Ezekiel 28:11-19

B. The Lament over the Prince 28:11-19

TRANSLATION

(11) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (12) Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord GOD: You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. (13) You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day you were created they were prepared. (14) You were an anointed guardian cherub; and I placed you on the holy mountain of God; you walked about in the midst of the stones of fire. (15) You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you. (16) By your many trading ventures you were filled with violence and you sinned; therefore, I have cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I have destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (17) Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground before kings that they may gaze upon you, (18) By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trading ventures you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore, I have brought out a fire from your midst; it has consumed you, and I have made you to become ashes upon the ground in the eyes of all who see you. (19) All who know you among the people shall be appalled at you; you have become a terror, and you will be no more.

COMMENTS

Ezekiel 28:11-19 is one of the most obscure passages in the Old Testament. The text is notoriously difficult. God ordered Ezekiel to lament the death of the king of Tyre. Such prophetic laments are anticipatory of the calamity which would occur in the near future. In carrying out this command Ezekiel was partially fulfilling his ministerial commission (cf. Ezekiel 2:10).

The overall thrust of this passage is clear; the details are not. Ezekiel is comparing the fall of the king of Tyre to the fall of Adam.[424] Both fell from a position of prominence and privilege to death and disaster. The passage refers only to the king of Tyre, not to Satan.[425] The language is poetic and highly metaphorical and figurative.

[424] It is not impossible that Ezekiel here is alluding to a pagan version of the paradise story. This would account for both the similarities and differences between this passage and Genesis 2-3. However, no such Canaanite paradise account has been found.
[425] Several of the early Church Fathers suggested that Satan is in view here. Among the modern scholars who have set forth this position are Barnhouse, Chafer and Scofield.

The lament has two distinct divisions of thought. In Ezekiel 28:12-15 a the prophet describes the person and position of the king of Tyre; and in Ezekiel 28:15 b - Ezekiel 28:19, his sin and sentence.

1. The person and position of the king (Ezekiel 28:12-15 a). The king of Tyre is likened to the first inhabitant of Paradise. He is depicted as perfect in physical form (you had the seal of perfection[426]), intellectual capabilities (wisdom) and beauty (Ezekiel 28:12). At least this was his own self-estimate. He occupied a paradise in Eden known as the garden of God (or a garden of gods). This garden dweller was not naked as was Adam in the Biblical Garden of Eden. Rather he walks in his garden wearing a luxurious robe or breastplate on which were nine[427] precious stones displayed in the most exquisite settings of gold.[428] It seemed that his magnificent garb had been prepared especially for the garden dweller from the day of his creation, (i.e., his enthronement) (Ezekiel 28:13).

[426] The translation of the NASB has been followed. Literally the Hebrew reads, the one sealing (the) measure. The RSV gives another possible rendering, the signet of perfection, i.e., a seal that everyone recognizes as the pattern for others.

[427] The nine stones enumerated are identical with those which were set in three of the four rows of the breastplate of the High Priest. (Exodus 28:17-20). The Septuagint adds three stones which are omitted in the Hebrew text to complete the set of twelve. However, the stones In the Hebrew text are not listed in the same order as they appeared on the High Priest's breastplate. and there is no reason to think that Ezekiel had that breastplate in mind.

[428] The KJV renders, the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes, a reference to his musical instruments. This translation is not impossible. Keil (BCOT, I,409) renders the service of your timbrels and of your women which he takes to be a reference to the festivities when the king took over the harem of his predecessor.

The figure changes a bit in Ezekiel 28:14. The king of Tyre is now likened to a cherub.[429] Cherubim in the Old Testament are always depicted as guarding something. Cherubim guarded the entrance to the original garden (Genesis 3:24), so the king guarded his paradise, Tyre, spreading his wings over the place like the cherubim who guarded the ark of God in the Tabernacle and Temple. The king is said to have been on the holy mountain of God[430] (Ezekiel 28:14). The phrase is probably synonymous with the garden of God and would be a further description of Tyre situated on its rocky isle. The garden dweller walked in the midst of the stones of fire (Ezekiel 28:14). The most popular view is that the expression stones of fire refers to the lightning which issues forth from above the towering mountain of God[431] (cf. Exodus 19:16; Psalms 18:8; Psalms 18:12).

[429] Most commentators follow the Septuagint in reading, you were with the anointed cherub.

[430] The mountain of the gods was important in ancient Near Eastern mythology. This was the mountain where pagans believed their gods assembled to determine the decrees of fate (cf. Isaiah 14:13).

[431] Cook (ICC, 11, 318) contends that the stones of fire are gems which give splendor and brilliance to the garden

2. The sin and sentence of the king (Ezekiel 28:15Ezekiel 28:15). Before his vast wealth filled his heart with pride, the king of Tyre was perfect, i.e., no fault could be found with his conduct as a ruler. However, unrighteousness was found in the character of this king (Ezekiel 28:15) eventually. Increasing commerce led to increasing corruption. The midst of Tyre was filled with goods taken by violence, i.e., force of arms or fraudulent business tactics. He who was anointed guardian cherub over this city must bear the blame for what transpired there. Thus because of his sin of profaning the garden spot in which God had placed him, the prince of Tyre, like Adam of old, must be thrust forth from paradise. Holiness and purity are essential to those who might aspire to dwell in the mountain of God. The fallen prince must be stripped of his royal rank and insignia. He would be removed from the midst of the stones of fire, the flashing thunders and lightings of divine majesty which had protected him. He would cease to be the protector of Tyre, the guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28:16).

At the root of the fall of the king of Tyre was pride. The king's heart was lifted up because of his beauty and brightness, his splendor and magnificence. The wisdom with which the prince of Tyre had been endowed was corrupted by arrogance. True wisdom cannot be exercised where there is a spirit of arrogance.[432] Therefore, the prince of Tyre would be humbled, cast down to the ground. There on the ground the fallen prince would be the object of wonderment, sadness and perhaps even some gloating by the kings of the earth (Ezekiel 28:17).

[432] Fisch, SBB, p. 192.

The multitude of iniquities committed through unrighteous business dealings had profaned the sanctuary,[433] the garden of God, the mountain of God, in which this king ruled. The evil in the midst of Tyre would be like a fire that would reduce the place to a pile of ashes (Ezekiel 28:18). The fall of the once proud city and its pompous prince would send shock waves throughout her commercial empire. Never again would Phoenician Tyre be rebuilt (Ezekiel 28:19).

[433] The Hebrew text reads plural, your sanctuaries, but several manuscripts, the Syriac and Targum read singular. If the plural is original it is probably a plural of amplification, meaning something like sanctuary par excellence.