Ezekiel 28 commentary

Ethbaal, or Ithobal, was the prince or king of Tyre; and being lifted up with excessive pride, he claimed Divine honours. Pride is peculiarly the sin of our fallen nature. Nor can any wisdom, except that which the Lord gives, lead to happiness in this world or in that which is to come. The haughty prince of Tyre thought he was able to protect his people by his own power, and considered himself as equal to the inhabitants of heaven. If it were possible to dwell in the garden of Eden, or even to enter heaven, no solid happiness could be enjoyed without a humble, holy, and spiritual mind. Especially all spiritual pride is of the devil. Those who indulge therein must expect to perish.

The Zidonians were borderers upon the land of Israel, and they might have learned to glorify the Lord; but, instead of that, they seduced Israel to the worship of their idols. War and pestilence are God's messengers; but he will be glorified in the restoring his people to their former safety and prosperity. God will cure them of their sins, and ease them of their troubles. This promise will at length fully come to pass in the heavenly Canaan: when all the saints shall be gathered together, every thing that offends shall be removed, all griefs and fears for ever banished. Happy, then, is the church of God, and every living member of it, though poor, afflicted, and despised; for the Lord will display his truth, power, and mercy, in the salvation and happiness of his redeemed people.

CHAPTER 28

Eze 28:1-26. Prophetical Dirge on the King of Tyre, as the Culmination and Embodiment of the Spirit of Carnal Pride and Self-sufficiency of the Whole State. The Fall of Zidon, the Mother City. The Restoration of Israel in Contrast with Tyre and Zidon.

2. Because, &c.--repeated resumptively in Eze 28:6. The apodosis begins at Eze 28:7. "The prince of Tyrus" at the time was Ithobal, or Ithbaal II; the name implying his close connection with Baal, the Phoenician supreme god, whose representative he was.

I am a god, I sit in ... seat of God ... the seas--As God sits enthroned in His heavenly citadel exempt from all injury, so I sit secure in my impregnable stronghold amidst the stormiest elements, able to control them at will, and make them subserve my interests. The language, though primarily here applied to the king of Tyre, as similar language is to the king of Babylon (Is 14:13, 14), yet has an ulterior and fuller accomplishment in Satan and his embodiment in Antichrist (Da 7:25; 11:36, 37; 2Th 2:4; Re 13:6). This feeling of superhuman elevation in the king of Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on which Tyre stood was called "the holy island" [Sanconiathon], being sacred to Hercules, so much so that the colonies looked up to Tyre as the mother city of their religion, as well as of their political existence. The Hebrew for "God" is El, that is, "the Mighty One."

yet, &c.--keen irony.

set thine heart as ... heart of God--Thou thinkest of thyself as if thou wert God.

3. Ezekiel ironically alludes to Ithbaal's overweening opinion of the wisdom of himself and the Tyrians, as though superior to that of Daniel, whose fame had reached even Tyre as eclipsing the Chaldean sages. "Thou art wiser," namely, in thine own opinion (Zec 9:2).

no secret--namely, forgetting riches (Eze 28:4).

that they can hide--that is, that can be hidden.

5. (Psa 62:10).

6. Because, &c.--resumptive of Eze 28:2.

7. therefore--apodosis.

strangers ... terrible of the nations--the Chaldean foreigners noted for their ferocity (Eze 30:11; 31:12).

against the beauty of thy wisdom--that is, against thy beautiful possessions acquired by thy wisdom on which thou pridest thyself (Eze 28:3-5).

defile thy brightness--obscure the brightness of thy kingdom.

8. the pit--that is, the bottom of the sea; the image being that of one conquered in a sea-fight.

the deaths--plural, as various kinds of deaths are meant (Jr 16:4).

of them ... slain--literally, "pierced through." Such deaths as those pierced with many wounds die.

9. yet say--that is, still say; referring to Eze 28:2.

but, &c.--But thy blasphemous boastings shall be falsified, and thou shalt be shown to be but man, and not God, in the hand (at the mercy) of Him.

10. deaths of ... uncircumcised--that is, such a death as the uncircumcised or godless heathen deserve; and perhaps, also, such as the uncircumcised inflict, a great ignominy in the eyes of a Jew (1Sa 31:4); a fit retribution on him who had scoffed at the circumcised Jews.

12. sealest up the sum--literally, "Thou art the one sealing the sum of perfection." A thing is sealed when completed (Da 9:24). "The sum" implies the full measure of beauty, from a Hebrew root, "to measure." The normal man--one formed after accurate rule.

13. in Eden--The king of Tyre is represented in his former high state (contrasted with his subsequent downfall), under images drawn from the primeval man in Eden, the type of humanity in its most Godlike form.

garden of God--the model of ideal loveliness (Eze 31:8, 9; 36:35). In the person of the king of Tyre a new trial was made of humanity with the greatest earthly advantages. But as in the case of Adam, the good gifts of God were only turned into ministers to pride and self.

every precious stone--so in Eden (Ge 2:12), "gold, bdellium, and the onyx stone." So the king of Tyre was arrayed in jewel-bespangled robes after the fashion of Oriental monarchs. The nine precious stones here mentioned answer to nine of the twelve (representing the twelve tribes) in the high priest's breastplate (Ex 39:10-13; Re 21:14, 19-21). Of the four rows of three in each, the third is omitted in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the Septuagint. In this, too, there is an ulterior reference to Antichrist, who is blasphemously to arrogate the office of our divine High Priest (Zec 6:13).

tabrets--tambourines.

pipes--literally, "holes" in musical pipes or flutes.

created--that is, in the day of thine accession to the throne. Tambourines and all the marks of joy were ready prepared for thee ("in thee," that is, "with and for thee"). Thou hadst not, like others, to work thy way to the throne through arduous struggles. No sooner created than, like Adam, thou wast surrounded with the gratifications of Eden. Fairbairn, for "pipes," translates, "females" (having reference to Ge 1:27), that is, musician-women. Maurer explains the Hebrew not as to music, but as to the setting and mounting of the gems previously mentioned.

14. anointed cherub--Gesenius translates from an Aramaic root, "extended cherub." English Version, from a Hebrew root, is better. "The cherub consecrated to the Lord by the anointing oil" [Fairbairn].

covereth--The imagery employed by Ezekiel as a priest is from the Jewish temple, wherein the cherubim overshadowed the mercy seat, as the king of Tyre, a demi-god in his own esteem, extended his protection over the interests of Tyre. The cherub--an ideal compound of the highest kinds of animal existence and the type of redeemed man in his ultimate state of perfection--is made the image of the king of Tyre, as if the beau ideal of humanity. The pretensions of Antichrist are the ulterior reference, of whom the king of Tyre is a type. Compare "As God ... in the temple of God" (2Th 2:4).

I have set thee--not thou set thyself (Pr 8:16; Ro 13:1).

upon the holy mountain of God--Zion, following up the image.

in ... midst of ... stones of fire--In ambitious imagination he stood in the place of God, "under whose feet was, as it were, a pavement of sapphire," while His glory was like "devouring fire" (Ex 24:10, 17).

15. perfect--prosperous [Grotius], and having no defect. So Hiram was a sample of the Tyrian monarch in his early days of wisdom and prosperity (1Ki 5:7, &c.).

till iniquity ... in thee--Like the primeval man thou hast fallen by abusing God's gifts, and so hast provoked God's wrath.

16. filled the midst of thee--that is, they have filled the midst of the city; he as the head of the state being involved in the guilt of the state, which he did not check, but fostered.

cast thee as profane--no longer treated as sacred, but driven out of the place of sanctity (see Eze 28:14) which thou hast occupied (compare Psa 89:39).

17. brightness--thy splendor.

lay thee before kings--as an example of God's wrath against presumptuous pride.

18. thy sanctuaries--that is, the holy places, attributed to the king of Tyre in Eze 28:14, as his ideal position. As he "profaned" it, so God will "profane" him (Eze 28:16).

fire ... devour--As he abused his supposed elevation amidst "the stones of fire" (Eze 28:16), so God will make His "fire" to "devour" him.

21. Zidon--famous for its fishery (from a root, Zud, "to fish"); and afterwards for its wide extended commerce; its artistic elegance was proverbial. Founded by Canaan's first-born (Ge 10:15). Tyre was an offshoot from it, so that it was involved in the same overthrow by the Chaldeans as Tyre. It is mentioned separately, because its idolatry (Ashtaroth, Tammuz, or Adonis) infected Israel more than that of Tyre did (Eze 8:14; Jud 10:6; 1Ki 11:33). The notorious Jezebel was a daughter of the Zidonian king.

22. shall be sanctified in her--when all nations shall see that I am the Holy Judge in the vengeance that I will inflict on her for sin.

24. no more ... brier ... unto ... Israel--as the idolatrous nations left in Canaan (among which Zidon is expressly specified in the limits of Asher, Jud 1:31) had been (Nu 33:55; Jos 23:13). "A brier," first ensnaring the Israelites in sin, and then being made the instrument of punishing them.

pricking--literally, "causing bitterness." The same Hebrew is translated "fretting" (Le 13:51, 52). The wicked are often called "thorns" (2Sa 23:6).

25-26. Fulfilled in part at the restoration from Babylon, when Judaism, so far from being merged in heathenism, made inroads by conversions on the idolatry of surrounding nations. The full accomplishment is yet future, when Israel, under Christ, shall be the center of Christendom; of which an earnest was given in the woman from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon who sought the Saviour (Mt 15:21, 24, 26-28; compare Is 11:12).

dwell safely--(Jr 23:6).

Say unto the prince of Tyrus - But who was this prince of Tyrus? Some think Hiram; some, Sin; some, the devil; others, Ithobaal, with whom the chronology and circumstances best agree. Origen thought the guardian angel of the city was intended.

I am a god - That is, I am absolute, independent, and accountable to none. He was a man of great pride and arrogance.

Thou art wiser than Daniel - Daniel was at this time living, and was reputable for his great wisdom. This is said ironically. See Eze 14:14; Eze 26:1.

By thy great wisdom - He attributed every thing to himself; he did not acknowledge a Divine providence. As he got all by himself, so he believed he could keep all by himself, and had no need of any foreign help.

I will bring strangers upon thee - The Chaldeans.

Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee - Wilt thou continue thy pride and arrogance when the sword is sheathed in thee, and still imagine that thou art self-sufficient and independent?

The deaths of the uncircumcised - Two deaths, temporal and eternal. Ithobaal was taken and killed by Nebuchadnezzar.

Thou sealest up - This has been translated, "Thou drawest thy own likeness." "Thou formest a portrait of thyself; and hast represented thyself the perfection of wisdom and beauty." I believe this to be the meaning of the place.

Thou hast been in Eden - This also is a strong irony. Thou art like Adam, when in his innocence and excellence he was in the garden of Eden!

Every precious stone was thy covering - For a description of these stones see the note on Exo 28:17.

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth - The irony is continued; and here he is likened to the Cherub that guarded the gates of Paradise, and kept the way of the tree of life; or to one of the cherubs whose wings, spread out, covered the mercy-seat.

Thou mast upon the holy mountain of God - The irony is still continued; and now he is compared to Hoses, and afterwards to one of the chief angels, who has walked up and down among the stones of fire; that is, thy floors have been paved with precious stones, that shone and sparkled like fire.

Lucan, describing the splendor of the apartments of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, speaks in nearly a similar language: -

Nec summis crustata domus, sectisque nitebat

Marmoribus, stabatque sibi non segnis achates,

Purpureusque lapis, totusque effusus in aula

Calcabatur onyx;

Pharsal. lib. x.

Rich as some fane by slavish zealots reared,

For the proud banquet stood the hall prepared:

Thick golden plates the latent beams infold,

And the high roof was fretted o'er with gold.

Of solid marble all the walls were made,

And onyx e'en the meaner floor inlaid;

While porphyry and agate round the court

In massy columns rose, a proud support.

Of solid ebony each post was wrought,

From swarthy Meroe profusely brought.

With ivory was the entrance crusted o'er,

And polished tortoise hid each shining door;

While on the cloudy spots enchased was seen

The trusty emerald's never-fading green.

Within the royal beds and couches shone,

Beamy and bright with many a costly stone,

The glowing purple rich.

Rowe.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways - The irony seems still to be kept up. Thou hast been like the angels, like Moses, like the cherubs, like Adam, like God, till thy iniquity was found out.

I will cast thee as profane - Thou shalt be cast down from thine eminence.

From the midst of the stones of fire - Some, supposing that stones of fire means the stars, have thought that the whole refers to the fall of Satan.

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries - Irony continued. As God, as the angels, as the cherubim, thou must have had thy sanctuaries; but thou hast defiled them: and as Adam, thou hast polluted thy Eden, and hast been expelled from Paradise.

Thou shalt be a terror - Instead of being an object of adoration thou shalt be a subject of horror, and at last be destroyed with thy city, so that nothing but thy name shall remain. It was entirely burnt by Alexander the Great, as it had been before by Nebuchadnezzar.

I am against thee, O Zidon - Sidon for a long time had possessed the empire of the sea and of all Phoenicia, and Tyre was one of its colonies; but in process of time, the daughter became greater than the mother. It seems to have been an independent place at the time in which Tyre was taken; but it is likely that it was taken by the Chaldeans soon after the former.

