John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 27:5

"They have made all thy planks of fir-trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee." — Ezekiel 27:5 (ASV)

They have made all your ship boards of fir trees of Senir The same with Sion and Hermon, which the Sidonians called Sirion, and the Amorites Shenir, (Deuteronomy 3:9) (4:48) here, it seems, grew the best of fir trees, of which the Tyrians made boards and planks for shipping; of these the two sides of the ship, as the word ^F18 here used in the dual number is thought to signify, or the fore and hind decks, were made. The Targum is,

``with fir trees of Senir they built for you all your bridges;'' the planks from which they went from one ship to another; but these are of too small consequence to be mentioned; rather the main of the ship is intended, which was built of fir planks; but ours made of oak are much preferable:

they have taken cedars from Lebanon, to make masts for you ; large poles for the yards and sails to be fastened to, for receiving the wind necessary in navigation; called the main mast, the foremast, the mizzenmast, and the boltsprit; all these are only in large vessels; whether the Tyrians had all of these is not certain; some they had, and which were made of the cedars of Lebanon; which, being large tall trees, were fit for this purpose. The Tyrians ^F19 are said to be the first inventors of navigation.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (Mytwxl) "tabulata duplicia", Munster; "duas tabulas", Vatablus.
• F19: "Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyros." Catullus.