1God's judgment upon the prince of Tyrus for his impious pride. 11A lamentation of his great glory corrupted and fallen through sin. 20The judgment of Zidon. 24The restoration of Israel.
1THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2Son of man, say unto the 1prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast 2said, I am a 3God, I sit in the 4seat of God, in the 5midst of the seas; yet thou art a man,a and not God, though thou 6set thine heart as the heart of God:
1 Understand the king, as verse 12, and see 2 Sam. 6:21; 2 Kings 20:5.
2 Or, thou saidst or sayest, namely, within thyself, that is, thinkest, persuadest thyself.
3 Attributing to thyself the wisdom, power and majesty which belongs to the only true God.
4 As in such a kingdom of heaven where no enemy can annoy me, nor any glory is lacking unto me.
5 See Ezek. 27:4. Also verse 8.
a Isa. 31:3.
6 Thou comparest thyself in wisdom, etc., with God.
3Behold, thou art 7wiser than Daniel; 8there is no secret that they can 9hide from thee:
7 Understand: in thine own conceit, and so in the sequel; or it is spoken ironically. It seems that there was such a proverb used in Babel (where Ezekiel prophesied), taken from Daniel’s wisdom, which was famous there. See Dan. 1:17, etc.
8 That is, they have nothing, etc. Or, there is nothing, etc.
9 Or, obscure.
4With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast 10gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy 11treasures:
10 Hebr. made; also in the sequel.
11 Or, treasuries.
5By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7Behold, therefore I will bring 12strangers upon thee, the 13terribleb of the nations: and they shall 14draw their swords against the 15beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall 16defile thy brightness.
12 The Babylonians, Ezek. 26:7; 29:20.
13 Or, most terrible, most horrible, most cruel. Also Ezek. 30:11; 31:12; 32:12.
b Jer. 6:23.
14 Hebr. empty, because the sheath is emptied when the sword is drawn out. Also Ezek. 30:11.
15 That is, thy flourishing kingdom and state, the glory whereof thou ascribeth unto thy wisdom; or, against thee, who esteemeth thyself to be so beautiful and wise.
16 That is, deal with it as a profane and filthy thing, by killing thee and casting thee into the pit, as follows; also verse 16. See Ezek. 7 on verse 21.
8They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the 17deaths of them that are slain in the 18midst of the seas.
17 Hebr. in the plural number deaths, killings (as Isa. 53:9). The meaning is: They shall put thee to a violent death, even in thine own city, which is compassed about with waters, in which thou trustest.
18 As verse 2.
9Wilt thou 19yet say before 20him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
19 Hebr. saying say.
20 When thou shalt indeed find thine own impotence and weakness, being in the power of thine enemy.
10Thou shalt die the 21deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
21 Hebr. deaths (in the plural number, as verse 8) of the uncircumcised, that is, thou shalt die as wicked, profane men, and such as are hated and despised of God, who are none of His people. See Judges 15:18; 1 Sam. 17:26. Likewise Ezek. 31:18; 32:19, 21, 25, 27, etc. Some conjecture that this may refer to the ordinance of God’s people, who had a command to cut off from among them those who did not want to be circumcised, Gen. 17:14. Or death.
11¶Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say 22unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the 23sum, full of wisdom, and perfectc in beauty.
22 Or, concerning him.
23 That is, of what is counted or weighed, that is, (as some conceive) which has the supreme command over the entire, immense commerce of Tyrus. Or, (as others) that art the measure, pattern, image or picture of an absolute flourishing state. Or, without any defect, in which nothing is wanting, as in a sum that is well counted and sealed up.
c Ezek. 27:3.
13Thou 24hast been in Eden the garden of God; 25every precious stone was thy 26covering, the 27sardius, topaz, and the 28diamond, the beryl, the 29onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the 30emerald, and the carbuncle,d and gold: 31the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast 32created.
24 Didst dwell and keep court in an exceeding, pleasant place, as in a garden of pleasure or paradise. See Gen. 2:8; 13:10; Ezek. 31:8, 9; 36:35.
25 That is, all kinds.
26 That is, thy garments were so adorned with it, as if thou wert only clothed with precious stones.
27 Or, ruby. Hebr. all these stones are mentioned in the singular number. See further Exod. 28 on verse 17.
28 Or, carbuncles.
29 See Gen. 2 on verse 12.
30 Or, carbuncles.
d a deep red gem*
31 From thy very infancy hast thou lived in all kind of jollity and wantonness; all manner of pleasure and dainties has been tendered to thee, for which purpose served the voice of the tabret and pipe.
32 That is, born, and was brought forth by the power, goodness and wisdom of God into the world out of thy mother’s womb. Compare Gen. 1 on verse 1. Also verse 15; Ezek. 21:30.
1433Thou art the 34anointed 35cherub 36that covereth; and I have 37set thee so: thou wast 38upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of 39fire.
