Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 28
Albert Barnes Commentary
Ezekiel 28
Albert Barnes Commentary
Ezekiel 28
"The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, 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 midst of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God;- behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from thee; by thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures; by thy great wisdom [and] by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches;- therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God, 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 defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain, in the heart of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou art man, and not God, in the hand of him that woundeth thee. Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah." — Ezekiel 28:1-10 (ASV)
The prophecy against the prince of Tyre. Throughout the east, the majesty and glory of a people were concentrated in the person of their monarch, who in some nations was worshipped as a god.
The prince here is the embodiment of the community. Their glory is his glory; their pride, his pride.
The doom of Tyre could not be complete without denunciation of the prince of Tyre. Idolatrous nations and idolatrous kings were, in the eyes of the prophet, antagonists to the true God. In them was embodied the principle of evil opposing itself to the divine government of the world.
Therefore, some of the fathers saw on the throne not simply a hostile monarch, but the Prince of this world, spiritual wickedness (or wicked spirits) in high places. Whenever evil in any way domineers over good, there is a prince of Tyrus, against whom God utters His voice. The mystery of iniquity is always working, and in that working we recognize the power of Satan, whom God condemns and will destroy.
You have said, I am a god (Ezekiel 28:2) - Compare Ezekiel 29:3; Daniel 4:30; Acts 12:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
I sit in the seat of God - These are words denoting the speaker’s pride; but the situation of the island-city, full of beauty, in the midst of the blue water of the Mediterranean, gives force to the expression. Compare the words describing the lot of Tyre as having been in Eden (Ezekiel 28:13).
You are a man - Rather, you are man.
You are wiser than Daniel (Ezekiel 28:3) - The passage is one of strong irony. Compare Ezekiel 14:14; Daniel 6:3.
But you shall be a man (Ezekiel 28:9) - Rather, yet are you man.
The uncircumcised (Ezekiel 28:10) - The pagan idolaters as opposed to the covenant-people.
"Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, [so that] thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. 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 out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 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. By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the peoples shall be astonished at thee: thou art become a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being." — Ezekiel 28:11-19 (ASV)
The dirge of the prince of Tyre, answering to the dirge of the state. The passage is ironical; its main purpose is to depict all the glory, real or assumed, of “the prince of Tyrus,” in order to show how deplorable his ruin should be.
Regarding Ezekiel 28:12: To seal the sum is to make up the whole measure of perfection. Compare the Septuagint.
Regarding Ezekiel 28:13: Thou hast been in Eden - “You” were, etc. The prince of Tyrus is ironically described as the first of creation; but at the same time the parallel is to be maintained in his fall from glory. Like Adam in the enjoyment of paradise, he shall be like Adam in his fall.
Every precious stone - All the stones named here are found in the High Priest’s breastplate (Exodus 28:17–20), but their order is different, and three stones named in Exodus (the third row) are missing. The prophet may purposely have varied the description because the number twelve (that of the tribes of Israel) had nothing to do with the prince of Tyrus, and he wished to portray, not a high priest, but a king, having in view a figure that was to a Jew, especially to a priest, the very type of magnificence.
Tabrets - (or, drums) and pipes were a common expression for festivity and triumph.
Regarding Ezekiel 28:14: Thou art - Better, “You” were. The verse speaks of the anointed cherub that covereth. In the temple, the cherubim and all holy things were consecrated and anointed with oil (Exodus 30:26 and following). The prince of Tyre was also anointed as a sovereign priest—covering or protecting the minor states, like the cherubim with outstretched wings covering the mercy-Seat.
Thou wast upon the holy mountain - As the cherub was in the temple on the holy mountain, so the prince of Tyre was presiding over the island-city, rising like a mountain from the deep.
Stones of fire - that is, bright and shining. Decked with bright jewels, the prince walked among jewels in gorgeous splendor.
Regarding Ezekiel 28:15: The perfection was false, unsuspected until the iniquity that lay beneath was found out.
"Son of man, set thy face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it," — Ezekiel 28:21 (ASV)
Prophecy against Zidon. Zidon (modern Saida) was more ancient than Tyre and was the original metropolis of Phoenicia (Genesis 10:19), but during the times of Phoenician greatness, it always played a subordinate part. Only once (Judges 10:12) do we find the “Zidonians” in conflict with Israel. The evil they did was seducing them to idolatry , as in the case of Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians (1 Kings 16:31).
The capture of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar increased the importance of Zidon, which was a wealthy and flourishing town when Artaxerxes Ochus destroyed it. It has rallied from time to time but has never attained any great consequence, although not in as complete ruin as Tyre.
"and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Sidon; 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 sanctified in her." — Ezekiel 28:22 (ASV)
Be glorified ... be sanctified - Or, “get glory for Myself ... have shown Myself holy” .
"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 sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely therein; yea, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when I have executed judgments upon all those that do them despite round about them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God." — Ezekiel 28:25-26 (ASV)
The subject here is the contrast of the future of Israel with that of the surrounding nations. This prophecy reaches far beyond a mere temporal restoration. It points to times of more permanent security, when from all nations and kingdoms the Church of Christ, the Israel of God, shall be gathered in, when the power of the world shall be forever broken, and the kingdom of Christ shall be established forever.
This transition from the enemies to the people of God closes the portion of the prophecies against the nations in the immediate vicinity of the Israelites, before passing to the more distant Egypt.
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