And the wounded - חלל chalal, the soldiery. All its supports shall be taken away, and its defenders destroyed.

There shall be no more a pricking brier - Nothing to excite Israel to idolatry when restored from their captivity. Perhaps there is an allusion to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, and wife to Ahab, king of Israel, who was the greatest curse to Israel, and the universal restorer of idolatry in the land, see 1Kgs 16:31. Sidon being destroyed, there would come no encourager of idolatry from that quarter.

When I shall have gathered the house of Israel - In their long captivity, God had been preparing the land for them so as to make it a safe dwelling; and hence he executed judgments on all the heathen nations round about by means of the Chaldeans. Thus Tyre and Sidon were destroyed, as were the Ammonites and others who had been the inveterate enemies of the Jews. Judgment first began at his own house, then proceeded to the heathen nations; and when they were brought down, then he visited and redeemed his people. Thus God's ways are proved to be all equal; partialities and caprices belong not to him.

Hast said - In thy heart. In the seat of God - Safe and impregnable as heaven itself. A man - Subject to casualties, sorrows, and distresses. Set thine heart - Thou hast entertained thoughts, which become none but God.

Wiser - In thy own thoughts. Daniel - Who was then famous for his wisdom.

The beauty - Those beautiful things, in which thy wisdom appeared.

The deaths - Temporal and eternal. Of the uncircumcised - Of the wicked, an accursed death.

Thou sealest up - Thou fanciest that fulness of wisdom, and perfection of beauty are in thee.

In Eden - In the midst of all delights. The workmanship - Now the prophet notes their joys, musick, and songs, both to loud, and to softer musick, as the lute, and tabret in the day of their kings coronation, and all this on instruments of most exquisite make, and of their own artists work; in this they exceeded as in the other. Created - King: in the day of thy coronation.

Cherub - For thy wisdom, power, and excellency, like a cherub, or angel; for the sacredness of thy person, and office, as the anointed of God; for the exercise of thy power, as a shield, as a protector of the weak. And I - I, whom thou forgetest have made thee so. Thou wast - Thou wast advanced to kingly dignity, (which David calls a mountain, Psa 30:7,) a sacred office, and of divine institution. In the midst - Surrounded with stones, that sparkle like fire.

Thou wast perfect - Is not this an irony?

I will cast - Out thy kingly dignity.

Corrupted - Depraved, or lost thy wisdom. Behold thee - That thou mayst be a spectacle, and warning to them.

I will bring thee - Thou shalt be burnt to ashes, and trampled under feet.

All - All that have formerly known thy riches, power, allies, and wisdom.

Zidon - A city, north - west from Canaan, a king's seat of old, and from which Tyre descended. I will be glorified - When my judgments make my justice, power and truth appear, both you, and others shall confess my glory. Sanctified - Owned as holy, reverenced as just, obeyed as sovereign.

And blood - Bloody war by an enemy, that shall bring the war to the gates, nay into the streets of Zidon. Judged - Be punished in the midst of the city. The sword - By the sword of her enemies.

A pricking briar - By these two metaphors the prophet points out the troublesome neighbours of the Jews, such as Moab, Ammon, Edom, Tyre, and Zidon. This never had a full accomplishment yet. But it will, for the scripture cannot be broken.

Sanctified - I was dishonoured by the Jews in the sight of the heathen, and I will be honoured by the Jews in their sight.

2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, thus saith the Lord GOD; because thine 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 a man , and not GOD, though thou set thine heart as the heart of GOD:

Of.

King, whose name was either Ethbaal, or Ithoba[illegible: 2 letters].

Thou art waxen proud, and aspirest above all reason, and boastest extravagantly in thy self, state, policy and power.

Thought, imagined, or flattered thy self.

Or the mighty and strong one, for so the Heb. is, and perhaps were better so rendred, he gloried in his strength, as if he were a God, the like you have, Isai. 14.14.

As a Magistrate he did bear the name, and authority of God, but he thought not of this, he dreams of the stateliness strength, convenience, safety, and inaccessibleness of his seat, as if he were safe and impregnable as heaven it self.

Subject to all the casualties, sorrows, and distresses of mans state and life, thou art Adam of Earth, not El, nor like unto the mighty one in Heaven.

Thou hast entertained thoughts, which become none but God, thou hast projected things, which none but God can effect, thou hast promised thy self perpetual peace, safety, riches, and happiness in thy self, and from thy self.

Marginal references: Heb. heart.; Isa. 31.3.

3 Behold, thou art wiser then Daniel, there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

In thy own thoughts of thy self.

Who was then famous for his wisdom, which was imparted to him from Heaven, chap. 14.20. Dan. 1.20. and 2.20, 48.

That any sort of men can conceal, that thine adversaries shall contrive against thee to thy danger, or hurt; all this Ironically said.

Marginal references: Zech. 9.[illegible: 1 letter].

4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches , and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.

By thy policy in Government, and by thy skill in Trading, for he speaks of that kind of prudence, to which these names are given.

Or made, so the word.

Power, and might, so the Heb. as well as wealth, and riches, and so the Gall. Version reads puissance, the Princes of Tyrus had been prudent, and so increast their power, and interest.

Or made, procured.

Into both his own private purse, and into the publick Treasuries too.

5 By thy great wisdom, and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches , and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches .

Here the eminent degree of this Princes Wisdom is owned.

And, might as well be spared, for, as 'tis not in the Heb. so it rather obscures, then clears the Text, let it be read by thy great Wisdom in thy Traffick, and 'tis very plain, and so the French reads it.

Made great or enlarged.

Thy Power, as ver. 4. let. n.

Exalts it self, carrieth it loftily, and proudly above thy Neighbours, which is not good, above thy self, which is worse, and above God too, which is worst of all, as ver. 2.

Thy puissance at home, and abroad by Nature and Art.

Marginal references: Heb. by the greatness of thy wisdom.

6 Therefore, thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God ;

Vide ver. 2. let. b.

Who doth, as justly he may, design himself, his own glory in all he designeth and worketh, and take the glory to himself, thou hast done so too, designed thy own greatness, and gloried in it.

7 Behold therefore, 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.

Cause to come.

A forreign People, called strangers for their multitude in the plural, and to intimate how little regard they would have to the Tyrian glory; these strangers were the Babylonian Forces.

A fierce, violent, and cruel Nation, Hab. 1.7, 8.

Pour contempt and stain.

Thy Royal dignity, depose thee from thy Throne, and kill thy Autority and thy Person.

Marginal references: chap. 30.11. and 31.12. and 32.12.; Those beautiful things, in which thy wisdom appeared; either thy noble regular, and strong buildings, or thy beautiful well stored Arsenal, and Army, or the unparallel'd rarities, which all but rudest Souldiers, would esteem, and spare these Monuments of thy Wisdom.

8 They shall bring thee down to the pit , and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

These strangers shall s[illegible: 1 letter]ay thee, which is a blemish to the honour of a King thus to be brought to the Pit.

A usual periphrasis of Death and the Grave.

In the plural, because of the many Terrors, Dangers, and Wounds such mee[illegible: 1 letter] with, the successive deaths s[illegible: 1 letter]ain, drowned, eat of fish, cast upon shoar, and become meat to Sea Fowl.

If literally understood, Thou shalt dye as other common Marriners, and be cast overboard, if figuratively; Seas for great distresses, then amidst multitude of deep distresses thou shalt meet with more than one death, be often dying.

9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee I am God: but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

A cutting taunt, or sarcasm, what will become of thy Godship then?

Wilt thou then dream of Immortality, and Almighty power, when thine Enemy is cutting thy Throat?

Appear then to thy self, and others to be a mortal, weak, conquered man, who dieth a Sacrifice to the Conquerors pride and c[illegible: 1 letter]uelty.

Marginal references: Or, woundeth.

10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised , by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD .

Ver, 8. let, h. A Twofold Death, Temporal, and Eternal.

Of the wicked, or an accursed Death, the Iews do express a vile, and miserable Death thus, or the uncircumcised; i. e. Heathens, cruel, and merciless men shall slay thee, and this suits with what follows in the verse, and this was ignominious with the Iews, 1 Sam. 31.4.

O thou proud, self-admiring Prince! Slight not what is threatned, for God, the God of truth hath spoken it.

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus, and say unto him: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum , full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

See chap. 27. ver. 2. let. a, b.

Called Prince, ver. 2. let. b.

In the search into the frame of thy Government, the manage of it, the prosperity thereof, and its Glory, Power, Riches, and Confederacies thou doest think thy self but just to thy Kingdom to account it the perfect Idea of a good Government, that in the Tyrian State nothing is wanting that might be required in a good Government, in the best Government, and so sealest to the premisses; thus vainly puft up thou wilt have it, that fulness of Wisdom, and perfection of Beauty are in thee, but neither thy Wisdom shall prevent, or defeat the attempts of thine Enemies, nor thy Beauty charme their rage, thou shalt fall by them.

13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of GOD : every precious stone was thy covering , the Sardius , Topas , and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx , and the jasper , the sapphire, the emrald, and the carbuncle, and gold: The workmanship of thy tabrets, and of thy pipes, was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Thou hast dwelt and reigned.

In the midst of all delights, and though nature made thy lot a very barren Rock; thy Art and Industry added to that of thy Progenitors have made it as Pleasant, Rich, and Beautiful, as Eden, that place of all desirable enjoyments.

This is explicative of the former, a Garden is a place of delight, and men have made some delightful to a wonder, but none ever like that God planted: This of Tyre came as near as any, and yet ungrateful, and Atheistical Tyre dreams of Divine Power, and Stability, forgetting Humane frailty, and uncertainty.

Every [illegible: 1 letter]ort of Rich Stones.

Bought to adorn thy Crown, thy Robes, thy Bed, &.c.

Of a R[illegible: 1 letter]d, and by some said to be the Ruby.

Of a yellowish Green.

Of clear, waterish, sparkling colour.

Of a Sea-Green colour, the best.

Resembles the whiteness of the nail of a mans hand.

Of divers colours, but the best Green.

Of Sky colour, or blue.

Green interspersed with Golden spots.

Of flame colour.

Beside the abundance, of which in their publick Treasures much was used about the Clothes, and Robes of this proud Prince, 'tis like these precious stones were set in Gold, that they might the safer be put upon his Garments. This was the acco[illegible: 1 letter]trement of Solemnities, especially of the Coronation, as appears in close of the verse.

Now the Prophet notes their Joys, Musick, and Songs, both to Wind, or Loud Musick, and to softer Musick, as the Lute, and Tabret in the day of their Kings Coronation, and all this Musick on Instruments of most exquisite make, and of their own Artists work too, in this they exceeded as in the other.

Either born, for birth of Princes hath been celebrated with great Joys, or rather in the day of this Kings Coronation, or investiture in the Kingdom and Royal Dignity.

Marginal references: Or, ruby.; Or, chrysolite.; Or, chrysoprase.

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth: and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God: thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

I would rather keep the order of the words in Hebr. which the French also keep, thou art a Cherub, Anointed, a Protector, or one, who covereth for defence. For thy Wisdom, Power, and Excellency like a cherub, or Angel, for the Sacredness of thy Person, and Office, as the Anointed of God, for the exercise of thy Power and Office, as a Shield, as a Protector of the weak; thus thou art, or thinkest thy self to be, and pridest thy self herein.

I, whom thou forgettest, I have made thee so, set thee above others, this should have been matter of thanks and humility, not of pride, and Atheism. Thus the sarcasm is continued, and he is upbraided for his insolence.

Or thus, in the Holy Mountain a God thou hast been, so 'tis an Ironie. and suits the rest; or else, in pursuance of our version, thou wast advanced to Kingly Dignity, (which David calls a Mountain, Psa. 30.7. Ier. 51.25 Dan. 2.35.) a Sacred Office, and of Divine Institution, and Consecration, and thou hast in pride exalted thy self above me, as well as above men.

In proud, and stately manner.

Surrounded every way in thy Chambers, and Beds, and Clothes with stones, that sparkle like fire, thy Crown, thy Throne, thy Chariots, thy Umbrellas, or Canopies glistering, and dazling Beholders; as if thus also thou wouldest contend with God, who is clothed with light.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy waies from the day thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

I think the Prophet continues his Ironie: The Prince of Tyrus would be a God, yes. Now God is perfect in all his wayes, or works: And thou, O Prince, wert so too; wert thou, and from thy Original?

But remember what a God is he, that hath a beginning that was created, that at last was found full of Iniquity? And this reproof, and taunt leads us to look with the Prophet from the proud claim of this Prince to his great miscarriages. If any else will think all these things in the 14th and 15th verses to be asserters of God's bounty to this Prince, and of his great magnificence and state in Hyperboles and allusions: Nothing I have said shall contradict them, for they have their Liberty as I have mine, to think what seems most like the truth.

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned : therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub , from the midst of the stones of fire.

By, or in, or according to (as the Gall. version) the multitude, or greatness of thy Trading, in Tyrus were Merchants, that Traded in very great Adventures, with vast Stocks, and in mighty Cargoes.

