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Prophecy

Sidon: plague and blood, without final destruction (Ezekiel 28:20-23)

Capital with bull protomes, in Persian style, from the temple of Eshmun near Sidon (National Museum of Beirut). It attests Persian-era Sidon, not its revolt.
Archaeological object Capital with bull protomes, in Persian style, from the temple of Eshmun near Sidon (National Museum of Beirut). It attests Persian-era Sidon, not its revolt. — David Holt (London), Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

● Written before, according to historians

Written c. 587–585 BC according to tradition; 587–560 BC according to historians. Event: 351–345 BC.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. The prophet Ezekiel, around 587–585 BC, announces that the Phoenician city of Sidon will suffer plague and that blood will flow in its streets, without announcing its disappearance.

What happened. Between 351 and 345 BC, Sidon revolts against the Persian king Artaxerxes III and is retaken. According to the Greek historian Diodorus, the inhabitants burn their ships, then shut themselves in their houses and set them on fire, and there is talk of more than forty thousand dead. The city is rebuilt and still exists: it is Saida, in Lebanon.

What is still debated. plague, blood and sword fit almost every siege of Antiquity, and no text links this massacre precisely to the announcement.

Why it is striking

The text does date from before this massacre, told by a Greek historian, and the city still exists. The connection remains a reading: plague and blood fit almost every ancient siege, and nothing points to this one rather than another.

Main objection (in French for now)

Peste, sang et épée dans une ville assiégée : la formule convient à presque tout siège antique. Sidon avait déjà été anéantie par les Assyriens en 678, avant Ézéchiel.

The text (World English Bible)

“Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it, and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon. I will be glorified among you. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have executed judgments in her, and am sanctified in her. For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets. The wounded will fall within her, with the sword on her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezek 28:21-23

Sources