Whoever looks up Ezekiel 27 will discover an impressive enumeration of the products that were traded through the commercial city and seaport of Tyre.1 Merchandise was brought in from the whole world. There was an internationally constituted army. There was wealth in abundance with products like silver, iron, tin and lead; slaves and products made of bronze and iron; horses – riding-horses and mules; ivory and ebony; hematite, purple, colourfully embroidered garments, linen, mother of pearl and rubies; wheat, myrrh, honey, oil and balm; wrought iron; cinnamon and calamus; blankets; lambs, rams and goats; the finest spices, all kinds of precious stones and gold; robes of state, blue and purple and colourfully embroidered coats, colourfully woven carpets and braided cable ropes—wealth everywhere. There is indeed a system in the approximately thirty articles that the merchants of Babylon delivered.
There seem to be six to seven categories of goods:
A. Property and jewels, gold, silver, precious stones,
B. Expensive clothing and textiles, fine linen, purple, silk and
C. Luxury furniture and expressive art, aromatic wood, ivory carving and objects of bronze, iron and
D. Perfume and cosmetics, with cinnamon, spices, perfume, myrrh and
E. Quality food products, wine, oil, flour and
F. Transport and animals, beasts of burden, horses/carts,
G. Human beings, with human bodies and
These were all luxury goods. With the exception of silver, the ‘whore’ is clothed with jewels described as gold, precious stones and pearls.2 The ‘New Jerusalem’ that will descend shortly, the bride of the Lamb, will be a city of gold, the foundations of precious stones, and the pearly gates.3
Fine linen is also the cloth with which the saints who appear with Christ – the Lamb’s wife – are clothed,4 as well as the Heavenly hosts.5 Expensive materials are listed, among which is purple cloth. Ten thousand snails had to be killed to make one gram of purple dye in ancient times. Silk, originally from China, was unimaginably expensive. It was weighed against gold. Scarlet fabric was dyed with the juice of an insect, and it was just as expensive as purple cloth. The third series of imported goods (‘C’) is destined for the dwellings of rich and important people: expensive kinds of wood, artistic objects of ivory from elephants’ tusks to create thrones6 or even an entire palace such as that fitted out by King Ahab.7 Bronze, iron and marble were only found in the palaces and houses of the rich.
Perfumes were also expensive goods. Think of the gifts of frankincense and myrrh that the ‘Wise Men’ from the East brought – Jewish astronomers living in the Jewish community, in the Jewish quarters of Babylon?—these gifts were just as costly as gold.8 This was the expression of the value the Lord Jesus had to Mary, Lazarus’ sister. This was what Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were prepared to spend on Jesus, to embalm His body.9 Since the food of the ordinary man consisted of barley bread and barley porridge, wine, oil (although olive oil was used by everybody for many purposes), flour and wheat belong to the better foodstuffs, as do cattle and sheep for slaughter. And horses and carts were the cars of the ancient world, only within the reach of a few. Only the rich could afford slaves too; human beings were traded as merchandise. The list of articles points to a prosperous, luxurious market, a world that exists in our rich Western hemisphere and, increasingly, worldwide.
• The word for ‘slave’ is ‘body’ here. John adds to this: They have a soul. They are not animals. Man is a unity of body, soul and spirit. Soul and spirit are the invisible part, giving ‘life’ to a human being. ‘Life, soul’ is in the blood, Leviticus 17:10-14. The Hebrew word ‘nephesh’ does not mean something like an immortal soul, but ‘life’.
• Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.10 Followers of Christ are His servants, or even slaves. Jesus says in Matthew 24:45-47: “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
• Slavery was legal in Israel, but regulated by strict rules.11 In early Christian Christianity slaves were to be considered to be brothers and sisters.12 They were an economic necessity in the Roman Empire, just like foreign labourers + our domestic appliances in our modern societies.
Bible References:
1. Ezekiel 27:10–25 2.Revelation 17:4 3.Revelation 21:18–22 4.Revelation 19:8 5.Revelation 19:14 6.1 Kings 10:18–20 7.1 Kings 22:39; Psalm 45:9 8.Matthew 2:11; Mark 14:3 9.John 12:3, 19:39 10.Mark 10:45 11.Leviticus 25:42–44 12.Philemon 10–20
