יחזקאל, פרק כ״ו, פסוק ד׳

The downfall of the prosperous island city of Tyre unfolds in calculated stages, ultimately reducing a thriving metropolis to a barren geological landmark. The campaign begins with a conventional human military assault that shatters its defensive walls and towers. However, the final blow is not delivered by human hands. God Himself intervenes to seal the city's fate, executing a destruction that strikes at the very foundation of the island [מלבי״ם].

This divine intervention involves entirely uprooting and sweeping away the dirt of the city. The primary approach among commentators explains this by looking at the unique topography of Tyre. The city was originally built upon a bare rock situated in the middle of the sea. To make the island habitable, the residents imported earth to cover the rocky surface. In the final stage of ruin, the sea waters will surge over the island, washing away all of this artificial soil and casting it back into the ocean, leaving nothing behind but the original, empty stone [רש״י, רד״ק, מלבי״ם].

Alternatively, the sweeping away of the dirt refers to the plaster and mortar that held the city's grand towers together. As God dismantles the structures, the city is reduced to a dry heap of collapsed building materials and scattered stones [מצודת דוד]. Regardless of whether it is the soil of the ground or the mortar of the towers that is washed away, the end result remains the same. The once-great city is transformed into a smooth, dry, and desolate rock. Stripped entirely of its earth, it becomes completely uninhabitable and forever unfit for human settlement [רד״ק, רש״י, מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].