Ezekiel 28

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 ( Ezekiel 31:8 Ezekiel 31:9 , 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 ( Genesis 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 ( Exodus 39:10-13 , Revelation 21:14 Revelation 21:19-21 ). 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 ( Zechariah 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 Genesis 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" ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ).
I have set thee--not thou set thyself ( Proverbs 8:16 , Romans 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" ( Exodus 24:10 Exodus 24:17 ).

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 ( 1 Kings 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 Ezekiel 28:14 ) which thou hast occupied (compare Psalms 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 Ezekiel 28:14 , as his ideal position. As he "profaned" it, so God will "profane" him ( Ezekiel 28:16 ).
fire . . . devour--As he abused his supposed elevation amidst "the stones of fire" ( Ezekiel 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 ( Genesis 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 ( Ezekiel 8:14 , Judges 10:6 , 1 Kings 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, Judges 1:31 ) had been ( Numbers 33:55 , Joshua 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" ( Leviticus 13:51 Leviticus 13:52 ). The wicked are often called "thorns" ( 2 Samuel 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 ( Matthew 15:21 Matthew 15:24 Matthew 15:26-28 ; compare Isaiah 11:12 ).
dwell safely--( Jeremiah 23:6 ).