Either as one Trading among them, thou hast violated Justice to promote thine own, and their gain, or hast connived at thy Merchants, when they opprest all they could, or hast contrary to Justice, and Equity supported them in their violence, and judged for them against oppressed Strangers: Thou who wert a King, and wouldest be thought a God, is this like to God, who hates violence, loves Justice, and relieveth the Stranger, and righteth the oppressed?

Either of thy Throne, and Kingly Dignity, vid. ver. 14. let. o, p. or thy fancied and imagined Heaven where thou wouldest be a God, for such Gods of violence, and injustice deserve to be cast out with the aspirng Angels.

Utterly destroy.

Vid. ver. 14. let. n, o.

See ver. 14. let. r.

Thy Merchants have by crafts, where that would, and by violence where craft would not, compassed their unjust designs, as noted chap. 27. ver. 36. This injustice and violence grew, as their Trade did, and filled the City with guilt as fast, as that did with wealth.

These abominable things hast thou done, and now, as an abominable thing, I will throw thee out.

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty , thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness : I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before Kings, that they may behold thee.

See ver. 2. let. c. d. e. and ver. 5. let. u.

See ver. 12. let. s.

Depraved, or lost thy Wisdom.

By reflecting and gazing on thy own Glory, State, Wealth, and Magnificence, and hast forgotten thou art a man; thou exaltest thy self above Man, above thy Neighbour Kings.

I will bring down thy pride, dethrone thee, and make thee fit in the dust, fully▪ and darken all thy brightness.

Or set thee before men of thy quality, who are, as thou, apt to forget men, themselves, and God as he, who, though he said not I am God, yet Atheist like askt, who is God that I should obey him.

Or that thou mayest be a spectacle, an example, and warning to them, or, that they see thee in chains, or an abused Captive, and despise thee.

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities , by the iniquity of thy traffick : therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

Thou who shouldest have kept all pure in Religion, as thou art King, pretending to Divinity, hast polluted it.

Still there is, as all along from the 14th verse I think there hath been, much of an Irony deriding this proud Prince, an allusion to his pretended Godship. A God hath his Sanctuaries, and thou thine, but they nasty polluted ones.

By the greatness, as as well as number.

Impieties, Irreligion, and Atheism of thy Merchants, as well as by their injustice, falsehood, and oppressions, by their perjuries, breaking Covenants confirmed in the Temples at the Altars, or in the name of their Gods, when thy Trade thrived by these, thou, and they have thought there was nothing Sacred, nor any God above thee.

Impieties, Irreligion, and Atheism of thy Merchants, as well as by their injustice, falsehood, and oppressions, by their perjuries, breaking Covenants confirmed in the Temples at the Altars, or in the name of their Gods, when thy Trade thrived by these, thou, and they have thought there was nothing Sacred, nor any God above thee.

Some civil dissension or occasion of thy injustice shall, like a fire, rise.

Among thy injured malecontents.

Which, like fire in the house, shall burn all up, and waste all, thou shalt never quench it; thy discontented Subjects applying themselves to Nebuchadnezzar with addresses for his Favour, Power, and Royal Justice to relieve them, and to right his own Subjects opprest by Tyre in their Trade, shall enkindle Nebuchadnezzar's rage, and he shall never be appeased, but in thy ruine.

Thou shalt be burnt to Ashes, these cast on the Earth to be scattered abroad, and trampled under feet.

All this done, that all about thee may see, fear; and reverence the Justice, Power, and Holiness of the God of Heaven, who ruleth among men, and knows how to abase proud Atheists.

19 All they that know thee among the people, shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terrour , and never shalt thou be any more.

All, that have heard, seen, or formerly known, thy Riches, Power, Allies, Wisdom, and Vigilance.

Be amazed at the certain news of thy great fall from greatest Glory to greatest reproach.

To all, that hear the bruit hereof, though thou hast been a terror, so the Hebr. to others by thy puissance, and Arms, thou shalt never be so again for ever, and this word hath been made good; Tyre never rose to that greatness, as to be feared by her Neighbours.

Marginal references: chap. 27.36.; Heb. terrors.

21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon , and prophesie against it.

Vid. chap. 21.2. let. i. and chap. 20. ver. 46. let. o.

Neighbour, and Confederate of Tyrus.

Declare her sins, approaching sorrows, and my Judgments against her.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]sa. 23.4, 12. [illegible: 1 word]. 25.22. [illegible: 1 word] 27.3.

22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God ; behold, I am against thee , O Zidon ; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

To these Heathen, yet Neighbours of the Jews the Prophet might well suppose the name and greatness of the God of Israel was so known, as to command their attention, when he speaketh.

Provoked by thy sins, I am an adversary to thee, and as such, determine to proceed with thee.

A City in the Northwestfrom Canaan, at the foot of Mount Liban[illegible: 1 letter]s, a Kings Seat of old, and from which Tyrus descended, as a swarm cast out of that Hive. Isa. 23.2. for 'twas a great City in Ioshua's time, Iosh. 11.8. and 19.28. and built by Sidon Canaan's Son, Gen. 10.15. and 1 Chron. 1.13. a famous Mart full of Merchants like Tyre, and as full of sin as riches.

When my Judgments make my Justice, Power, Holiness, Sovereignty, and Truth appear, both you Sidonians, and others about shall confess my Glory, and ascribe Honour to me. I will vindicate my Honour, and Glory, which by thy sins thou hast eclipsed, and I by judgments will illustrate, as Exod. 14.4, 17.

That dwell in thee, and round about thee, all that are concerned for thee.

See chap. 6. ver. 10.

So late do sinners come to any due sense of God's Power, Justice, and Majesty.

The hardned Sinners learn not by any other way, but this, and by this too in the rigours, and repeated executions of it.

Own'd as Holy, Reverenced as just, obeyed as Sovereign, and submitted to as Wise, and Mighty, and a hater of Violence.

23 For I will send into her pestilence , and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side ; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The Pestilence is one of God's Arrows, and he sends it wheresoever it walks, 'tis one of his sore Judgments, and wasteth where it cometh.

The most dreadful of Diseases, because most deadly, swift, and comes so immediately from the Wrath of God offended with men, this Pestilence attends o[illegible: 1 letter] War, and seldom faileth to make havock in besieged Towns, or Cities.

Bloody War by an Enemy, that shall bring the War to the Gates, nay into the Streets of Zidon.

Fall, be cast down, punisht in the midst of the City.

By her Enemies Sword prevailing, and conquering.

A Description either of the Siege that Sidon should suffer by, or pointing out the multitude of her Enemies on every side agreeing against her.

24 ¶ And there shall be no more a pricking briar unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them ; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

The time intended here is, when after 70 years Captivity, loathing themselves for their Iniquities, and repenting, they return and settle in their own Land.

By these two Metaphors the Prophet points out the troublesom Neighbours of the Jews.

Such as Moab, Ammon, Edom, Tyre, and this Sidon, which on all occasions did grieve, wound, and reproach the Jews, and triumph in the fall of the Jews, and were ever ready, being near.

Contemning both in word and carriage, the Jews, their Religion, Manners, Laws, and their God.

Marginal references: Num. 33.5[illegible: 1 letter] ▪ Josh. 23.13.; See ver. 22. let. k.

25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered , and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land , that I have given to my servant Jacob .

Seventy years is expired, which is the term of their Captive State▪

Move the hearts of my people to come together upon Cyrus Proclamation, and from all parts of that vast Kingdom, prepare for a return to the Country most of them never saw, it was God, who moved Cyrus to give them leave; 'twas as much God's work to stir up the people to return.

The generality of them, those that were Israelites indeed.

Several Nations subjects to the King of Babylon.

By the Babylonish King at first, and afterward, by incident necessity, or their own choice.

Have vindicated my Name, which by them was blasphemed.

I was dishonoured by the Jews in the sight of the Heathen, and I will be honoured by the Jews in their sight, they shall be witnesses of my vindication.

Settle in peace, and for continuance.

In a Land that is theirs, their own, as 'tis often called.

Their Title is of me by deed of Gift, not of late, But

to one that was long since my Servant

To Iacob, Father to these returning Captives. The Heb. repeats the Praeposition, to my Servant, To Iacob, with an Emphasis to mind them of God's faithfulness.

26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despised them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their GOD.

Which is to be understood comparatively, safer than before, it must be accommodated to the circumstances of Humane condition, in such safety, as excludes continual inward cares, and fears, and perplexities, as 'tis said of Laish, Iudg 18.7. or as in the dayes of Solomon, 1 King. 4.25. or as Iob 11.18, 19.

That seems to intimate, that there might be some attempts as by Sanballat, and Tobias, but God blasted these, or it may refer more properly to the destruction of Babylon, and the Nations Confederate with them, who ruined, and despised the Iews.

Returned Captives.

Shall own, and know by experience, that I am not only the Lord, but their God too.

Marginal references: Or, with confidence.; Jer. 31.5.; Or, spoil.

Against the Prince of Tyre - Ezekiel 28:1-19

As the city of Tyre was first of all threatened with destruction (Ezekiel 26), and then her fall was confirmed by a lamentation (Ezekiel 27), so here the prince of Tyre is first of all forewarned of his approaching death (Eze 28:1-10), and then a lamentation is composed thereon (Eze 28:11-19).

Fall of the Prince of Tyre

Eze 28:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 28:2. Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy heart has lifted itself up, and thou sayest, “I am a God, I sit upon a seat of Gods, in the heart of the seas,” when thou art a man and not God, and cherishest a mind like a God’s mind, Eze 28:3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; nothing secret is obscure to thee; Eze 28:4. Through thy wisdom and thy understanding hast thou acquired might, and put gold and silver in thy treasuries; Eze 28:5. Through the greatness of thy wisdom hast thou increased thy might by thy trade, and thy heart has lifted itself up on account of thy might, Eze 28:6. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou cherishest a mind like a God’s mind, Eze 28:7. Therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon thee, violent men of the nations; they will draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and pollute thy splendour. Eze 28:8. They will cast thee down into the pit, that thou mayest die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. Eze 28:9. Wilt thou indeed say, I am a God, in the face of him that slayeth thee, when thou art a man and not God in the hand of him that killeth thee? Eze 28:10. Thou wilt die the death of the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken it, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - This threat of judgment follows in general the same course as those addressed to other nations (compare especially Ezekiel 25), namely, that the sin is mentioned first (Eze 28:2-5), and then the punishment consequent upon the sin (Eze 28:6-10). In Eze 28:12 מלך is used instead of נגיד, dux. In the use of the term נגיד to designate the king, Kliefoth detects an indication of the peculiar position occupied by the prince in the commercial state of Tyre, which had been reared upon municipal foundations; inasmuch as he was not so much a monarch, comparable to the rulers of Bayblon or to the Pharaohs, as the head of the great mercantile aristocracy. This is in harmony with the use of the word נגיד for the prince of Israel, David for example, whom God chose and anointed to be the nâgīd over His people; in other words, to be the leader of the tribes, who also formed an independent commonwealth (vid., 1Sa 13:14; 2Sa 7:8, etc.). The pride of the prince of Tyre is described in Eze 28:2 as consisting in the fact that he regarded himself as a God, and his seat in the island of Tyre as a God’s seat. He calls his seat מושׁב , not “because his capital stood out from the sea, like the palace of God from the ocean of heaven” (Psa 104:3), as Hitzig supposes; for, apart from any other ground, this does not suit the subsequent description of his seat as God’s mountain (Eze 28:16), and God’s holy mountain (Eze 28:14). The God’s seat and God’s mountain are not the palace of the king of Tyre, but Tyre as a state, and that not because of its firm position upon a rocky island, but as a holy island (ἁγία νῆσος, as Tyre is called in Sanchun. ed. Orelli, p. 36), the founding of which has been glorified by myths (vid., Movers, Phoenizier, I pp. 637ff.). The words which Ezekiel puts into the mouth of the king of Tyre may be explained, as Kliefoth has well expressed it, “from the notion lying at the foundation of all natural religions, according to which every state, as the production of its physical factors and bases personified as the native deities of house and state, is regarded as a work and sanctuary of the gods.” In Tyre especially the national and political development went hand in hand with the spread and propagation of its religion. “The Tyrian state was the production and seat of its gods. He, the prince of Tyre, presided over this divine creation and divine seat; therefore he, the prince, was himself a god, a manifestation of the deity, having its work and home in the state of Tyre.” All heathen rulers looked upon themselves in this light; so that the king of Babylon is addressed in a similar manner in Isa 14:13-14. This self-deification is shown to be a delusion in Eze 28:2; He who is only a man makes his heart like a God’s heart, i.e., cherishes the same thought as the Gods. לב, the heart, as the seat of the thoughts and imaginations, is named instead of the disposition.

