. People from Tyre came to Galilee to see Jesus’ miracles (Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17).
• On one occasion, Jesus and His disciples passed through the region of Tyre and Sidon. There He healed the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman (Matt 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-31).
• In rebuking unbelief in Galilee, Jesus said that even though the people of Tyre and Sidon were pagans, they would have repented if they had seen as many miracles as Chorazin and Bethsaida had seen (Luke 10:13-14).

Bibliography

1. Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
2. Blaiklock, E.M. "Tyre" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
3. DeVries, LaMoine F. Cities of the Biblical World. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.