2 Son H1121 of man, H120 say H559 unto the prince H5057 of Tyrus, H6865 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Because thine heart H3820 is lifted up, H1361 and thou hast said, H559 I am a God, H410 I sit H3427 in the seat H4186 of God, H430 in the midst H3820 of the seas; H3220 yet thou art a man, H120 and not God, H410 though thou set H5414 thine heart H3820 as the heart H3820 of God: H430
Wilt thou yet H559 say H559 before H6440 him that slayeth H2026 thee, I am God? H430 but thou shalt be a man, H120 and no God, H410 in the hand H3027 of him that slayeth H2490 thee.
Who G3588 opposeth G480 and G2532 exalteth G5229 himself above G1909 all G3956 that is called G3004 God, G2316 or G2228 that is worshipped; G4574 so G5620 that he G846 as G5613 God G2316 sitteth G2523 in G1519 the temple G3485 of God, G2316 shewing G584 himself G1438 that G3754 he is G2076 God. G2316
Now the Egyptians H4714 are men, H120 and not God; H410 and their horses H5483 flesh, H1320 and not spirit. H7307 When the LORD H3068 shall stretch out H5186 his hand, H3027 both he that helpeth H5826 shall fall, H3782 and he that is holpen H5826 shall fall down, H5307 and they all shall fail H3615 together. H3162
For thou hast said H559 in thine heart, H3824 I will ascend H5927 into heaven, H8064 I will exalt H7311 my throne H3678 above H4605 the stars H3556 of God: H410 I will sit H3427 also upon the mount H2022 of the congregation, H4150 in the sides H3411 of the north: H6828 I will ascend H5927 above the heights H1116 of the clouds; H5645 I will be like H1819 the most High. H5945
Put H7896 them in fear, H4172 H4172 O LORD: H3068 that the nations H1471 may know H3045 themselves to be but men. H582 Selah. H5542
Likewise, G3668 ye younger, G3501 submit yourselves G5293 unto the elder. G4245 Yea, G1161 all G3956 of you be subject G5293 one to another, G240 and be clothed G1463 with humility: G5012 for G3754 God G2316 resisteth G498 the proud, G5244 and G1161 giveth G1325 grace G5485 to the humble. G5011
Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Because thou hast lifted up H1361 thyself in height, H6967 and he hath shot up H5414 his top H6788 among the thick boughs, H5688 and his heart H3824 is lifted up H7311 in his height; H1363
So G2532 he carried G667 me G3165 away G667 in G1722 the spirit G4151 into G1519 the wilderness: G2048 and G2532 I saw G1492 a woman G1135 sit G2521 upon G1909 a scarlet coloured G2847 beast, G2342 full of G1073 names G3686 of blasphemy, G988 having G2192 seven G2033 heads G2776 and G2532 ten G1176 horns. G2768
And G1161 the people G1218 gave a shout, G2019 saying, It is the voice G5456 of a god, G2316 and G2532 not G3756 of a man. G444 And G1161 immediately G3916 the angel G32 of the Lord G2962 smote G3960 him, G846 because G473 G3739 he gave G1325 not G3756 God G2316 the glory: G1391 and G2532 he was G1096 eaten of worms, G4662 and gave up the ghost. G1634
Behold, his soul H5315 which is lifted up H6075 is not upright H3474 in him: but the just H6662 shall live H2421 by his faith. H530
And thou H607 his son, H1247 O Belshazzar, H1113 hast not H3809 humbled H8214 thine heart, H3825 though H6903 thou knewest H3046 all H3606 this; H1836 But hast lifted up H7313 thyself against H5922 the Lord H4756 of heaven; H8065 and they have brought H858 the vessels H3984 of his house H1005 before H6925 thee, and thou, H607 and thy lords, H7261 thy wives, H7695 and thy concubines, H3904 have drunk H8355 wine H2562 in them; and thou hast praised H7624 the gods H426 of silver, H3702 and gold, H1722 of brass, H5174 iron, H6523 wood, H636 and stone, H69 which see H2370 not, H3809 nor H3809 hear, H8086 nor H3809 know: H3046 and the God H426 in whose hand H3028 thy breath H5396 is, and whose are all H3606 thy ways, H735 hast thou not H3809 glorified: H1922
The king H4430 spake, H6032 and said, H560 Is not H3809 this H1932 H1668 great H7229 Babylon, H895 that I H576 have built H1124 for the house H1005 of the kingdom H4437 by the might H8632 of my power, H2632 and for the honour H3367 of my majesty? H1923 While H5751 the word H4406 was in the king's H4430 mouth, H6433 there fell H5308 a voice H7032 from H4481 heaven, H8065 saying, O king H4430 Nebuchadnezzar, H5020 to thee it is spoken; H560 The kingdom H4437 is departed H5709 from H4481 thee.
