Merchants
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Isa. 23:2)—persons engaged in trade. Caravan commerce is among the earliest forms recorded in Scripture: Joseph was sold to traders traveling with goods from Gilead to Egypt (Gen. 37:25-28). Phoenician cities, especially Tyre and Sidon, became major maritime and commercial centers, and Ezekiel 27 gives a wide-ranging catalogue of Tyre’s trade. James warns merchants against presuming on tomorrow: plans must be held under the confession, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (Jas. 4:13-16).