This is carried out still further in Eze 28:3-5 by a description of the various sources from which this imagination sprang. He cherishes a God’s mind, because he attributes to himself superhuman wisdom, through which he has created the greatness, and might, and wealth of Tyre. The words, “behold, thou art wiser,” etc. (Eze 28:3), are not to be taken as a question, “art thou indeed wiser?” as they have been by the lxx, Syriac, and others; nor are they ironical, as Hävernick supposes; but they are to be taken literally, namely, inasmuch as the prince of Tyre was serious in attributing to himself supernatural and divine wisdom. Thou art, i.e., thou regardest thyself as being, wiser than Daniel. No hidden thing is obscure to thee (עמם, a later word akin to the Aramaean, “to be obscure”). The comparison with Daniel refers to the fact that Daniel surpassed all the magi and wise men of Babylon in wisdom through his ability to interpret dreams, since God gave him an insight into the nature and development of the power of the world, such as no human sagacity could have secured. The wisdom of the prince of Tyre, on the other hand, consisted in the cleverness of the children of this world, which knows how to get possession of all the good things of the earth. Through such wisdom as this had the Tyrian prince acquired power and riches. חיל, might, possessions in the broader sense; not merely riches, but the whole of the might of the commercial state of Tyre, which was founded upon riches and treasures got by trade. In Eze 28:5 בּרכלּתך is in apposition to בּרב הכמתך, and is introduced as explanatory. The fulness of its wisdom showed itself in its commerce and the manner in which it conducted it, whereby Tyre had become rich and powerful. It is not till we reach Eze 28:6 that we meet with the apodosis answering to 'יען גּבהּ וגו in Eze 28:2, which has been pushed so far back by the intervening parenthetical sentences in Eze 28:2-5. For this reason the sin of the prince of Tyre in deifying himself is briefly reiterated in the clause 'יען תּתּך וגו (Eze 28:6, compare Eze 28:2), after which the announcement of the punishment is introduced with a repetition of לכן in Eze 28:7. Wild foes approaching with barbarous violence will destroy all the king’s resplendent glory, slay the king himself with the sword, and hurl him down into the pit as a godless man. The enemies are called עריצי גּוים, violent ones of the peoples - that is to say, the wild hordes composing the Chaldean army (cf. Eze 30:11; Eze 31:12). They drew the sword “against the beauty (יפי, the construct state of יפי) of thy wisdom,” i.e., the beauty produced by thy wisdom, and the beautiful Tyre itself, with all that it contains (Eze 26:3-4). יפעה, splendour; it is only here and in Eze 28:17 that we meet with it as a noun. The king himself they hurl down into the pit, i.e., the grave, or the nether world. ממותי חלל, the death of a pierced one, substantially the same as מותי ערלים. The plural ממותי and מותי here and Jer 16:4 (mortes) is a pluralis exaggerativus, a death so painful as to be equivalent to dying many times (see the comm. on Isa 53:9). In Eze 28:9 Ezekiel uses the Piel מחלּל in the place of the Poel מחולל, as חלל in the Piel occurs elsewhere only in the sense of profanare, and in Isa 51:9 and Poel is used for piercing. But there is no necessity to alter the pointing in consequence, as we also find the Pual used by Ezekiel in Eze 32:26 in the place of the Poal of Isa 53:5. The death of the uncircumcised is such a death as godless men die - a violent death. The king of Tyre, who looks upon himself as a god, shall perish by the sword like a godless man. At the same time, the whole of this threat applies, not to the one king, Ithobal, who was reigning at the time of the siege of Tyre by the Chaldeans, but to the king as the founder and creator of the might of Tyre (Eze 28:3-5), i.e., to the supporter of that royalty which was to perish along with Tyre itself. - It is to the king, as the representative of the might and glory of Tyre, and not merely to the existing possessor of the regal dignity, that the following lamentation over his fall refers.

Eze 28:11-19

Lamentation over the King of Tyre

Eze 28:11. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 28:12. Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Thou seal of a well-measured building, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Eze 28:13. In Eden, the garden of God, was thou; all kinds of precious stones were thy covering, cornelian, topaz, and diamond, chrysolite, beryl, and jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald, and gold: the service of thy timbrels and of thy women was with thee; on the day that thou wast created, they were prepared. Eze 28:14. Thou wast a cherub of anointing, which covered, and I made thee for it; thou wast on a holy mountain of God; thou didst walk in the midst of fiery stones. Eze 28:15. Thou wast innocent in thy ways from the day on which thou wast created, until iniquity was found in thee. Eze 28:16. On account of the multitude of thy commerce, thine inside was filled with wrong, and thou didst sin: I will therefore profane thee away from the mountain of God; and destroy thee, O covering cherub, away from the fiery stones! Eze 28:17. Thy heart has lifted itself up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom together with thy splendour: I cast thee to the ground, I give thee up for a spectacle before kings. Eze 28:18. Through the multitude of thy sins in thine unrighteous trade thou hast profaned thy holy places; I therefore cause fire to proceed from the midst of thee, which shall devour thee, and make thee into ashes upon the earth before the eyes of all who see thee. Eze 28:19. All who know thee among the peoples are amazed at thee: thou hast become a terror, and art gone for ever. - The lamentation over the fall of the king of Tyre commences with a picture of the super-terrestrial glory of his position, so as to correspond to his self-deification as depicted in the foregoing word of God. In Eze 28:12 he is addressed as חתם תּכנית. This does not mean, “artistically wrought signet-ring;” for חתם does not stand for חתם , but is a participle of חתם , to seal. There is all the more reason for adhering firmly to this meaning, that the following predicate, מלא חכמה, is altogether inapplicable to a signet-ring, though Hitzig once more scents a corruption of the text in consequence. תּכנית, from תּכן, to weigh, or measure off, does not mean perfection (Ewald), beauty (Ges.), façon (Hitzig), or symmetry (Hävernick); but just as in Eze 43:10, the only other passage in which it occurs, it denotes the measured and well-arranged building of the temple, so here it signifies a well-measured and artistically arranged building, namely, the Tyrian state in its artistic combination of well-measured institutions (Kliefoth). This building is sealed by the prince, inasmuch as he imparts to the state firmness, stability, and long duration, when he possesses the qualities requisite for a ruler. These are mentioned afterwards, namely, “full of wisdom, perfect in beauty.” If the prince answers to his position, the wisdom and beauty manifest in the institutions of the state are simply the impress received from the wisdom and beauty of his own mind. The prince of Tyre possessed such a mind, and therefore regarded himself as a God (Eze 28:2). His place of abode, which is described in Eze 28:13 and Eze 28:14, corresponded to his position. Ezekiel here compares the situation of the prince of Tyre with that of the first man in Paradise; and then, in Eze 28:15 and Eze 28:16, draws a comparison between his fall and the fall of Adam. As the first man was placed in the garden of God, in Eden, so also was the prince of Tyre placed in the midst of paradisaical glory. עדן is shown, by the apposition גּן אלהים, to be used as the proper name of Paradise; and this view is not to be upset by the captious objection of Hitzig, that Eden was not the Garden of God, but that this was situated in Eden (Gen 2:8). The fact that Ezekiel calls Paradise גּן־עדן in Eze 36:35, proves nothing more than that the terms Eden and Garden of God do not cover precisely the same ground, inasmuch as the garden of God only occupied one portion of Eden. But notwithstanding this difference, Ezekiel could use the two expressions as synonymous, just as well as Isaiah (Isa 51:3). And even if any one should persist in pressing the difference, it would not follow that בּעדן was corrupt in this passage, as Hitzig fancies, but simply that גן  defined the idea of עדן more precisely - in other words, restricted it to the garden of Paradise.

There is, however, another point to be observed in connection with this expression, namely, that the epithet גן אלהים is used here and in Eze 31:8-9; whereas, in other places, Paradise is called גן יהוה (vid., Isa 51:3; Gen 13:10). Ezekiel has chosen Elohim instead of Jehovah, because Paradise is brought into comparison, not on account of the historical significance which it bears to the human race in relation to the plan of salvation, but simply as the most glorious land in all the earthly creation. the prince of Tyre, placed in the pleasant land, was also adorned with the greatest earthly glory. Costly jewels were his coverings, that is to say, they formed the ornaments of his attire. This feature in the pictorial description is taken from the splendour with which Oriental rulers are accustomed to appear, namely, in robes covered with precious stones, pearls, and gold. מסכּה, as a noun ἁπ. λεγ.., signifies a covering. In the enumeration of the precious stones, there is no reference to the breastplate of the high priest. For, in the first place, the order of the stones is a different one here; secondly, there are only nine stones named instead of twelve; and lastly, there would be no intelligible sense in such a reference, so far as we can perceive. Both precious stones and gold are included in the glories of Eden (vid., Gen 2:11-12). For the names of the several stones, see the commentary on Exo 28:17-20. The words 'מלאכת תּפּיך åגו' s - which even the early translators have entirely misunderstood, and which the commentators down to Hitzig and Ewald have made marvellous attempts to explain - present no peculiar difficulty, apart from the plural נקביך, which is only met with here. As the meaning timbrels, tambourins (aduffa), is well established for תּפּים, and in 1Sa 10:5 and Isa 5:12 flutes are mentioned along with the timbrels, it has been supposed by some that נקבים must signify flutes here. But there is nothing to support such a rendering either in the Hebrew or in the other Semitic dialects. On the other hand, the meaning pala gemmarum (Vulgate), or ring-casket, has been quite arbitrarily forced upon the word by Jerome, Rosenmüller, Gesenius, and many others. We agree with Hävernick in regarding נקבים as a plural of נקבה (foeminae), formed, like a masculine, after the analogy of נשׁים, פּלּגשׁים, etc., and account for the choice of this expression from the allusion to the history of the creation (Gen 1:27). The service (מלאכת, performance, as in Gen 39:11, etc.) of the women is the leading of the circular dances by the odalisks who beat the timbrels: “the harem-pomp of Oriental kings.” This was made ready for the king on the day of his creation, i.e., not his birthday, but the day on which he became king, or commenced his reign, when the harem of his predecessor came into his possession with all its accompaniments. Ezekiel calls this the day of his creation, with special reference to the fact that it was God who appointed him king, and with an allusion to the parallel, underlying the whole description, between the position of the prince of Tyre and that of Adam in Paradise.In explanation of the fact alluded to, Hävernick has very appropriately called attention to a passage of Athen. (xii. 8, p. 531), in which the following statement occurs with reference to Strato, the Sidonian king: “Strato, with flute-girls, and female harpers and players on the cithara, made preparations for the festivities, and sent for a large number of hetaerae from the Peloponnesus, and many signing-girls from Ionia, and young hetaerae from the whole of Greece, both singers and dancers.” See also other passages in Brissonius, de regio Pers. princ. pp. 142-3.

The next verse (Eze 28:14) is a more difficult one. אתּ is an abbreviation of אתּ, אתּה, as in Num 11:15; Deu 5:24 (see Ewald, §184 a). The hap. leg. ממשׁח has been explained in very different ways, but mostly according to the Vulgate rendering, tu Cherub extentus et protegens, as signifying spreading out or extension, in the sense of “with outspread wings” (Gesenius and many others.). But משׁח does not mean either to spread out or to extend. The general meaning of the word is simply to anoint; and judging from משׁחח and משׁחה, portio, Lev 7:35 and Num 18:8, also to measure off, from which the idea of extension cannot possibly be derived. Consequently the meaning “anointing” is the only one that can be established with certainty in the case of the word ממשׁח. So far as the form is concerned, ממשׁח might be in the construct state; but the connection with הסּוכך, anointing, or anointed one, of the covering one, does not yield any admissible sense.

