Jerome : (Chapter 27.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Therefore, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre and say to Tyre, which dwells at the entrance of the sea, to the merchant of the peoples to many islands (or from many islands). Thus says the Lord God: If I were to summarize the entire prophecy against Tyre or concerning the lamentation of Tyre in one discourse, it would be lengthy and the meaning would be obscure for the reader; since it is not possible to retain everything in the mind at once, especially regarding the discrepancies between the Hebrew and the Septuagint edition in this place, that is, what they have added or subtracted. Therefore, we will be content with our own interpretation, and wherever there is disagreement, we will unite from the side, leaving the perfect knowledge of all things to God: and we will briefly explain what seems to us in each case. The one who mourns is still a concern to the one he mourns for. Therefore, Samuel wept and mourned for Saul (2 Samuel 15). And the apostle Paul lamented and mourned for those who committed fornication and did not repent (2 Corinthians 12). And Jeremiah writes the Lamentations concerning the destruction of Jerusalem with four alphabets. Therefore, Tyre, or Tyre in entrance-ways, dwells according to the letter: either because it was once an island, or because it receives ships coming from the deep in its safest harbor, and it is a trading place for many nations, or from many islands. Indeed, this continues until today, so that the commerce of nearly all nations is carried out there. But following the interpretation that has been started, let us apply whatever is said about Tyre to the 'constriction,' that is, the narrowness of this world, which is situated in evil and is constricted and beaten by various disturbances as if by waves. This kind of merchants is also described in mystic language in the Psalm: Those who go down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters, they have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Ps. 107:23-24). — Commentary on Ezekiel