יחזקאל, פרק כ״ו, פסוק כ״א

The destruction of the great city of Tyre was destined to be so absolute that it would leave behind no physical trace. This total devastation came at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar after a grueling siege that lasted more than ten years. The prolonged conflict drained the city of its vast wealth, leaving the victorious conqueror frustrated and empty-handed. In his anger, he exacted an unusually cruel revenge, wiping the city off the map and leaving the entire region struggling to recover for many years.

God's judgment upon the city took on a terrifying finality, which is understood in several ways. The primary approach among commentators suggests a fate of pure terror, where God brings overwhelming fear, nightmares, and complete ruin upon the area. Others view the aftermath as a scene of profound desolation, describing a landscape so empty that it becomes a haunting wasteland inhabited only by dancing demons [רש״י, מלבי״ם]. A third perspective understands the city's fate as a literal return to nothingness, a state of complete non-existence as though it had never been built at all [רש״י, רד״ק].

Because of this absolute vanishing, the city will reach a point of complete cessation. Even if future generations were to actively search for the ancient metropolis, seeking its remains, they would find nothing. It is destined never to return to its former state. Taking this further, even if a new city were to be established in the same general area, the original Tyre would remain utterly lost [מלבי״ם]. History confirms this fate, as the later settlement bearing the name Tyre was built on an entirely different site, leaving the exact location and memory of the ancient city erased forever.