33 That is, thou wast to be compared for outward costliness and glory, with what was most precious and glorious upon My Mount Zion in the temple, namely, the golden cherubims and the priestly garments. This suits fitly with this entire verse. Others apply it to the cherubims that guarded Paradise (because in the previous verse is spoken of Eden and the garden of God), with whom this king, as anointed (that is, ordained, and set (as follows) to be a defender of his kingdom) is compared.
34 For, what was in the tabernacle, it was anointed with the holy oil, Exod. 30:26, etc.
35 See Gen. 3 on verse 24.
36 Namely, the ark, with his wings, Exod. 25:20.
37 Or, made, that is, I had endowed thee with such glory.
38 Hebr. upon the mountain of the holiness of God, that is, as, or like, etc. Understand Zion.
39 Or, fiery stones. Hebr. stones of fire, that is, everywhere where thou didst go up and down in thy palace it did shine with glittering precious stones. Or, thou didst walk in garments which were trimmed and adorned therewith, and did cast as it were beams of fire from them, as the high priest shined with the stones that were in the priest’s breast plate, Exod. 28:15, etc.
15Thou wast 40perfect in thy 41ways from the day that thou wast 42created, till 43iniquity was 44found in thee.
40 That is, nothing lacked thee in regard of pomp and magnificence.
41 That is, being, purpose and action. See Gen. 6 on verse 12.
42 As verse 13.
43 Other, great iniquity, to express that the Hebrew word, which signifies iniquity, perverseness, vice, etc., has one letter more than ordinary. Compare Psalm 3 on verse 2.
44 That is, plainly appeared and was discovered, and thou wast taken and apprehended in the very act. Compare Psalm 36:2; Jer. 2:26, etc., with the annotations.
16By the 45multitude of thy merchandise 46they have 47filled the 48midst of thee with 49violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as 50profane out of the 51mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O 52covering cherub, 53from the midst of the stones of fire.
45 Or, greatness.
46 Namely, those who traded with thee.
47 Other, they are in the midst of thee full of, etc.
48 That is, thine heart, or the midst of thy city.
49 That thou art inclined to all manner of oppression, or that thou hast gathered great treasures obtained by violence.
50 Or, I will profane thee; cast thee away as unclean and profane. Compare verse 7.
51 Contemptibly rejected from the glory whereby thou wast to be compared with My mountain, verse 14.
52 As verse 14.
53 That thou shalt be stripped of all thy pride. See verse 14.
17Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast 54corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I 55will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, 56that they may behold thee.
54 Thine excellence and glory has caused thy wisdom to perish and has besotted thee.
55 That is, I will surely do it; it is spoken in a prophetical way, and also in the sequel.
56 That is, for a gazing stock or spectacle of My righteous and astonishing judgment upon thee, at whose pomp and riches everyone wondered previously, as is declared in the sequel.
18Thou hast defiled thy 57sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a 58fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to 59ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
57 That is, thy palace and thy royal throne (which ought to be consecrated unto God, and which thou comparedst with the habitation and throne of God, verse 2) hast thou made unholy, vile and profane.
58 Of My anger, occasioned by thee and thine, or, of plagues and miseries. See Job 22:20; Ezek. 20:47; 30:8.
59 That is, will bring thee to the uttermost nullity and destruction. See Job 6:15, etc.
19All they that know thee among the people shall be 60astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
60 As Ezek. 27:36.
20¶Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21Son of man, 61set thy face against 62Zidon, and prophesy against it,
61 See Ezek. 6 on verse 2.
62 Also located at the Mediterranean Sea, or the Sea of Phœnicia, northward off Tyrus. See Gen. 10 on verse 15.
22And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I 63am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be 64glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have 65executed judgments in 66her, and shall be 67sanctified in her.
63 See Jer. 21 on verse 13; Ezek. 13:8.
64 By My judgments and punishments (as follows) give occasion of being honored and extolled.
65 Hebr. done. Also verse 26; Ezek. 30:19, etc. See Ezek. 5 on verse 8.
66 Zidon.
67 Shall have manifested My justice, holiness and power among her. Also verse 25; Exod. 36:23; 38:16.
23For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded 68shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
68 Other, shall fall.
24¶And there shall be no more a 69pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn 70of all that are round about them, that 71despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
69 Or, smarting, that is, the enemies round about shall no more vex and injure them.
70 Or, from all places that are round about them.
71 Or, rob; also verse 26. Compare Ezek. 16:57.
2572Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be 73sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
72 This prophecy may somewhat be applied to the deliverance from Babel, but its fulfillment belongs to the spiritual Kingdom of the Messiah, and is written (as elsewhere often) according to the style of the Old Testament. Compare Jer. 32:37, 38, 39, etc.
73 As verse 22.
26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plante vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
e Jer. 31:5.