Ezekiel 28

1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a ·god, I sit [in] the seat of God, in the heart of the seas, (and thou art a man, and not God,) and thou settest thy heart as the heart of God:

3 behold, thou art wiser than Daniel! nothing secret is obscure for thee;

4 by thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures;

5 by thy great wisdom thou hast by thy traffic increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches.

6 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God,

7 therefore behold, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall tarnish thy brightness.

8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of those that are slain in the heart of the seas.

9 Wilt thou then say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and not God, in the hand of him that pierceth thee.

10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised, by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord Jehovah.

11 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, who sealest up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,

13 thou wast in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the chrysolite, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of thy tambours and of thy pipes was in thee: in the day that thou wast created were they prepared.

14 Thou wast the anointed covering cherub, and I had set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou didst walk up and down in the midst of stones of fire.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways, from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee.

16 By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore have I cast thee as profane from the mountain of God, and have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground, I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18 By the multitude of thine iniquities, by the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries: and I have brought forth a fire out of the midst of thee -- it hath consumed thee; and I have brought thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee.

19 All they that know thee among the peoples shall be amazed at thee: thou art become a terror, and thou shalt never be any more.

20 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

21 Son of man, set thy face towards Zidon, and prophesy against it,

22 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Zidon, and I will be glorified in the midst of thee; and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be hallowed in her.

23 And I will send into her the pestilence, and blood in her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, by the sword upon her on every side: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

24 And there shall be no more a wounding sting for the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn, among all that were round about them, that despised them: and they shall know that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

25 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be hallowed in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their land which I have given to my servant Jacob.

26 They shall dwell in it in safety, and shall build houses and plant vineyards; and they shall dwell in safety, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despised them round about them: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah their God.

Ezekiel 28 Commentary

Chapter 28

The sentence against the prince or king of Tyre. (1-19) The fall of Zidon. (20-23) The restoration of Israel. (24-26)

Verses 1-19 Ethbaal, or Ithobal, was the prince or king of Tyre; and being lifted up with excessive pride, he claimed Divine honours. Pride is peculiarly the sin of our fallen nature. Nor can any wisdom, except that which the Lord gives, lead to happiness in this world or in that which is to come. The haughty prince of Tyre thought he was able to protect his people by his own power, and considered himself as equal to the inhabitants of heaven. If it were possible to dwell in the garden of Eden, or even to enter heaven, no solid happiness could be enjoyed without a humble, holy, and spiritual mind. Especially all spiritual pride is of the devil. Those who indulge therein must expect to perish.

20-26. The Zidonians were borderers upon the land of Israel, and they might have learned to glorify the Lord; but, instead of that, they seduced Israel to the worship of their idols. War and pestilence are God's messengers; but he will be glorified in the restoring his people to their former safety and prosperity. God will cure them of their sins, and ease them of their troubles. This promise will at length fully come to pass in the heavenly Canaan: when all the saints shall be gathered together, every thing that offends shall be removed, all griefs and fears for ever banished. Happy, then, is the church of God, and every living member of it, though poor, afflicted, and despised; for the Lord will display his truth, power, and mercy, in the salvation and happiness of his redeemed people.

Footnotes

• [a]. See ch. 31.9.
• [b]. Or 'the service.'
• [c]. Or 'an.'
• [d]. i.e. 'protecting,' see Ex. 25.20.
• [e]. Or '... scattered, then shall I be hallowed in ... nations; and.'

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 28

This chapter contains a prophecy of the destruction of the prince of Tyre; a lamentation for the king of Tyre; a denunciation of judgments on Zidon, and a promise of peace and safety to Israel. The order given the prophet to prophesy of the ruin of the prince of Tyre, Eze 28:1,2, the cause of his ruin, his pride on account of his wisdom and riches, which rose to such a pitch, as to make himself God, Eze 28:2-6, the manner in which his destruction shall be accomplished, Eze 28:7-10, the lamentation for the king of Tyre begins Eze 28:11,12, setting forth his former grandeur and dignity, Eze 28:13-15, his fall, and the cause of it, injustice and violence in merchandise, pride because of beauty and wisdom, and profanation of sanctuaries, Eze 28:16-19, next follow the judgments on Zidon, Eze 28:20-23, and the chapter is concluded with a promise of the restoration of the Jews to their own land, and of great tranquillity and safety in it, Eze 28:24-26.