A comparison with Eze 28:16, where כּרוּב הסּוכך occurs again, will show that the ממשׁח, which stands between these two words in the verse before us, must contain a more precise definition of כּרוּב, and therefore is to be connected with כּרוּב in the construct state: cherub of anointing, i.e., anointed cherub. This is the rendering adopted by Kliefoth, the only commentator who has given the true explanation of the verse. ממשׁח is the older form, which has only been retained in a few words, such as מרמס in Isa 10:6, together with the tone-lengthened a (vid., Ewald, §160 a). The prince of Tyre is called an anointed cherub, as Ephraem Syrus has observed, because he was a king even though he had not been anointed. הסּוכך is not an abstract noun, either here or in Nah 2:6, but a participle; and this predicate points back to Exo 25:20, “the cherubim covered (סוככים) the capporeth with their wings,” and is to be explained accordingly. Consequently the king of Tyre is called a cherub, because, as an anointed king, he covered or overshadowed a sanctuary, like the cherubim upon the ark of the covenant. What this sanctuary was is evident from the remarks already made at Eze 28:2 concerning the divine seat of the king. If the “seat of God,” upon which the king of Tyre sat, is to be understood as signifying the state of Tyre, then the sanctuary which he covered or overshadowed as a cherub will also be the Tyrian state, with its holy places and sacred things. In the next clause, וּנתתּיּך is to be taken by itself according to the accents, “and I have made thee (so),” and not to be connected with בּהר קדשׁ. We are precluded from adopting the combination which some propose - viz. “I set thee upon a holy mountain; thou wast a God” - by the incongruity of first of all describing the prince of Tyre as a cherub, and then immediately afterwards as a God, inasmuch as, according to the Biblical view, the cherub, as an angelic being, is simply a creature and not a God; and the fanciful delusion of the prince of Tyre, that he was an El (Eze 28:2), could not furnish the least ground for his being addressed as Elohim by Ezekiel. And still more are we precluded from taking the words in this manner by the declaration contained in Eze 28:16, that Jehovah will cast him out “from the mountain of Elohim,” from which we may see that in the present verse also Elohim belongs to har, and that in Eze 28:16, where the mountain of God is mentioned again, the predicate קדשׁ is simply omitted for the sake of brevity, just as ממשׁח is afterwards omitted on the repetition of כּרוּב הסּוכך. The missing but actual object to נתתּיך can easily be supplied from the preceding clause, - namely, this, i.e., an overshadowing cherub, had God made him, by placing him as king in paradisaical glory. The words, “thou wast upon a holy mountain of God,” are not to be interpreted in the sense suggested by Isa 14:13, namely, that Ezekiel was thinking of the mountain of the gods (Alborj) met with in Asiatic mythology, because it was there that the cherub had its home, as Hitzig and others suppose; for the Biblical idea of the cherub is entirely different from the heathen notion of the griffin keeping guard over gold. It is true that God placed the cherub as guardian of Paradise, but Paradise was not a mountain of God, nor even a mountainous land. The idea of a holy mountain of God, as being the seat of the king of Tyre, was founded partly upon the natural situation of Tyre itself, built as it was upon one or two rocky islands of the Mediterranean, and partly upon the heathen notion of the sacredness of this island as the seat of the Deity, to which the Tyrians attributed the grandeur of their state. To this we may probably add a reference to Mount Zion, upon which was the sanctuary, where the cherub covered the seat of the presence of God. For although the comparison of the prince of Tyre to a cherub was primarily suggested by the description of his abode as Paradise, the epithet הסּוכך shows that the place of the cherub in the sanctuary was also present to the prophet’s mind. At the same time, we must not understand by הר Mount Zion itself. The last clause, “thou didst walk in the midst of (among) fiery stones,” is very difficult to explain. It is admitted by nearly all the more recent commentators, that “stones of fire” cannot be taken as equivalent to “every precious stone” (Eze 28:13), both because the precious stones could hardly be called stones of fire on account of their brilliant splendour, and also being covered with precious stones is not walking in the midst of them. Nor can we explain the words, as Hävernick has done, from the account given by Herodotus (II 44) of the two emerald pillars in the temple of Hercules at Tyre, which shone resplendently by night; for pillars shining by night are not stones of fire, and the king of Tyre did not walk in the temple between these pillars. The explanation given by Hofmann and Kliefoth appears to be the correct one, namely, that the stones of fire are to be regarded as a wall of fire (Zec 2:9), which rendered the cherubic king of Tyre unapproachable upon his holy mountain.

In Eze 28:15, the comparison of the prince of Tyre to Adam in Paradise is brought out still more prominently. As Adam was created sinless, so was the prince of Tyre innocent in his conduct in the day of his creation, but only until perverseness was found in him. As Adam forfeited and lost the happiness conferred upon him through his fall, so did the king of Tyre forfeit his glorious position through unrighteousness and sin, and cause God to cast him from his eminence down to the ground. He fell into perverseness in consequence of the abundance of his trade (Eze 28:16). Because his trade lifted him up to wealth and power, his heart was filled with iniquity. מלוּ for מלאוּ, like מלו for מלוא in Eze 41:8, and נשׂוּ for נשׂאוּ in Eze 39:26. תּוכך is not the subject, but the object to מלוּ; and the plural מלוּ, with an indefinite subject, “they filled,” is chosen in the place of the passive construction, because in the Hebrew, as in the Aramaean, active combinations are preferred to passive whenever it is possible to adopt them (vid., Ewald, §294 b and 128 b). מלא is used by Ezekiel in the transitive sense “to fill” (Eze 8:17 and Eze 30:11). תּוך, the midst, is used for the interior in a physical sense, and not in a spiritual one; and the expression is chosen with an evident allusion to the history of the fall. As Adam sinned by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree, so did the king of Tyre sin by filling himself with wickedness in connection with trade (Hävernick and Kliefoth). God would therefore put him away from the mountain of God, and destroy him. חלּל with מן is a pregnant expression: to desecrate away from, i.e., to divest of his glory and thrust away from. ואבּדך is a contracted form for ואאבּדך (vid., Ewald, §232 h and §72 c). - Eze 28:17 and Eze 28:18 contain a comprehensive description of the guilt of the prince of Tyre, and the approaching judgment is still further depicted. על  cannot mean, “on account of thy splendour,” for this yields no appropriate thought, inasmuch as it was not the splendour itself which occasioned his overthrow, but the pride which corrupted the wisdom requisite to exalt the might of Tyre, - in other words, tempted the prince to commit iniquity in order to preserve and increase his glory. We therefore follow the lxx, Syr., Ros., and others, in taking על in the sense of una cum, together with. ראוה is an infinitive form, like אהבה for ראות, though Ewald (§238 e) regards it as so extraordinary that he proposes to alter the text. ראה with ב is used for looking upon a person with malicious pleasure. בּעול רכלּתך shows in what the guilt (עון) consisted (עול is the construct state of עול). The sanctuaries (miqdâshim) which the king of Tyre desecrated by the unrighteousness of his commerce, are not the city or the state of Tyre, but the temples which made Tyre a holy island. These the king desecrated by bringing about their destruction through his own sin. Several of the codices and editions read מקדּשׁך in the singular, and this is the reading adopted by the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate versions. If this were the true reading, the sanctuary referred to would be the holy mountain of God (Eze 28:14 and Eze 28:16). But the reading itself apparently owes its origin simply to this interpretation of the words. In the clause, “I cause fire to issue from the midst of thee,” מתּוכך is to be understood in the same sense as תּוכך in Eze 28:16. The iniquity which the king has taken into himself becomes a fire issuing from him, by which he is consumed and burned to ashes. All who know him among the peoples will be astonished at his terrible fall (Eze 28:19, compare Eze 27:36).

If we proceed, in conclusion, to inquire into the fulfilment of these prophecies concerning Tyre and its king, we find the opinions of modern commentators divided. Some, for example Hengstenberg, Hävernick, Drechsler (on Isa 23), and others, assuming that, after a thirteen years’ siege, Nebuchadnezzar conquered the strong Island Tyre, and destroyed it; while others - viz. Gesenius, Winer, Hitzig, etc. - deny the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, or at any rate call it in question; and many of the earlier commentators suppose the prophecy to refer to Old Tyre, which stood upon the mainland. For the history of this dispute, see Hengstenberg, De rebus Tyriorum comment. (Berol. 1832); Hävernick, On Ezekiel, pp. 420ff.; and Movers, Phoenizier, II 1, pp. 427ff. - The denial of the conquest of Insular Tyre by the king of Babylon rests partly on the silence which ancient historians, who mention the siege itself, have maintained as to its result; and partly on the statement contained in Eze 29:17-20. - All that Josephus (Antt. x. 11. 1) is able to quote from the ancient historians on this point is the following: - In the first place, he states, on the authority of the third book of the Chaldean history of Berosus, that when the father of Nebuchadnezzar, on account of his own age and consequent infirmity, had transferred to his son the conduct of the war against the rebellious satrap in Egypt, Coelesyria, and Phoenicia, Nebuchadnezzar defeated him, and brought the whole country once more under his sway. But as the tidings reached him of the death of his father just at the same time, after arranging affairs in Egypt, and giving orders to some of his friends to lead into Babylon the captives taken from among the Judaeans, the Phoenicians, the Syrians, and the Egyptians, together with the heavy armed portion of the army, he himself hastened through the desert to Babylon, with a small number of attendants, to assume that government of the empire. Secondly, he states, on the authority of the Indian and Phoenician histories of Philostratus, that when Ithobal was on the throne, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for thirteen years. The accounts taken from Berosus are repeated by Josephus in his c. Apion (i. §19), where he also adds (§20), in confirmation of their credibility, that there were writings found in the archives of the Phoenicians which tallied with the statement made by Berosus concerning the king of Chaldea (Nebuchadnezzar), viz., “that he conquered all Syria and Phoenicia;” and that Philostratus also agrees with this, since he mentions the siege of Tyre in his histories (μεμνημένος τῆς Τύρου πολιορκίας). In addition to this, for synchronistic purposes, Josephus (c. Ap. i. 21) also communicates a fragment from the Phoenician history, containing not only the account of the thirteen years’ siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar in the reign of Ithobal, but also a list of the kings of Tyre who followed Ithobal, down to the time of Cyrus of Persia.The passage reads as follows: “In the reign of Ithobal the king, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for thirteen years. After him judges were appointed. Ecnibalus, the son of Baslachus, judged for two months; Chelbes, the son of Abdaeus, for ten months; Abbarus, the high priest, for three months; Myttonus and Gerastartus, the sons of Abdelemus, for six years; after whom Balatorus reigned for one year. When he died, they sent for and fetched Merbalus from Babylon, and he reigned four years. At his death they sent for his brother Eiramus, who reigned twenty years. During his reign, Cyrus ruled over the Persians.”

The siege of Tyre is therefore mentioned three times by Josephus, on the authority of Phoenician histories; but he never says anything of the conquest and destruction of that city by Nebuchadnezzar. From this circumstance the conclusion has been drawn, that this was all he found there. For if, it is said, the siege had terminated with the conquest of the city, this glorious result of the thirteen years’ exertions could hardly have been passed over in silence, inasmuch as in Antt. x. 11. 1 the testimony of foreign historians is quoted to the effect that Nebuchadnezzar was “an active man, and more fortunate than the kings that were before him.” But the argument is more plausible than conclusive. If we bear in mind that Berosus simply relates the account of a subjugation and devastation of the whole of Phoenicia, without even mentioning the siege of Tyre, and that it is only in Phoenician writings therefore that the latter is referred to, we cannot by any means conclude, from their silence as to the result or termination of the siege, that it ended gloriously for the Tyrians and with humiliation to Nebuchadnezzar, or that he was obliged to relinquish the attempt without success after the strenuous exertions of thirteen years. On the contrary, considering how all the historians of antiquity show the same anxiety, if not to pass over in silence, such events as were unfavourable to their country, at all events to put them in as favourable to their country, at all events to put them in as favourable a light as possible, the fact that the Tyrian historians observe the deepest silence as to the result of the thirteen years’ siege of Tyre would rather force us to the conclusion that it was very humiliating to Tyre. And this could only be the case if Nebuchadnezzar really conquered Tyre at the end of thirteen years. If he had been obliged to relinquish the siege because he found himself unable to conquer so strong a city, the Tyrian historians would most assuredly have related this termination of the thirteen years’ strenuous exertions of the great and mighty king of Babylon.

The silence of the Tyrian historians concerning the conquest of Tyre is no proof, therefore, that it did not really take place. But Eze 29:17-20 has also been quoted as containing positive evidence of the failure of the thirteen years’ siege; in other words, of the fact that the city was not taken. We read in this passage, that Nebuchadnezzar caused his army to perform hard service against Tyre, and that neither he nor his army received any recompense for it. Jehovah would therefore give him Egypt to spoil and plunder as wages for this work of theirs in the service of Jehovah. Gesenius and Hitzig (on Isa 23) infer from this, that Nebuchadnezzar obtained no recompense for the severe labour of the siege, because he did not succeed in entering the city. But Movers (l.c. p. 448) has already urged in reply to this, that “the passage before us does not imply that the city was not conquered any more than it does the opposite, but simply lays stress upon the fact that it was not plundered. For nothing can be clearer in this connection than that what we are to understand by the wages, which Nebuchadnezzar did not receive, notwithstanding the exertions connected with his many years’ siege, is simply the treasures of Tyre;” though Movers is of opinion that the passage contains an intimation that the siege was brought to an end with a certain compromise which satisfied the Tyrians, and infers, from the fact of stress being laid exclusively upon the neglected plundering, that the termination was of such a kind that plundering might easily have taken place, and therefore that Tyre was either actually conquered, but treated mildly from wise considerations, or else submitted to the Chaldeans upon certain terms. But neither of these alternatives can make the least pretension to probability. In Eze 29:20 it is expressly stated that “as wages, for which he (Nebuchadnezzar) has worked, I give him the land of Egypt, because they (Nebuchadnezzar and his army) have done it for me;” in other words, have done the work for me. When, therefore, Jehovah promises to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as a reward or wages for the hard work which has been done for Him at Tyre, the words presuppose that Nebuchadnezzar had really accomplished against Tyre the task entrusted to him by God. But God had committed to him not merely the siege, but also the conquest and destruction of Tyre. Nebuchadnezzar must therefore have executed the commission, though without receiving the expected reward for the labour which he had bestowed; and on that account God would compensate him for his trouble with the treasures of Egypt. This precludes not only the supposition that the siege was terminated, or the city surrendered, on the condition that it should not be plundered, but also the idea that for wise reasons Nebuchadnezzar treated the city leniently after he had taken possession. In either case Nebuchadnezzar would not have executed the will of Jehovah upon Tyre in such a manner as to be able to put in any claim for compensation for the hard work performed. The only thing that could warrant such a claim would be the circumstance, that after conquering Tyre he found no treasures to plunder. And this is the explanation which Jerome has given of the passage ad litteram. “Nebuchadnezzar,” he says, “being unable, when besieging Tyre, to bring up his battering-rams, besieging towers, and vineae close to the walls, on account of the city being surrounded by the sea, employed a very large number of men from his army in collecting rocks and piling up mounds of earth, so as to fill up the intervening sea, and make a continuous road to the island at the narrowest part of the strait. And when the Tyrians saw that the task was actually accomplished, and the foundations of the walls were being disturbed by the shocks from the battering-rams, they placed in ships whatever articles of value the nobility possessed in gold, silver, clothing, and household furniture, and transported them to the islands; so that when the city was taken, Nebuchadnezzar found nothing to compensate him for all his labour. And because he had done the will of God in all this, some years after the conquest of Tyre, Egypt was given to him by God.”Cyrill. Alex. gives the same explanation in his commentary on Isa 23.

