Ezekiel 28:13

Ezekiel 28:13

Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God
Not only in Eden, but in the garden which was in Eden, and was of the Lord's immediate planting; and therefore called the garden of God, as well as because of its excellency, fragrancy, and delight; not that the king of Tyre was literally there, or ever dwelt in it; but his situation in Tyre was as safe, and as pleasant and delightful, as Adam's was in the garden of Eden, at least in his own imagination. So the Targum,

``thou delightest thyself with plenty of all good things and delectable ones, as if thou dwellest in the garden of God;''

in the mystical sense, this designs the church of God, which is an Eden, a garden, a paradise; see ( Song of Solomon 4:12 Song of Solomon 4:13 ) and where antichrist first appeared, and took his seat, and seated himself as if he was God, ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ) : every precious stone was thy covering;
not only the covering of his head, his crown, was decked with jewels and precious stones of all sorts; but his clothes, the covering of his body, were adorned with them. So the Targum,

``all precious stones were set in order upon thy garments.''

Kimchi renders it "thine hedge", or "fence" ^F15; and takes it to be an hyperbole, as if his house, or garden, or vineyard, were fenced with precious stones. This fitly describes the whore of Rome arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones, ( Revelation 17:4 ) . The pope's triple crown is stuck with them, and a cross of precious stones is upon his slipper, when he holds out his toe to be kissed: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the
jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold.
Writers differ very much about these stones; and it is difficult to say what answer to the Hebrew words here used. The stone "sardius", or the sardine stone, is of a blood colour, commonly called a cornelian, and is found in Sardis and Sardinia, from whence some say it has its name. The "topaz" is a hard transparent stone, said to be of a beautiful yellow or gold colour by those who confound it with the chrysolite; otherwise the true topaz is of a fine green colour, as Pliny ^F16 and Isidore ^F17; the best is what is found in Ethopia, ( Job 28:19 ) . The "diamond" is a precious stone, the first in rank, value, hardness and lustre; the most perfect colour is the white. The "beryl" is a stone of a pale green colour, thought to be the diamond of the ancients: the word is "tarshish", and thought by some the "chrysolite". The "onyx" resembles a man's nail, from whence it has its name: the word "shoham" here used is supposed to mean the "sardonyx", a compound of the "sardian" and "onyx" stones. The "jasper" is a stone of various colours and spots, variegated like a panther; hence the Targum here renders it "pantherin"; the most valuable is the green spotted with red or purple. The "sapphire" is a stone of an azure colour or sky blue, exceeding hard and transparent. The "emerald" is of an exceeding fine green colour, very bright, and clear, and delightful to the eye; but is rather intended by the next word, as the "carbuncle" by this, which is a stone of the ruby kind, and very rare; see ( Isaiah 54:12 ) . "Gold" is mentioned along with them, and last of all, as being less valuable; but chiefly because these stones were set in gold, as the Targum paraphrases it; these are nine of the stones which were in the breastplate of the Jewish high priest ^F18, whom the king of Tyre might have knowledge of and imitate, as it is certain the pope of Rome does in some things: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in
the day that thou wast created;
either born into the world; or made a crowned king; against which time, drums, and pipes, and such like instruments of music, were prepared in Tyre, and at them made use of by way of rejoicing: and as this was literally true of the king of Tyre at his coronation, so of the bishop of Rome at his creation and inauguration, which is attended with bells ringing, drums beating, trumpets sounding; and so in mystical Babylon is heard, though the time is coming when it will not be heard, the voice of harpers, musicians, pipers, and trumpeters, ( Revelation 18:22 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 14. 2.
F16 Nat. Hist. l. 38. c. 8.
F17 Origin. l. 16. c. 7.
F18 Vid. Braunium de Vestitu Sacerdot. Heb. l. 2. c. 12-19.