To the north of Palestine, along the narrow coastal strip between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lebanon Range, was the land known in Bible times as Phoenicia. Today the land falls largely within the country known as Lebanon, though the Bible most commonly refers to it by the names of its chief towns, Tyre and Sidon (Ezra 3:7). Other important towns were Zarephath and Byblos (1 Kings 17:9). The wealth of the Phoenicians came partly from their fleets of merchant ships and partly from the large forests of cedar trees in the Lebanon Range (see LEBANON).
Commercial power
Tyre and Sidon appear to have been founded in the period 3000-2500 BC (Gen 10:19). When Israel conquered Canaan about 1240 BC, Tyre and Sidon withstood the invasion and remained independent of Israel throughout most of their history. They were Israel’s closest northern neighbours (Tyre was almost on the border; Josh 19:29) and, apart from the occasional conflict, lived alongside Israel fairly peaceably (Judg 18:7; cf. 10:12). One of the greatest Phoenician kings, Hiram (who reigned from 979 to 945 BC), had very close trade relations with the Israelite kings, David and Solomon (2 Sam 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1,12). He supplied timber, stone and craftsmen for Solomon’s extensive building programs (1 Kings 5:8-12; 7:13-14; 9:11) and joined with Solomon in developing a profitable trade transport. Goods from Mediterranean countries were received at Tyre, taken overland to Israel’s Red Sea port of Ezion-geber, then shipped east in the kings’ jointly owned fleet.
Goods that the ships brought back from the east brought further profits to the two kings (1 Kings 9:26-28; 10:11,22; cf. 22:48). Phoenicia’s ships were beautifully made (Ezek 27:3-7) and were sailed by skilful seamen (1 Kings 9:27; Ezek 27:8-9). They carried a huge variety of goods (Ezek 27:12-25), which so enriched Phoenicia that other nations often tried to break through its defences and capture its wealth (Ezek 26:3-4,7-14; 27:10-11). Religious influence In the century after Hiram, another Phoenician king, Ethbaal, became involved in Israel’s affairs when he gave his daughter Jezebel to be the wife of the Israelite king Ahab (about 874 BC). Ethbaal was also high priest of the Baal religion in Phoenicia, and Jezebel soon set about making Phoenician Baalism the official religion of Israel (1 Kings 16:31-33). This Phoenician Baalism, centred as it was on the Baal god Melqart, was far more dangerous to Israel than the local Baalism practised by the country people in Canaan (see BAAL). The ministry of Elijah and Elisha was specifically concerned with opposing the Phoenician Baalism, by preserving the faithful minority in Israel and initiating judgment on the unfaithful majority (1 Kings 19:13-18; see ELIJAH; ELISHA). Phoenician Baalism was later wiped out from Israel by the ruthless Jehu (2 Kings 9:11-10:36). However, through the marriage of Jezebel’s daughter to the king of Judah, Phoenician Baalism had spread to Judah (2 Kings 8:16-18). Again it was dramatically removed, though with less bloodshed (2 Kings 11:1-21).
Judgment and blessing
With the wealth it had obtained through clever trading, Phoenicia saw itself as all-powerful, a god among the nations. Because of its arrogance, God assured it of a fitting punishment (Isa 23:1-18; Ezek 28:1-9,16-18,21-23; Zech 9:2-4). Phoenicia’s chief oppression of Israel was not through military might but through commercial power. It heartlessly seized Jerusalem’s wealth and even traded Israelite war prisoners solely for monetary profit (Joel 3:4-6; Amos 1:9). In fulfilment of the judgments God announced on Phoenicia, the nation suffered repeatedly over the following centuries. In 587 BC the Babylonians besieged the main cities (Jer 27:3-6; 47:4). They captured Sidon that year, but found Tyre more difficult to capture.
This was mainly because the city was in two parts, one on the mainland coast, the other on an island a short distance from the shore. The Babylonians finally took the city in 574 BC, but they received very little reward, for the people of Tyre had apparently managed to ship out much of their wealth during the years of siege (Ezek 29:18). After the fall of Babylon to Persia (539 BC), the Phoenician cities recovered and enjoyed a lengthy period of prosperity. Eventually they fell to Alexander the Great, Sidon in 333 BC, Tyre the year after. In taking Tyre, Alexander first destroyed the mainland city, then emptied the rubble into the sea to form a road by which he attacked the island city. The inhabitants who previously thought they were safe were then slaughtered in a terrible bloodbath (cf. Ezek 26:3-6,12-14). Once more the cities of Phoenicia recovered. In spite of further conflicts, they were well populated in New Testament times, though under the overlordship of Rome (Luke 6:17; Acts 12:20). Jesus visited the region on at least one occasion (Mark 7:24,26), and people from the region visited Galilee to hear Jesus teach (Mark 3:8). In the early days of the church, when fierce persecution drove the Christians from Jerusalem, many of them fled to the cities of Phoenicia. There they preached the gospel and established churches (Acts 11:19). Paul enjoyed a close fellowship with the Phoenician churches and visited them whenever possible (Acts 15:3; 21:2-6; 27:3).