It is true that we have no historical testimony from any other quarter to support this interpretation. But we could not expect it in any of the writings which have come down to us, inasmuch as the Phoenician accounts extracted by Josephus simply contain the fact of the thirteen years’ siege, and nothing at all concerning its progress and result. At the same time, there is the greatest probability that this was the case. If Nebuchadnezzar really besieged the city, which was situated upon an island inf the sea, he could not have contented himself with cutting off the supply of drinking water from the city simply on the land side, as Shalmanezer, the king of Assyria, is said to have done (vid., Josephus, Antt. ix. 14. 2), but must have taken steps to fill up the strait between the city and the mainland with a mound, that he might construct a road for besieging and assaulting the walls, as Alexander of Macedonia afterwards did. And the words of Eze 29:18, according to which every head was bald, and the skin rubbed off every shoulder with the severity of the toil, point indisputably to the undertaking of some such works as these. And if the Chaldeans really carried out their operations upon the city in this way, as the siege-works advanced, the Tyrians would not neglect any precaution to defend themselves as far as possible, in the event of the capture of the city. They would certainly send the possessions and treasures of the city by ship into the colonies, and thereby place them in security; just as, according to Curtius, iv. 3, they sent off their families to Carthage, when the city was besieged by Alexander.

This view of the termination of the Chaldean siege of Tyre receives a confirmation of no little weight from the fragment of Menander already given, relating to the succession of rulers in Tyre after the thirteen years’ siege by Nebuchadnezzar. It is there stated that after Ithobal, Baal reigned for ten years, that judges (suffetes) were then appointed, nearly all of whom held office for a few months only; that among the last judges there was also a king Balatorus, who reigned for a year; that after this, however, the Tyrians sent to Babylon, and brought thence Merbal, and on his death Hiram, as kings, whose genuine Tyrian names undoubtedly show that they were descendants of the old native royal family. This circumstance proves not only that Tyre became a Chaldean dependency in consequence of the thirteen years’ siege by Nebuchadnezzar, but also that the Chaldeans had led away the royal family to Babylonia, which would hardly have been the case if Tyre had submitted to the Chaldeans by a treaty of peace.

If, however, after what has been said, no well-founded doubt can remain as to the conquest of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, our prophecy was not so completely fulfilled thereby, that Tyre became a bare rock on which fishermen spread their nets, as is threatened in Eze 26:4-5, Eze 26:14. Even if Nebuchadnezzar destroyed its walls, and laid the city itself in ruins to a considerable extent, he did not totally destroy it, so that it was not restored. On the contrary, two hundred and fifty years afterwards, we find Tyre once more a splendid and powerful royal city, so strongly fortified, that Alexander the Great was not able to take it till after a siege of seven months, carried on with extraordinary exertions on the part of both the fleet and army, the latter attacking from the mainland by means of a mound of earth, which had been thrown up with considerable difficulty (Diod. Sic. xvii. 40ff.; Arrian, Alex. ii. 17ff.; Curtius, iv. 2-4). Even after this catastrophe it rose once more into a distinguished commercial city under the rule of the Seleucidae and afterwards of the Romans, who made it the capital of Phoenicia. It is mentioned as such a city in the New Testament (Mat 15:21; Act 21:3, Act 21:7); and Strabo (xvi. 2. 23) describes it as a busy city with two harbours and very lofty houses. But Tyre never recovered its ancient grandeur. In the first centuries of the Christian era, it is frequently mentioned as an archbishop’s see. From a.d. 636 to a.d. 1125 it was under the rule of the Saracens, and was so strongly fortified, that it was not till after a siege of several months’ duration that they succeeded in taking it. Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Tyre in the year 1060, describes it as a city of distinguished beauty, with a strongly fortified harbour, and surrounded by walls, and with the best glass and earthenware in the East. “Saladin, the conqueror of Palestine, broke his head against Tyre in the year 1189. But after Acre had been taken by storm in the year 1291 by the Sultan El-Ashraf, on the day following this conquest the city passed without resistance into the hands of the same Egyptian king; the inhabitants having forsaken Tyre by night, and fled by sea, that they might not fall into the power of such bloodthirsty soldiers” (Van de Velde). When it came into the hands of the Saracens once more, its fortifications were demolished; and from that time forward Tyre has never risen from its ruins again. Moreover, it had long ceased to be an insular city. The mound which Alexander piled up, grew into a broader and firmer tongue of land in consequence of the sand washed up by the sea, so that the island was joined to the mainland, and turned into a peninsula. The present Sûr is situated upon it, a market town of three or four thousand inhabitants, which does not deserve the name of a city or town. The houses are for the most part nothing but huts; and the streets are narrow, crooked, and dirty lanes. The ruins of the old Phoenician capital cover the surrounding country to the distance of more than half an hour’s journey from the present town gate. The harbour is so thoroughly choked up with sand, and filled with the ruins of innumerable pillars and building stones, that only small boats can enter. The sea has swallowed up a considerable part of the greatness of Tyre; and quite as large a portion of its splendid temples and fortifications lie buried in the earth. To a depth of many feet the soil trodden at the present day is one solid mass of building stones, shafts of pillars, and rubbish composed of marble, porphyry, and granite. Fragments of pillars of the costly verde antiquo (green marble) also lie strewn about in large quantities. The crust, which forms the soil that is trodden today, is merely the surface of this general heap of ruins. Thus has Tyre actually become “a bare rock, and a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea;” and “the dwelling-places, which are now erected upon a portion of its former site, are not at variance with the terrible decree, 'thou shalt be built no more'“ (compare Robinson’s Palestine, and Van de Velde’s Travels). - Thus has the prophecy of Ezekiel been completely fulfilled, though not directly by Nebuchadnezzar; for the prophecy is not a bare prediction of historical details, but is pervaded by the idea of the judgment of God. To the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar is the instrument of the punitive righteousness of God, and Tyre the representative of the ungodly commerce of the world. Hence, as Hävernick has already observed, Nebuchadnezzar’s action is more than an isolated deed in the prophet’s esteem. “In his conquest of the city he sees the whole of the ruin concentrated, which history places before us as a closely connected chain. The breaking of the power of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar stands out before his view as inseparably connected with its utter destruction. This was required by the internal theocratic signification of the fact in its relation to the destruction of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem will rise again to new glory out of its destruction through the covenant faithfulness of God (Eze 28:25-26). But Tyre, the city of the world’s commerce, which is rejoicing over the fall of Jerusalem, will pass away for ever (Eze 26:14; Eze 27:36).

Eze 28:20-26

Prophecy Against Sidon and Promise for Israel

The threatening word against Sidon is very brief, and couched in general terms, because as a matter of fact the prophecy against Tyre involved the announcement of the fall of Sidon, which was dependent upon it; and, as we have already observed, Sidon received a special word of God simply for the purpose of making up the number of the heathen nations mentioned to the significant number seven. The word of God against Sidon brings to a close the cycle of predictions of judgment directed against those heathen nations which had given expression to malicious pleasure at the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah. There is therefore appended a promise for Israel (Eze 28:25, Eze 28:26), which is really closely connected with the threatening words directed against the heathen nations, and for which the way is prepared by Eze 28:24. The correspondence of נקדּשׁתּי בהּ (I shall be sanctified in her) in Eze 28:22 to נקדּשׁתּי בם (I shall be sanctified in them) in Eze 28:25, serves to place the future fate of Israel in antithesis not merely to the future fate of Sidon, but, as Eze 28:24 and Eze 28:26 clearly show, to that of all the heathen nations against which the previous threats have been directed. Eze 28:20-24 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 28:21. Son of man, direct thy face towards Sidon, and prophesy against it, Eze 28:22. And say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will be against thee, O Sidon, and will glorify myself in the midst of thee; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I execute judgments upon it, and sanctify myself upon it. Eze 28:23. I will send pestilence into it, and blood into its streets; slain will fall in the midst of it by the sword, which cometh upon it from every side; and they shall learn that I am Jehovah. Eze 28:24. And there shall be no more to the house of Israel a malignant thorn and smarting sting from all round about them, who despise them; but they shall learn that I am the Lord Jehovah. - Jehovah will glorify Himself as the Lord upon Sidon, as He did before upon Pharaoh (compare Exo 14:4, Exo 14:16-17, to which the word נכבּדתּי in Eze 28:22, an unusual expression for Ezekiel, evidently points). The glorification is effected by judgments, through which He proves Himself to be holy upon the enemies of His people. He executes the judgments through pestilence and blood (vid., Eze 5:17; Eze 38:22), i.e., through disease and bloodshed occasioned by war, so that men fall, slain by the sword (cf. Eze 6:7). Instead of נפל we have the intensive form נפלל, which is regarded by Ewald and Hitzig as a copyist’s error, because it is only met with here. Through these judgments the Lord will liberate His people Israel from all round about, who increase its suffering by their contempt. These thoughts sum up in Eze 28:24 the design of God’s judgments upon all the neighbouring nations which are threatened in Ezekiel 25-28, and thus prepare the way for the concluding promise in Eze 28:25 and Eze 28:26. The figure of the sting and thorn points back to Num 33:55, where it is said that the Canaanites whom Israel failed to exterminate would become thorns in its eyes and stings in its sides. As Israel did not keep itself free from the Canaanitish nature of the heathen nations, God caused it to fell these stings of heathenism. Having been deeply hurt by them, it was now lying utterly prostrate with its wounds. The sins of Canaan, to which Israel had given itself up, had occasioned the destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16). But Israel is not to succumb to its wounds. On the contrary, by destroying the heathen powers, the Lord will heal His people of the wounds which its heathen neighbours have inflicted upon it. סלּון, synonymous with סלּון in Eze 2:6, a word only found in Ezekiel. ממאיר, on the contrary, is taken from Lev 13:51 and Lev 14:44, where it is applied to malignant leprosy (see the comm. on the former passage). - For השּׁאטים אותם, see Eze 16:57 and Eze 25:6.

Fall of the Prince of Tyre. (b. c. 588.)

1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God ; Because thine 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 a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 7 Behold, therefore 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. 8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. 9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God .

We had done with Tyrus in the foregoing chapter, but now the prince of Tyrus is to be singled out from the rest. Here is something to be said to him by himself, a message to him from God, which the prophet must send him, whether he will hear or whether he will forbear.

I. He must tell him of his pride. His people are proud (ch. xxvii. 3) and so is he; and they shall both be made to know that God resists the proud. Let us see, 1. What were the expressions of his pride: His heart was lifted up, v. 2. He had a great conceit of himself, was puffed up with an opinion of his own sufficiency, and looked with disdain upon all about him. Out of the abundance of the pride of his heart he said, I am a god; he did not only say it in his heart, but had the impudence to speak it out. God has said of princes, They are gods (Ps. lxxxii. 6); but it does not become them to say so of themselves; it is a high affront to him who is God alone, and will not give his glory to another. He thought that the city of Tyre had as necessary a dependence upon him as the world has upon the God that made it, and that he was himself independent as God and unaccountable to any. He thought himself to have as much wisdom and strength as God himself, and as incontestable an authority, and that his prerogatives were as absolute and his word as much a law as the word of God. He challenged divine honours, and expected to be praised and admired as a god, and doubted not to be deified, among other heroes, after his death as a great benefactor to the world. Thus the king of Babylon said, I will be like the Most High (Isa. xiv. 14), not like the Most Holy. "I am the strong God, and therefore will not be contradicted, because I cannot be controlled. I sit in the seat of God; I sit as high as God, my throne equal with his. Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet—Cæsar divides dominion with Jove. I sit as safely as God, as safely in the heart of the seas, and as far out of the reach of danger, as he in the height of heaven." He thinks his guards of men of war about his throne as pompous and potent as the hosts of angels that are about the throne of God. He is put in mind of his meanness and mortality, and, since he needs to be told, he shall be told, that self-evident truth, Thou art a man, and not God, a depending creature; thou art flesh, and not spirit, Isa. xxxi. 3. Note, Men must be made to know that they are but men, Ps. ix. 20. The greatest wits, the greatest potentates, the greatest saints, are men, and not gods. Jesus Christ was both God and man. The king of Tyre, though he has such a mighty influence upon all about him, and with the help of his riches bears a mighty sway, though he has tribute and presents brought to his court with as much devotion as if they were sacrifices to his altar, though he is flattered by his courtiers and made a god of by his poets, yet, after all, he is but a man; he knows it; he fears it. But he sets his heart as the heart of God; "Thou hast conceited thyself to be a god, hast compared thyself with God, thinking thyself as wise and strong, and as fit to govern the world, as he." It was the ruin of our first parents, and ours in them, that they would be as gods, Gen. iii. 5. And still that corrupt nature which inclines men to set up themselves as their own masters, to do what they will, and their own carvers, to have what they will, their own end, to live to themselves, and their own felicity, to enjoy themselves, sets their hearts as the heart of God, invades his prerogatives, and catches at the flowers of his crown—a presumption that cannot go unpunished.

