Arvad (modern Arwad/Ruad) was an island city off the coast of what is now northern Syria, one of the great Phoenician commercial ports of antiquity. Its sailors and warriors are mentioned in Ezekiel's lament over Tyre as skilled seafarers who served in Tyre's merchant navy.
Ezekiel's lament over Tyre (chapters 27-28) provides remarkable detail about the ancient maritime commercial world. Arvad's inclusion shows how God's prophetic word engaged the full scope of international commerce and power. The lament reveals that earthly commercial glory — however magnificent — is subject to divine judgment, and that nations which derive their identity from wealth rather than righteousness are ultimately fragile.