For God H430 doth know H3045 that in the day H3117 ye eat H398 thereof, then your eyes H5869 shall be opened, H6491 and ye shall be as gods, H430 knowing H3045 good H2896 and evil. H7451
Son H1121 of man, H120 take up H5375 a lamentation H7015 upon the king H4428 of Tyrus, H6865 and say H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Thou sealest up H2856 the sum, H8508 full H4392 of wisdom, H2451 and perfect H3632 in beauty. H3308 Thou hast been in Eden H5731 the garden H1588 of God; H430 every precious H3368 stone H68 was thy covering, H4540 the sardius, H124 topaz, H6357 and the diamond, H3095 the beryl, H8658 the onyx, H7718 and the jasper, H3471 the sapphire, H5601 the emerald, H5306 and the carbuncle, H1304 and gold: H2091 the workmanship H4399 of thy tabrets H8596 and of thy pipes H5345 was prepared H3559 in thee in the day H3117 that thou wast created. H1254 Thou art the anointed H4473 cherub H3742 that covereth; H5526 and I have set H5414 thee so: thou wast upon the holy H6944 mountain H2022 of God; H430 thou hast walked up and down H1980 in the midst H8432 of the stones H68 of fire. H784
By thy great H7230 wisdom H2451 and by thy traffick H7404 hast thou increased H7235 thy riches, H2428 and thine heart H3824 is lifted up H1361 because of thy riches: H2428 Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Because thou hast set H5414 thine heart H3820 as the heart H3824 of God; H430
Thy rowers H7751 have brought H935 thee into great H7227 waters: H4325 the east H6921 wind H7307 hath broken H7665 thee in the midst H3820 of the seas. H3220 Thy riches, H1952 and thy fairs, H5801 thy merchandise, H4627 thy mariners, H4419 and thy pilots, H2259 thy calkers, H919 H2388 and the occupiers H6148 of thy merchandise, H4627 and all thy men H582 of war, H4421 that are in thee, and in all thy company H6951 which is in the midst H8432 of thee, shall fall H5307 into the midst H3820 of the seas H3220 in the day H3117 of thy ruin. H4658
And say H559 unto Tyrus, H6865 O thou that art situate H3427 at the entry H3997 of the sea, H3220 which art a merchant H7402 of the people H5971 for many H7227 isles, H339 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 O Tyrus, H6865 thou hast said, H559 I am of perfect H3632 beauty. H3308 Thy borders H1366 are in the midst H3820 of the seas, H3220 thy builders H1129 have perfected H3634 thy beauty. H3308
Pride H1347 goeth before H6440 destruction, H7667 and an haughty H1363 spirit H7307 before H6440 a fall. H3783
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 28
Commentary on Ezekiel 28 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 28
Eze 28:1-26. Prophetical Dirge on the King of Tyre, as the Culmination and Embodiment of the Spirit of Carnal Pride and Self-sufficiency of the Whole State. The Fall of Zidon, the Mother City. The Restoration of Israel in Contrast with Tyre and Zidon.
2. Because, &c.—repeated resumptively in Eze 28:6. The apodosis begins at Eze 28:7. "The prince of Tyrus" at the time was Ithobal, or Ithbaal II; the name implying his close connection with Baal, the Phœnician supreme god, whose representative he was.
