(23) Haran, and Canneh, and Eden.--The description now turns from Arabia to the Tyrian trade with Mesopotamia. Haran, important in the story of Abraham (Genesis 11:31-32; Genesis 12:4), the Charrae of the Romans, was in north-western Mesopotamia, at the junction of two great caravan routes, the one along the Tigris, the other along the Euphrates. Canneh, a contraction for the Calneh of Genesis 10:10, was the most important commercial city on the former, and was later known as Ctesiphon. Eden was an unknown town on the Euphrates (2Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12), and is to be distinguished from the Syrian Eden.

Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.--Sheba is still the same Sheba before mentioned; for Pliny (Hist. Nat., xii. 40) says that the Sab?ans brought their goods from the spice country to Carrhae, where they held markets, and went thence to Syria and Ph?nicia. They were, therefore, traders between Mesopotamia and Ph?nicia. Asshur is here not the country of Assyria, but the commercial city Sura (modern Essurieh), on the banks of the Euphrates, above Thapsacus. Chilmad is supposed to be the Charmande of Xenophon (Anab., i. 5, 10), "a great city beyond the Euphrates, in the neighbourhood of the desert." Others identify it with Kalwada, near Bagdad. It is mentioned only here.

Verse 23. - Haran and Canaeh, etc. From Arabia we pass to Mesopotamia. Haran (Genesis 11:31) stands for the Carrhae of the Romans, situated at the point where the old military and commercial roads bifurcated Cowards Babylon and the Delta of the Persian Gulf in the one direction, and Canaan in the other. It appears in Genesis 24:10 and Genesis 29:4 as the city of Nahor, in Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim, equivalent to "Syria of the two rivers"), or, more definitely, in Parian-Atom, which lies below Mount Masius, between the Khabour and the Euphrates. It is famous in Roman history for the defeat of Crassus by the Parthians. Caaneh. The eastern of the two roads just mentioned ran on to Calneh (of which Cauneh is a variant), named in Genesis 10:10 as one of the cities built by Nimrod. It is probably represented by the modern Niffer, about sixty miles southeast of Babylon. It is named in Isaiah 10:9 in connection with Carehemish, in Amos 6:2 with Hamath the great, as conquered by the Assyrians. It has been conjecturally identified by the Targum and other ancient writers with Ctesiphon, but (?). Eden; spelt differently in the Hebrew from the Eden of Genesis 2:8. It is probably identical with the Eden near Thelassar (Td. Assar) of Isaiah 37:12 and 2 Kings 19:12, where, as here, it is connected with Haran as among the Assyrian conquests. Its site has not been determined, and it has been placed by some geographers in the hill-country above the Upper Mesopetamian plains; by others near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. The position of the Eden of Amos 1:5, near Damascus, points to a Syrian town of the same name. The merchants of Sheba. The recurrence of the name after the full mention of the people in Ver. 22 arises probably from the fact that they were the carriers in the commerce between the Mesopotamian cities just named and Tyre. Asshur. The name may stand (Smend), as it commonly does, for Assyria as a country; but its juxtaposition with the names of cities has led some geographers (Movers, p. 252, in Keil) to identify with a city Sum (Essurieh) on the west bank of the Euphrates, above Thapsacus (the Tiphsah of 1 Kings 4:24), and on the caravan-route which runs from Palmyra (the Tadmor of 2 Chronicles 8:4) to Haran. Chilmad. The name is not found elsewhere. The LXX. gives Charman, a town near the Euphrates, mentioned in Xenophon, 'Anab.,' 1:5. 10, as Charmaude. It can scarcely have been a place of much general note, but may have had some special reputation which made it prominent in Tyrian commerce.

27:1-25 Those who live at ease are to be lamented, if they are not prepared for trouble. Let none reckon themselves beautified, any further than they are sanctified. The account of the trade of Tyre intimates, that God's eye is upon men when employed in worldly business. Not only when at church, praying and hearing, but when in markets and fairs, buying and selling. In all our dealings we should keep a conscience void of offence. God, as the common Father of mankind, makes one country abound in one commodity, and another in another, serviceable to the necessity or to the comfort and ornament of human life. See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, when followed in the fear of God. Besides necessaries, an abundance of things are made valuable only by custom; yet God allows us to use them. But when riches increase, men are apt to set their hearts upon them, and forget the Lord, who gives power to get wealth.Haran, and Canneh, and Eden,.... Haran was a city of Mesopotamia, the same with Haran, where Abraham dwelt awhile, Acts 7:2, the Charrae of the Parthians, famous for the defeat of Crassus. Canneh is thought to be the same with Calneh, Genesis 10:10, afterwards called Ctesiphon; and here, by the Targum, Netzibin, a place not far from Tigris; and Eden also was between Tigris and Euphrates. All three places seem to be in Mesopotamia, and not far from each other; the latter is thought by some to be the place where the garden of Eden was.

The merchants of Sheba; this was another Sheba, distinct from that in Ezekiel 27:22, this Sheba was the son of Jokshan, a son of Abraham by Keturah, Genesis 25:3, these were the Sabaeans, who were not far from the former, and dwelt near the Persian sea.

Ashur and Chilmad were thy merchants; or dealt in "thy merchandise"; took goods of them. Ashur designs the Assyrians, who had their name from Ashur, the builder of Nineveh, Genesis 10:11 and Chilmad is by the Targum rendered Media; and by Grotius thought to be the Gaala of Media in Ptolemy (b); and so Hillerus (c) takes it to be a city of Media.

(b) Geograph. l. 6. c. 2.((c) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 108.