"For thus said the Lord God of Israel unto me,—Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it: and they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. To wit,—Jerusalem and the Cities of Judæa and the Kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse: as it is at this day. And all the Kings of Tyrus, and all the Kings of Sidon,—and the Kings of the Isles which are BEYOND the Sea." [xxv.]
Now "the Sea" mentioned, means (as it does throughout the Bible) the Mediterranean, and especially when Tyrus is written of,—several proofs of this are found in the Book of Ezekiel.
"It (Tyrus) shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the Sea."
"Then all the princes of the Sea shall come down from their thrones," &c.
"How art thou destroyed, that was inhabited of sea-faring men,—the renowned City,—which was strong in the Sea," &c.
"Now shall the Isles tremble in the day of thy fall: yea, the Isles that are in [not "beyond">[ the Sea, shall be troubled at thy departure."
When Pharaoh's fatal Sea is spoken of, it is called by its name in full,—i. e. The Red Sea:—the Asphaltine Sea covering the crime-smitten Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, is called the Dead Sea,—and so of others,—but "the Sea" defines it to be the Mediterranean.
The Islands referred to by Jeremiah are stated to be "beyond the Sea"—i. e. Isles beyond the mouth of the Mediterranean, reached by passing through the Straits of Gibraltar; and the language, therefore, alludes distinctly to the Fortunate Isles discovered by the Tyrians during the voyage. "The Kings of Tyrus" were, also, by right of discovery the actual "Kings of the Isles which are beyond the Sea." That these are the Islands referred to, may be gathered from the fact, that the last quotation from Ezekiel proves that the Isles of the Mediterranean are spoken of as being "in the Sea," in direct contradistinction to those "beyond the Sea." The same defined locality is found in Isaiah.