Ezekiel 28:18

18 In the multitude of thy wickednesses, and in the wickedness of thy merchandise, thou defouledest thine hallowing; therefore I shall bring forth fire of the midst of thee, that shall eat thee; and I shall give thee into ashes on [the] earth, in the sight of all men seeing thee. (In the multitude of thy wickednesses, and in the wickedness of thy merchandise, thou defiledest thy sanctuaries; and so I shall bring forth a fire out of the midst of thee, that shall eat thee; and I shall make thee into ashes upon the ground, in the sight of all who see thee.)

Ezekiel 28:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 28:18

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine
iniquities
Or, "thy palaces", as Kimchi; the palace of the king, and the palaces of the nobles, where much iniquity was committed, and which was the cause of their being defiled or destroyed by the Chaldeans; or it may design their sacred places, their temples, where their gods were worshipped, and idolatry committed. This may be applied to the places of religious worship among the Papists, their churches; which, instead of being adorned, are defiled with their images and image worship, and other acts of superstition and will worship: by the iniquity of thy traffic;
as by bringing in ill gotten goods into the sacred places of Tyre, as they were accounted, so by selling pardons; praying souls out of purgatory for money; by simony, or buying and selling ecclesiastical benefices; and such like spiritual merchandise in Roman churches: therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall
devour thee;
sin, and the punishment of it, as Kimchi; which, for sin committed in the midst of them, should consume as fire; or some from among themselves, that should stir up and cause internal divisions, which should issue in their ruin; as the unclean spirit that shall go out of the mouth of the beast, dragon, and false prophet, to gather the antichristian kings to battle, will end in their ruin, ( Revelation 16:14 Revelation 16:16 ) . The Targum is,

``I will bring people who are strong as fire, because of the sins of thy pride they shall destroy thee.''

Alexander, when he took Tyre, ordered all the inhabitants to be slain, excepting those that fled to the temples, and the houses to be set on fire ^F21; which literally fulfilled this prophecy; and which may also have respect to the destruction of Rome by fire, because of the sins committed in it, ( Revelation 18:8 ) : and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them
that behold thee;
the kings and merchants of the earth, who shall stand and look on the city as it is burning, and when reduced to ashes; which denotes the utter destruction of it, ( Revelation 18:9-11 Revelation 18:18 ) . The Targum is,

``I will give thee as ashes on the earth'

and shall be no more accounted of.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Curtius, Hist. l. 4. c. 4. p. 75.

Ezekiel 28:18 In-Context

16 In the multitude of thy merchandise, thine inner things were filled of wickedness, and thou didest sin; and I casted thee out of the hill of God, and, thou cherub covering (a)far, I lost thee from the midst of stones set afire. (In the multitude of thy merchandise, thy inner things were filled with wickedness, and thou didest sin; and I threw thee far away from the hill of God, and the cherub that protected thee drove thee away from the midst of the stones set afire.)

17 And thine heart was raised [up] in thy fairness, thou lostest thy wisdom in thy fairness. I casted thee down into (the) earth, I gave thee before the face of kings, that they should see thee. (And thy heart was raised up because of thy beauty, thou lostest thy wisdom because of thy beauty. I threw thee down to the ground, I put thee before the face of kings, so that they would see thee.)

18 In the multitude of thy wickednesses, and in the wickedness of thy merchandise, thou defouledest thine hallowing; therefore I shall bring forth fire of the midst of thee, that shall eat thee; and I shall give thee into ashes on [the] earth, in the sight of all men seeing thee. (In the multitude of thy wickednesses, and in the wickedness of thy merchandise, thou defiledest thy sanctuaries; and so I shall bring forth a fire out of the midst of thee, that shall eat thee; and I shall make thee into ashes upon the ground, in the sight of all who see thee.)

19 All men that shall see thee among heathen men, shall be astonied on thee; thou art made nought, and thou shalt not be without end. (All the people who shall see thee among the heathen, shall be astonished at thee; thou art made into nothing, and thou shalt not be forever.)

20 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,