Ezekiel 27:5
They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
They have made all thy 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 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 {r} 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 thee all thy 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 thee; 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 {s} are said to be the first inventors of navigation.
{r} Mytwxl "tabulata duplicia", Munster; "duas tabulas", Vatablus.
{s} "Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyros." Catullus.