2. We are here told what it was that he was proud of. (1.) His wisdom. It is probable that this prince of Tyre was a man of very good natural parts, a philosopher, and well read in all the parts of learning that were then in vogue, at least a politician, and one that had great dexterity in managing the affairs of state. And then he thought himself wiser than Daniel, v. 3. We found, before, that Daniel, though now but a young man, was celebrated for his prevalency in prayer, ch. xiv. 14. Here we find he was famous for his prudence in the management of the affairs of this world, a great scholar and statesman, and withal a great saint, and yet not a prince, but a poor captive. It was strange that under such external disadvantages his lustre should shine forth, so that he had become wise to a proverb. When the king of Tyre dreams himself to be a god he says, I am wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that they can hide from thee. Probably he challenged all about him to prove him with questions, as Solomon was proved, and he had unriddled all their enigmas, had solved all their problems, and none of them all could puzzle him. He had perhaps been successful in discovering plots, and diving into the counsels of the neighbouring princes, and therefore thought himself omniscient, and that no thought could be withholden from him; therefore he said, I am a god. Note, Knowledge puffeth up; it is hard to know much and not to know it too well and to be elevated with it. He that was wiser than Daniel was prouder than Lucifer. Those therefore that are knowing must study to be humble and to evidence that they are so. (2.) His wealth. That way his wisdom led him; it is not said that by his wisdom he searched into the arcana either of nature or government, modelled the state better than it was, or made better laws, or advanced the interests of the commonwealth of learning; but his wisdom and understanding were of use to him in traffic. As some of the kings of Judah loved husbandry (2 Chron. xxvi. 10), so the king of Tyre loved merchandise, and by it he got riches, increased his riches, and filled his treasures with gold and silver, v. 4, 5. See what the wisdom of this world is; those are cried up as the wisest men that know how to get money and by right or wrong to raise estates; and yet really this their way is their folly, Ps. xlix. 13. It was the folly of the king of Tyre, [1.] That he attributed the increase of his wealth to himself and not to the providence of God, forgetting him who gave him power to get wealth, Deut. viii. 17, 18. [2.] That he thought himself a wise man because he was a rich man; whereas a fool may have an estate (Eccl. ii. 19), yea, and a fool may get an estate, for the world has been often observed to favour such, when bread is not to the wise, Eccl. ix. 11. [3.] That his heart was lifted up because of his riches, because of the increase of his wealth, which made him so haughty and secure, so insolent and imperious, and which set his heart as the heart of God. The man of sin, when he had a great deal of worldly pomp and power, showed himself as a god, 2 Thess. ii. 4. Those who are rich in this world have therefore need to charge that upon themselves which the word of God charges upon them, that they be not high-minded, 1 Tim. vi. 17.

II. Since pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, he must bell him of that destruction, of that fall, which was now hastening on as the just punishment of his presumption in setting up himself a rival with God. "Because thou hast pretended to be a god (v. 6), therefore thou shalt not be long a man," v. 7. Observe here,

1. The instruments of his destruction: I will bring strangers upon thee—the Chaldeans, whom we do not find mentioned among the many nations and countries that traded with Tyre, ch. xxvii. If any of those nations had been brought against it, they would have had some compassion upon it, for old acquaintance-sake; but these strangers will have none. They are people of a strange language, which the king of Tyre himself, wise as he is, perhaps understands not. They are the terrible of the nations; it was an army made up of many nations, and it was at this time the most formidable both for strength and fury. These God has at command, and these he will bring upon the king of Tyre.

2. The extremity of the destruction: They shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom (v. 7), against all those things which thou gloriest in as thy beauty and the production of thy wisdom. Note, It is just with God that our enemies should make that their prey which we have made our pride. The king of Tyre's palace, his treasury, his city, his navy, his army, these he glories in as his brightness, these, he thinks, made him illustrious and glorious as a god on earth. But all these the victorious enemy shall defile, shall deface, shall deform. He thought them sacred, things that none durst touch; but the conquerors shall seize them as common things, and spoil the brightness of them. But, whatever becomes of what he has, surely his person is sacred. No (v. 8): They shall bring thee down to the pit, to the grave; thou shalt die the death. And, (1.) It shall not be an honourable death, but an ignominious one. He shall be so vilified in his death that he may despair of being deified after his death. He shall die the deaths of those that are slain in the midst of the seas, that have no honour done them at their death, but their dead bodies are immediately thrown overboard, without any ceremony or mark of distinction, to be a feast for the fish. Tyre is likely to be destroyed in the midst of the sea (ch. xxvii. 32) and the prince of Tyre shall fare no better than the people. (2.) It shall not be a happy death, but a miserable one. He shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised (v. 10), of those that are strangers to God and not in covenant with him, and therefore die under his wrath and curse. It is deaths, a double death, temporal and eternal, the death both of body and soul. He shall die the second death; that is dying miserably indeed. The sentence of death here passed upon the king of Tyre is ratified by a divine authority: I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And what he has said he will do. None can gainsay it, nor will he unsay it.

3. The effectual disproof that this will be of all his pretensions to deity (v. 9): "When the conqueror sets his sword to thy breast, and thou seest no way of escape, wilt thou then say, I am God? Wilt thou then have such a conceit of thyself as thou now hast? No; thy being overpowered by death, and by the fear of it, will force thee to own that thou art not a god, but a weak, timorous, trembling, dying man. In the hand of him that slays thee (in the hand of God, and of the instruments that he employed) thou shalt be a man, and not God, utterly unable to resist, and help thyself." I have said, You are gods; but you shall die like men, Ps. lxxxii. 6, 7. Note, Those who pretend to be rivals with God shall be forced one way or other to let fall their claims. Death at furthest, when we come into his hand, will make us know that we are men.

Fall of the Prince of Tyre. (b. c. 588.)

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God ; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, 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 prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

As after the prediction of the ruin of Tyre (ch. xxvi.) followed a pathetic lamentation for it (ch. xxvii.), so after the ruin of the king of Tyre is foretold it is bewailed.

I. This is commonly understood of the prince who then reigned over Tyre, spoken to, v. 2. His name was Ethbaal, or Ithobalus, as Diodorus Siculus calls him that was king of Tyre when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it. He was, it seems, upon all external accounts an accomplished man, very great and famous; but his iniquity was his ruin. Many expositors have suggested that besides the literal sense of this lamentation there is an allegory in it, and that it is an allusion to the fall of the angels that sinned, who undid themselves by their pride. And (as is usual in texts that have a mystical meaning) some passages here refer primarily to the king of Tyre, as that of his merchandises, others to the angels, as that of being in the holy mountain of God. But, if there be any thing mystical in it (as perhaps there may), I shall rather refer it to the fall of Adam, which seems to be glanced at, v. 13. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God, and that in the day thou wast created.

II. Some think that by the king of Tyre is meant the whole royal family, this including also the foregoing kings, and looking as far back as Hiram, king of Tyre. The then governor is called prince (v. 2); but he that is here lamented is called king. The court of Tyre with its kings had for many ages been famous; but sin ruins it. Now we may observe two things here:—

1. What was the renown of the king of Tyre. He is here spoken of as having lived in great splendour, v. 12-15. He as a man, but it is here owned that he was a very considerable man and one that made a mighty figure in his day. (1.) He far exceeded other men. Hiram and other kings of Tyre had done so in their time; and the reigning king perhaps had not come short of any of them: Thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. But the powers of human nature and the prosperity of human life seemed in him to be at the highest pitch. He was looked upon to be as wise as the reason of men could make him, and as happy as the wealth of this world and the enjoyment of it could make him; in him you might see the utmost that both could do; and therefore seal up the sum, for nothing can be added; he is a complete man, perfect in suo genere—in his kind. (2.) He seemed to be as wise and happy as Adam in innocency (v. 13): "Thou hast been in Eden, even in the garden of God; thou hast lived as it were in paradise all thy days, hast had a full enjoyment of every thing that is good for food or pleasant to the eyes, and an uncontroverted dominion over all about thee, as Adam had." One instance of the magnificence of the king of Tyre is, that he outdid all others princes in jewels, which those have the greatest plenty of that trade most abroad, as he did: Every precious stone was his covering. There is a great variety of precious stones; but he had of every sort and in such plenty that besides what were treasured up in his cabinet, and were the ornaments of his crown, he had his clothes trimmed with them; they were his covering. Nay (v. 14), he walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, that is, these precious stones, which glittered and sparkled like fire. His rooms were in a manner set round with jewels, so that he walked in the midst of them, and then fancied himself as glorious as if, like God, he had been surrounded by so many angels, who are compared to a flame of fire. And, if he be such an admirer of precious stones as to think them as bright as angels, no wonder that he is such an admirer of himself as to think himself as great as God. Nine several sorts of previous stones are here named, which were all in the high priest's ephod. Perhaps they are particularly named because he, in his pride, used to speak particularly of them, and tell those about him, with a great deal of foolish pleasure, "This is such a precious stone, of such a value, and so and so are its virtues." Thus is he upbraided with his vanity. Gold is mentioned last, as far inferior in value to those precious stones; and he used to speak of it accordingly. Another thing that made him think his palace a paradise was the curious music he had, the tabrets and pipes, hand-instruments and wind-instruments. The workmanship of these was extraordinary, and they were prepared for him on purpose; prepared in thee, the pronoun is feminine—in thee, O Tyre! or it denotes that the king was effeminate in doting on such things. They were prepared in the day he was created, that is, either born, or created king; they were made on purpose to celebrate the joys either of his birth-day or of his coronation-day. These he prided himself much in, and would have all that came to see his palace take notice of them. (3.) He looked like an incarnate angel (v. 14): Thou art the anointed cherub that covers or protects; that is, he looked upon himself as a guardian angel to his people, so bright, so strong, so faithful, appointed to this office and qualified for it. Anointed kings should be to their subjects as anointed cherubim, that cover them with the wings of their power; and, when they are such, God will own them. Their advancement was from him: I have set thee so. Some think, because mention was made of Eden, that it refers to the cherub set on the east of Eden to cover it, Gen. iii. 24. He thought himself as able to guard his city from all invaders as that angel was for his charge. Or it may refer to the cherubim in the most holy place, whose wings covered the ark; he thought himself as bright as one of them. (4.) He appeared in as much splendour as the high priest when he was clothed with his garments for glory and beauty: "Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God, as president of the temple built on that holy mountain; thou didst look as great, and with as much majesty and authority, as ever the high priest did when he walked in the temple, which was garnished with precious stones (2 Chron. iii. 6), and had his habit on, which had precious stones both in the breast and on the shoulders; in that he seemed to walk in the midst of the stones of fire." Thus glorious is the king of Tyre; at least he thinks himself so.

2. Let us now see what was the ruin of the king of Tyre, what it was that stained his glory and laid all this honour in the dust (v. 15): "Thou wast perfect in thy ways; thou didst prosper in all thy affairs and every thing went well with thee; thou hadst not only a clear, but a bright reputation, from the day thou wast created, the day of thy accession to the throne, till iniquity was found in thee; and that spoiled all." This may perhaps allude to the deplorable case of the angels that fell, and of our first parents, both of whom were perfect in their ways till iniquity was found in them. And when iniquity was once found in him it increased; he grew worse and worse, as appears (v. 18): "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries; thou hast lost the benefit of all that which thou thoughtest sacred, and in which, as in a sanctuary, thou thoughtest to take refuge; these thou hast defiled, and so exposed thyself by the multitude of thy iniquities." Now observe,

(1.) What the iniquity was that was the ruin of the king of Tyre. [1.] The iniquity of his traffic (so it is called, v. 18), both his and his people's, for their sin is charged upon him, because he connived at it and set them a bad example (v. 16): By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thus thou hast sinned. The king had so much to do with his merchandise, and was so wholly intent upon the gains of that, that he took no care to do justice, to give redress to those that suffered wrong and to protect them from violence; nay, in the multiplicity of business, wrong was done to many by oversight; and in his dealings he made use of his power to invade the rights of those he dealt with. Note, Those that have much to do in the world are in great danger of doing much amiss; and it is hard to deal with many without violence to some. Trades are called mysteries; but too many make them mysteries of iniquity. [2.] His pride and vain-glory (v. 17): "Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou wast in love with thyself, and thy own shadow. And thus thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of the brightness, the pomp and splendour, wherein thou livedst." He gazed so much upon this that it dazzled his eyes and prevented him from seeing his way. He appeared so puffed up with his greatness that it bereaved him both of his wisdom and of the reputation of it. He really became a fool in glorying. Those make a bad bargain for themselves that part with their wisdom for the gratifying of their gaiety, and, to please a vain humour, lose a real excellency.

