16 By the abundance of thy merchandise They have filled thy midst with violence, And thou dost sin, And I thrust thee from the mount of God, And I destroy thee, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.
For violence `to' Lebanon doth cover thee, And spoil of beasts doth affright them, Because of man's blood, and of violence `to' the land, `To' the city, and `to' all dwelling in it.
Because thou hast spoiled many nations, Spoil thee do all the remnant of the peoples, Because of man's blood, and of violence `to' the land, `To' the city, and `to' all dwelling in it.
And He saith unto me, `Hast thou seen, son of man? hath it been a light thing to the house of Judah to do the abomination that they have done here, that they have filled the land with violence, and turn back to provoke Me to anger? and lo, they are putting forth the branch unto their nose!
yea, he casteth out the man, and causeth to dwell at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flame of the sword which is turning itself round to guard the way of the tree of life.
Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue `is' deceitful in their mouth.
For if God messengers who sinned did not spare, but with chains of thick gloom, having cast `them' down to Tartarus, did deliver `them' to judgment, having been reserved, and the old world did not spare, but the eighth person, Noah, of righteousness a preacher, did keep, a flood on the world of the impious having brought, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah having turned to ashes, with an overthrow did condemn, an example to those about to be impious having set `them';
and those wishing to be rich, do fall into temptation and a snare, and many desires, foolish and hurtful, that sink men into ruin and destruction, for a root of all the evils is the love of money, which certain longing for did go astray from the faith, and themselves did pierce through with many sorrows;
And having entered into the temple, he began to cast forth those selling in it, and those buying, saying to them, `It hath been written, My house is a house of prayer -- but ye made it a den of robbers.'
And I have laid a charge on every one Who is leaping over the threshold in that day, Who are filling the house of their masters `With' violence and deceit.
Rise and go, for this `is' not the rest, Because of uncleanness it doth corrupt, And corruption is powerful.
And they have desired fields, And they have taken violently, And houses, and they have taken away, And have oppressed a man and his house, Even a man and his inheritance.
Canaan! in his hand `are' balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.
Thou `art' an anointed cherub who is covering, And I have set thee in the holy mount, God thou hast been, In the midst of stones of fire thou hast walked up and down.
Tarshish `is' thy merchant, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For silver, iron, tin, and lead, They have given out thy remnants. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech -- they `are' thy merchants, For persons of men, and vessels of brass, They have given out thy merchandise. They of the house of Togarmah, `For' horses, and riding steeds, and mules, They have given out thy remnants. Sons of Dedan `are' thy merchants, Many isles `are' the mart of thy hand, Horns of ivory and ebony they sent back thy reward. Aram `is' thy merchant, Because of the abundance of thy works, For emerald, purple, and embroidery, And fine linen, and coral, and agate, They have given out thy remnants. Judah and the land of Israel -- they `are' thy merchants, For wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, And honey, and oil, and balm, They have given out thy merchandise. Damascus `is' thy merchant, For the abundance of thy works, Because of the abundance of all wealth, For wine of Helbon, and white wool. Vedan and Javan go about with thy remnants, They have given shining iron, cassia, and cane, In thy merchandise it hath been. Dedan `is' thy merchant, For clothes of freedom for riding. Arabia, and all princes of Kedar, They `are' the traders of thy hand, For lambs, and rams, and he-goats, In these thy merchants. Merchants of Sheba and Raamah -- they `are' thy merchants, For the chief of all spices, And for every precious stone, and gold, They have given out thy remnants. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, merchants of Sheba, Asshur -- Chilmad -- `are' thy merchants, They `are' thy merchants for perfect things, For wrappings of blue, and embroidery, And for treasuries of rich apparel, With cords bound and girded, for thy merchandise, Ships of Tarshish `are' thy double walls of thy merchandise, And thou art filled and honoured greatly, In the heart of the seas. Into great waters have they brought thee, Those rowing thee, The east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas. Thy wealth and thy remnants, Thy merchandise, thy mariners, And thy pilots, strengtheners of thy breach, And the traders of thy merchandise, And all thy men of war, who `are' in thee, And in all thine assembly that `is' in thy midst, Fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall, At the voice of the cry of thy pilots shake do the suburbs. And come down from their ships have all handling an oar, Mariners, all the pilots of the sea, on the land they stand, And have sounded for thee with their voice, And cry bitterly, and cause dust to go up on their heads, In ashes they do roll themselves. And they have made for thee baldness, And they have girded on sackcloth, And they have wept for thee, In bitterness of soul -- a bitter mourning. And lifted up for thee have their sons a lamentation, And they have lamented over thee, who `is' as Tyre? As the cut-off one in the midst of the sea? With the outgoing of thy remnants from the seas, Thou hast filled many peoples, With the abundance of thy riches, and thy merchandise, Thou hast made rich things of earth. The time of `thy' being broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, Thy merchandise and all thy assembly in thy midst have fallen. All inhabitants of the isles have been astonished at thee, And their kings have been sore afraid, They have been troubled in countenance. Merchants among the peoples have shrieked for thee, Wastes thou hast been, and thou art not -- to the age!'
And it hath come to pass, At the end of seventy years Jehovah inspecteth Tyre, And she hath repented of her gift, That she committed fornication With all kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!
Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled it, To pollute the excellency of all beauty, To make light all the honoured of earth.
`Ye are not defiled with all these, for with all these have the nations been defiled which I am sending away from before you; and the land is defiled, and I charge its iniquity upon it, and the land vomiteth out its inhabitants: and ye -- ye have kept My statutes and My judgments, and do not `any' of all these abominations, the native and the sojourner who is sojourning in your midst, (for all these abominations have the men of the land done who `are' before you, and the land is defiled), and the land doth not vomit you out in your defiling it, as it hath vomited out the nation which `is' before you;
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).