I am a god, I sit in … seat of God … the seas—As God sits enthroned in His heavenly citadel exempt from all injury, so I sit secure in my impregnable stronghold amidst the stormiest elements, able to control them at will, and make them subserve my interests. The language, though primarily here applied to the king of Tyre, as similar language is to the king of Babylon (Isa 14:13, 14), yet has an ulterior and fuller accomplishment in Satan and his embodiment in Antichrist (Da 7:25; 11:36, 37; 2Th 2:4; Re 13:6). This feeling of superhuman elevation in the king of Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on which Tyre stood was called "the holy island" [Sanconiathon], being sacred to Hercules, so much so that the colonies looked up to Tyre as the mother city of their religion, as well as of their political existence. The Hebrew for "God" is El, that is, "the Mighty One."
yet, &c.—keen irony.
set thine heart as … heart of God—Thou thinkest of thyself as if thou wert God.
3. Ezekiel ironically alludes to Ithbaal's overweening opinion of the wisdom of himself and the Tyrians, as though superior to that of Daniel, whose fame had reached even Tyre as eclipsing the Chaldean sages. "Thou art wiser," namely, in thine own opinion (Zec 9:2).
no secret—namely, forgetting riches (Eze 28:4).
that they can hide—that is, that can be hidden.
5. (Ps 62:10).
6. Because, &c.—resumptive of Eze 28:2.
7. therefore—apodosis.
strangers … terrible of the nations—the Chaldean foreigners noted for their ferocity (Eze 30:11; 31:12).
against the beauty of thy wisdom—that is, against thy beautiful possessions acquired by thy wisdom on which thou pridest thyself (Eze 28:3-5).
defile thy brightness—obscure the brightness of thy kingdom.
8. the pit—that is, the bottom of the sea; the image being that of one conquered in a sea-fight.
the deaths—plural, as various kinds of deaths are meant (Jer 16:4).
of them … slain—literally, "pierced through." Such deaths as those pierced with many wounds die.
9. yet say—that is, still say; referring to Eze 28:2.
but, &c.—But thy blasphemous boastings shall be falsified, and thou shalt be shown to be but man, and not God, in the hand (at the mercy) of Him.
10. deaths of … uncircumcised—that is, such a death as the uncircumcised or godless heathen deserve; and perhaps, also, such as the uncircumcised inflict, a great ignominy in the eyes of a Jew (1Sa 31:4); a fit retribution on him who had scoffed at the circumcised Jews.
12. sealest up the sum—literally, "Thou art the one sealing the sum of perfection." A thing is sealed when completed (Da 9:24). "The sum" implies the full measure of beauty, from a Hebrew root, "to measure." The normal man—one formed after accurate rule.
13. in Eden—The king of Tyre is represented in his former high state (contrasted with his subsequent downfall), under images drawn from the primeval man in Eden, the type of humanity in its most Godlike form.
garden of God—the model of ideal loveliness (Eze 31:8, 9; 36:35). In the person of the king of Tyre a new trial was made of humanity with the greatest earthly advantages. But as in the case of Adam, the good gifts of God were only turned into ministers to pride and self.
every precious stone—so in Eden (Ge 2:12), "gold, bdellium, and the onyx stone." So the king of Tyre was arrayed in jewel-bespangled robes after the fashion of Oriental monarchs. The nine precious stones here mentioned answer to nine of the twelve (representing the twelve tribes) in the high priest's breastplate (Ex 39:10-13; Re 21:14, 19-21). Of the four rows of three in each, the third is omitted in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the Septuagint. In this, too, there is an ulterior reference to Antichrist, who is blasphemously to arrogate the office of our divine High Priest (Zec 6:13).
tabrets—tambourines.
pipes—literally, "holes" in musical pipes or flutes.
created—that is, in the day of thine accession to the throne. Tambourines and all the marks of joy were ready prepared for thee ("in thee," that is, "with and for thee"). Thou hadst not, like others, to work thy way to the throne through arduous struggles. No sooner created than, like Adam, thou wast surrounded with the gratifications of Eden. Fairbairn, for "pipes," translates, "females" (having reference to Ge 1:27), that is, musician-women. Maurer explains the Hebrew not as to music, but as to the setting and mounting of the gems previously mentioned.
