Ezekiel 28

Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 28:6 . The apodosis begins at Ezekiel 28:7 . "The prince of Tyrus" at the time was Ithobal, or Ithbaal II; the name implying his close connection with Baal, the Phoenician 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 ( Isaiah 14:13 Isaiah 14:14 ), yet has an ulterior and fuller accomplishment in Satan and his embodiment in Antichrist ( Daniel 7:25 , Daniel 11:36 Daniel 11:37 , 2 Thessalonians 2:4 , Revelation 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 ( Zechariah 9:2 ).
no secret--namely, forgetting riches ( Ezekiel 28:4 ).
that they can hide--that is, that can be hidden.

5. ( Psalms 62:10 ).

6. Because, &c.--resumptive of Ezekiel 28:2 .

7. therefore--apodosis.
strangers . . . terrible of the nations--the Chaldean foreigners noted for their ferocity ( Ezekiel 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 ( Ezekiel 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 ( Jeremiah 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 Ezekiel 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 ( 1 Samuel 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 ( Daniel 9:24 ). "The sum" implies the full measure of beauty, from a Hebrew root, "to measure." The normal man--one formed after accurate rule.