Ezekiel 27:6

“Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars, &c.] To row the ships with; for their ships probably were no other than galleys, which were rowed with oars, as were the ships of first invention. Bashan was a country in Judea where oaks grew; (see <230213>Isaiah 2:13). The country of Judea in general was famous for oaks; it abounded with them in the times of Homerf423, who speaks of Typho being buried in a country abounding with oaks, among the rich or fat people of Judea; and he seems to design Bashan particularly, of which Og was king, whom he calls Typho, and of whose bed he makes mention in the same place; hence several places in Judea had their names from the oaks which grew, there, as…”

“Bashan--celebrated for its oaks, as Lebanon was for its cedars. the company of . . . Ashurites--the most skilful workmen summoned from Assyria. Rather, as the Hebrew orthography requires, "They have made thy (rowing) benches of ivory inlaid in the daughter of cedars" [MAURER], or, the best boxwood. FAIRBAIRN, with BOCHART, reads the Hebrew two words as one: "Thy plankwork (deck: instead of 'benches,' as the Hebrew is singular) they made ivory with boxes." English Version, with MAURER'S correction, is simpler. Chittim--Cyprus and Macedonia, from which, PLINY tells us, the best boxwood came [GROTIUS].”

“The company ... ivory - Rather, “thy benches (or, deck) made they of ivory with boxwood” (or, larch), i. e., boxwood inlaid with ivory. The isles - (or, coasts) of Chittim is a phrase used constantly for Greece and the Grecian islands. It may probably be extended to other islands in the Mediterranean sea Genesis 10:5, and there ivory may have been brought from the coasts of North Africa. return to 'Top of Page'”

“With box - From the isles, and parts about the Ionian, Aegean, and other seas of the Mediterranean, where box - tree is a native, and of great growth and firmness, fit to saw into boards for benches; they were conveyed to Tyre, where their artists inlaid these box boards with ivory, and made them beautiful seats in their ships. Ezekiel 27:7”

“the oaks: Isa 2:13; Zac 11:2 the company: etc. or, they have made thy hatches of ivory well trodden, Rather, "thy benches have they made of ivory inlaid with box, from the isles of Chittim." Vulgate, de insulis Italie "from the islands of Italy," which were always famous for box-trees. company: Heb. daughters the isles: Gen 10:4, Kittim, Num 24:24; Jer 2:10 Ezekiel 27:7”