14. anointed cherub—Gesenius translates from an Aramaic root, "extended cherub." English Version, from a Hebrew root, is better. "The cherub consecrated to the Lord by the anointing oil" [Fairbairn].
covereth—The imagery employed by Ezekiel as a priest is from the Jewish temple, wherein the cherubim overshadowed the mercy seat, as the king of Tyre, a demi-god in his own esteem, extended his protection over the interests of Tyre. The cherub—an ideal compound of the highest kinds of animal existence and the type of redeemed man in his ultimate state of perfection—is made the image of the king of Tyre, as if the beau ideal of humanity. The pretensions of Antichrist are the ulterior reference, of whom the king of Tyre is a type. Compare "As God … in the temple of God" (2Th 2:4).
I have set thee—not thou set thyself (Pr 8:16; Ro 13:1).
upon the holy mountain of God—Zion, following up the image.
in … midst of … stones of fire—In ambitious imagination he stood in the place of God, "under whose feet was, as it were, a pavement of sapphire," while His glory was like "devouring fire" (Ex 24:10, 17).
15. perfect—prosperous [Grotius], and having no defect. So Hiram was a sample of the Tyrian monarch in his early days of wisdom and prosperity (1Ki 5:7, &c.).
till iniquity … in thee—Like the primeval man thou hast fallen by abusing God's gifts, and so hast provoked God's wrath.
16. filled the midst of thee—that is, they have filled the midst of the city; he as the head of the state being involved in the guilt of the state, which he did not check, but fostered.
cast thee as profane—no longer treated as sacred, but driven out of the place of sanctity (see Eze 28:14) which thou hast occupied (compare Ps 89:39).
17. brightness—thy splendor.
lay thee before kings—as an example of God's wrath against presumptuous pride.
18. thy sanctuaries—that is, the holy places, attributed to the king of Tyre in Eze 28:14, as his ideal position. As he "profaned" it, so God will "profane" him (Eze 28:16).
fire … devour—As he abused his supposed elevation amidst "the stones of fire" (Eze 28:16), so God will make His "fire" to "devour" him.
21. Zidon—famous for its fishery (from a root, Zud, "to fish"); and afterwards for its wide extended commerce; its artistic elegance was proverbial. Founded by Canaan's first-born (Ge 10:15). Tyre was an offshoot from it, so that it was involved in the same overthrow by the Chaldeans as Tyre. It is mentioned separately, because its idolatry (Ashtaroth, Tammuz, or Adonis) infected Israel more than that of Tyre did (Eze 8:14; Jud 10:6; 1Ki 11:33). The notorious Jezebel was a daughter of the Zidonian king.
22. shall be sanctified in her—when all nations shall see that I am the Holy Judge in the vengeance that I will inflict on her for sin.
24. no more … brier … unto … Israel—as the idolatrous nations left in Canaan (among which Zidon is expressly specified in the limits of Asher, Jud 1:31) had been (Nu 33:55; Jos 23:13). "A brier," first ensnaring the Israelites in sin, and then being made the instrument of punishing them.
pricking—literally, "causing bitterness." The same Hebrew is translated "fretting" (Le 13:51, 52). The wicked are often called "thorns" (2Sa 23:6).
25, 26. Fulfilled in part at the restoration from Babylon, when Judaism, so far from being merged in heathenism, made inroads by conversions on the idolatry of surrounding nations. The full accomplishment is yet future, when Israel, under Christ, shall be the center of Christendom; of which an earnest was given in the woman from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon who sought the Saviour (Mt 15:21, 24, 26-28; compare Isa 11:12).
dwell safely—(Jer 23:6).