(2.) What the ruin was that this iniquity brought him to. [1.] He was thrown out of his dignity and dislodged from his palace, which he took to be his paradise and temple (v. 16): I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. His kingly power was high as a mountain, setting him above others; it was a mountain of God, for the powers that be are ordained of God, and have something in them that is sacred; but, having abused his power, he is reckoned profane, and is therefore deposed and expelled. He disgraces the crown he wears, and so has forfeited it, and shall be destroyed from the midst of the stones of fire, the precious stones with which his palace was garnished, as the temple was; and they shall be no protection to him. [2.] He was exposed to contempt and disgrace, and trampled upon by his neighbours: "I will cast thee to the ground (v. 17), will cast thee among the pavement-stones, from the midst of the precious stones, and will lay thee a rueful spectacle before kings, that they may behold thee and take warning by thee not to be proud and oppressive." [3.] He was quite consumed, his city and he in it: I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee. The conquerors, when they have plundered the city, will kindle a fire in the heart of it, which shall lay it, and the palace particularly, in ashes. Or it may be taken more generally for the fire of God's judgments, which shall devour both prince and people, and bring all the glory of both to ashes upon the earth; and this fire shall be brought forth from the midst of thee. All God's judgments upon sinners take rise from themselves; they are devoured by a fire of their own kindling. [4.] He was hereby made a terrible example of divine vengeance. Thus he is reduced in the sight of all those that behold him (v. 18): Those that know him shall be astonished at him, and shall wonder how one that stood so high could be brought so low. The king of Tyre's palace, like the temple at Jerusalem, when it is destroyed shall be an astonishment and a hissing, 2 Chron. vii. 20, 21. So fell the king of Tyre.

The Fall of Zidon. (b. c. 588.)

20 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, 22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord , when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. 23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord . 24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God . 25 Thus saith the Lord God ; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant 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.

God's glory is his great end, both in all the good and in all the evil which proceed out of the mouth of the Most High; so we find in these verses. 1. God will be glorified in the destruction of Zidon, a city that lay near to Tyre, was more ancient, but not so considerable, had a dependence upon it and stood and fell with it. God says here, I am against thee, O Zidon! and I will be glorified in the midst of thee, v. 22. And again, "Those that would not know by gentler methods shall be made to know that I am the Lord, and I alone, and that I am a just and jealous God, when I shall have executed judgments in her, destroying judgments, when I shall have done execution according to justice and according to the sentence passed, and so shall be sanctified in her." The Zidonians, it should seem, were more addicted to idolatry than the Tyrians were, who, being men of business and large conversation, were less under the power of bigotry and superstition. The Zidonians were noted for the worship of Ashtaroth; Solomon introduced it, 1 Kings xi. 5. Jezebel was daughter to the king of Zidon, who brought the worship of Baal into Israel (1 Kings xvi. 31); so that God had been much dishonoured by the Zidonians. Now, says he, I will be glorified, I will be sanctified. The Zidonians were borderers upon the land of Israel, where God was known, and where they might have got the knowledge of him and have learned to glorify him; but, instead of that, they seduced Israel to the worship of their idols. Note, When God is sanctified he is glorified, for his holiness is his glory; and those whom he is not sanctified and glorified by he will be sanctified and glorified upon, by executing judgments upon them, which declare him a just avenger of his own and his people's injured honour. The judgments that shall be executed upon Zidon are war and pestilence, two wasting depopulating judgments, v. 23. They are God's messengers, which he sends on his errands, and they shall accomplish that for which he sends them. Pestilence and blood shall be sent into her streets; there the dead bodies of those shall lie who perished, some by the plague, occasioned perhaps through ill diet when the city was besieged, and some by the sword of the enemy, most likely the Chaldean armies, when the city was taken, and all were put to the sword. Thus the wounded shall be judged; when they are dying of their wounds they shall judge themselves, and others shall say, They justly fall. Or, as some read it, They shall be punished by the sword, that sword which has commission to destroy on every side. It is God that judges, and he will overcome. Nor is it Tyre and Zidon only on which God would execute judgments, but on all those that despised his people Israel, and triumphed in their calamities; for this was now God's controversy with the nations that were round about them, v. 26. Note, When God's people are under his correcting hand for their faults he takes care, as he did concerning malefactors that were scourged, that they shall not seem vile to those that are about them, and therefore takes it ill of those who despise them and so help forward the affliction when he is but a little displeased, Zech. i. 15. God regards them even in their low estate; and therefore let not men despise them. 2. God will be glorified in the restoration of his people to their former safety and prosperity. God had been dishonoured by the sins of his people, and their sufferings too had given occasion to the enemy to blaspheme (Isa. lii. 5); but God will now both cure them of their sins and ease them of their troubles, and so will be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, will recover the honour of his holiness, to the satisfaction of all the world, v. 25. For, (1.) They shall return to the possession of their own land again: I will gather the house of Israel out of their dispersions, in answer to that prayer (Ps. cvi. 27), Save us, O Lord our God! and gather us from among the heathen; and in pursuance of that promise (Deut. xxx. 4), Thence will the Lord thy God gather thee. Being gathered, they shall be brought in a body, to dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob. God had an eye to the ancient grant, in bringing them back, for that remained in force, and the discontinuance of the possession was not a defeasance of the right. He that gave it will again give it. (2.) They shall enjoy great tranquillity there. When those that have been vexatious to them are taken off they shall live in quietness; there shall be no more a pricking brier nor a grieving thorn, v. 24. They shall have a happy settlement, for they shall build houses, and plant vineyards; and they shall enjoy a happy security and serenity there; they shall dwell safely, shall dwell with confidence, and there shall be none to disquiet them or make them afraid, v. 26. This never had full accomplishment in the body of that people, for after their return out of captivity they were ever and anon molested by some bad neighbour or other. Nor has the gospel-church been ever quite free from pricking briers and grieving thorns; yet sometimes the church has rest, and believers always dwell safely under the divine protection and may be quiet from the fear of evil. But the full accomplishment of this promise is reserved for the heavenly Canaan, when all the saints shall be gathered together, and every thing that offends shall be removed, and all griefs and fears for ever banished.

CHAP. XXVIII.

Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord] See on chap. 18.1.

Ver. 2. Say unto the Prince of Tyre] Princes muſt be told their own, as well as others. It was partly by flattery that this Prince was ſo high-flown. His glory, wealth and wit alſo had ſo blown him up, that he forgat himſelf to be a man. Tabael Joſephus, out of Beroſus, calleth him: Diod[illegible: 1 letter]rus Siculus Ith[illegible: 1 letter]baal, others Ethbaal; A moſt proud and preſumptuous perſon he was, and a type of the devil, who is the King of all the children of pride, Job 41.34. Here he holdeth himſelf to be wiſer then Daniel, ver. 3. yea to be the ſum and perfection of all wiſdom, ver. 12. to excell the high-Prieſt in all his ornaments, Os humeroſque Deo ſimilis, ver. 13. yea to be above Adam, ib. above the Cherubims, ver. 14. laſtly to be God himſelf, and to ſit in his feat, ver. 2. O Lucifer out-devild! And yet as there were many Marii in one Caeſar, ſo by nature, there are many Ethbaals in the beſt of us: for as in water face anſwereth to face, ſo doth the heart of a man to a man, Prov. 27.19. Julius Caeſar ſuffered Altars and Temples to be dedicated unto him, as to a god: and what wonder, when as his flatterers told him that the freckles in his face were like the ſtars in the firmament?Sueton. Valladerius told Pope Paul the fifth (and he beleeved it) that he was a god, that he lived familiarly with the Godhead, that he heard predeſtination it ſelf whiſpering to him, that he had a place to ſit in council with the Divine Trinity, &c. Prodigious blaſphemy! Is not this that man of ſin, that Merum ſcelus ſpoken of by Paul, 2 Theſ. 2.4? (ſee more of this there) Was it not he that made Dandalus the Venetian Embaſſadour roul under his table, and as a dog eat cruſts there? and that ſuffered the Sicilian Embaſſadours to uſe theſe words unto him, Domine Deus papa miſerere noſtrum. O Lord God the Pope, have mercy upon us. And again, O Lamb of God that takeſt away the ſins of the world, grant us thy peace!

In the midſt of the ſeas] Where none can come at me. Yes Nebuchadnezzar could, and did, though after thirteen years ſiege, as Joſephus writeth: a hard tug and hot ſervice he had of it; but yet he did the deed: as did afterwards alſo Alexander the great, who never held any thing unfeiſible.

Ver. 3. Behold thou art wiſer then Daniel] That oracular man, who was [non-Latin text not transcribed], as one ſaith of Homer, [non-Latin text not transcribed] the moſt wiſe and knowing man alive. His name was now up at Babylon: and Ezekiel his Contemporary commendeth him. So doth the Baptiſt, Chriſt: and Peter, Paul, 2 Ep. 3. though there had been a breach between them, Gal. 2.14. there was no envy. But ſuch another Braggard as this in the text was Richardus de Sancto Victore a Monk of Paris, who ſaid that himſelf was a better Divine then any Prophet or Apoſtle of them all.Paraei hiſt. ſac. medul. Moral. 17. But How much better, ſaith Gregory, is humble ignorance then proud knowledge?

Ver. 4. With thy wiſdom — thou haſt gotten thee riches] Which yet is not every wiſe mans happineſſe. Aelian obſerveth that the wiſeſt and beſt of the Grecians were very poor: as Socrates, Ariſtides, Phecion, Ephialtes, Epaminondas, Pel[illegible: 1 letter]pidas, Var. hiſt. lib. 2. Eumolpus. Lamachus, and others. Fortuna fere favet fatuis: neſcio quomodo, bona mentis ſoror eſt paupertas, ſaith he in Petronius: Piety goeth oft yoked with poverty.

Ver. 5. Thine heart is lifted up becauſe of thy riches] Like as the higher the flood riſeth, the higher alſo doth the boat that floateth thereon. A ſmall blaſt will blow up a bubble: ſo will a few paltry pound[illegible: 1 letter]s puffe up a carnal heart.

By thy great wiſdom] Here God did nothing. And ſuch for all the world, ſaith Oecolampadius, are our free-will men, with their ego feci, this I did. Such Feci's are no better then faeces ſaith Luther, that is, dregs and droſſe.

Ver. 6. Becauſe thou haſt ſet thine heart as the heart of God] Thou thinkeſt thy wiſdome to be Divine, and thy ſelf the only one. The Tyrians were famous for their great wiſdom, Zach. 9.2. and they are ſaid to be the inventers of many arts: yet ſhould they not have overweened themſelves in this ſort: which becauſe they did, let them hear their doom.

Ver. 7. Behold therefore I will bring ſtrangers upon thee] Who ſhall not at all regard thy great wiſdom, but graſp after thy wealth, and ſuck thy blood for it. Neither will they favour thee the more becauſe thou art a King, but ſlay thee the rather, and ſay Hunc ipſum quaerimus, This is the right bird, as that ſouldier ſaid, who ſlew the moſt valiant King of Sweden, at the battle of Lutzen.

Ver. 8. They ſhall bring thee down to the pit] There ſhall lye the greatneſſe of the god of Tyre.

And thou ſhalt dye the deaths] Death will make no difference betwixt a Prince and a peſant, a Lord and a lozel. The mortal ſithe is maſter of the royal ſcepter.

Ver. 9. Wilt thou ſay before him that ſlayeth thee, I am a god?] That will prove a poor plea, and thou wilt ſoon be confuted: as afterwards great Alexander confuted his flatterers, when being wounded in fight he ſhewed them his blood.

Ver. 10. Thou ſhalt dye the death of the uncircumciſed] Not only a temporal but an eternal death: as they muſt needs do that are out of the Covenant of grace, whereof circumciſion was the ſeal. This is the ſad Catastrophe, of ſuch as dream of a deity. Of which number were Caligula, Herod, Heliogabalus, Diocleſian, and other monſters, uncircumciſed Viceg[illegible: 1 letter]ds, as we may in the worſt ſenſe, beſt term them.

Ver. 11. More[illegible: 1 letter]ver the word] See on chap. 18.1.

Ver. 12. Take up a lamentation for the King of Tyre] Who ſhall have little leiſure to lament for himſelf; his deſtruction ſhall be ſo ſudden. See on chap. 27.2.

Thou ſealeſt up the ſum] i. e. Thou art a pattern of perfection, in thine own conceit at leaſt: for a ſeal hath in it the perfect form of him that is thereby repreſented; and then is a letter perfected when the laſt act of ſetting to a ſeal is done to it.Literae conſignatae & clauſae & abſoluta ſunt. Oecol. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Plato. Hom. Tu es omnibus numeris abſolutum exemplar; ſo Vatablus and the Tigurines.

Ver. 13. Thou hast been in Eden] As a bird of Paradiſe, or as a tree growing there, —[non-Latin text not transcribed]. Thou art equal to Adam in the ſtate of innocency: and thy Tyre is no whit inferiour to the garden of God.

Flores in pratis fragrant, & purpura campis: Gemma coloratis fulg[illegible: 1 letter]t specioſa lapillis.

Every precious stone was thy covering] Not thy diadem only was deckt with them (as the Popes triple crown is at this day with gemmes of greateſt value) but thy royal robe (not inferiour, haply, to that of Demetrius King of Macedony, which none of his ſucceſſours would wear propter invidioſam impendii magnificentiam, it was ſo extream ſtately and coſtly) yea thy pantofles poſſibly, as Diocleſians the Emperour holding forth his feet to be kiſſed, as doth alſo the Pope at this day, who hath the croſs in precious ſtones ſet upon his pantofle, to the great reproach of Chriſtianity.

The Sardius, Topaz, and the diamond] Nine of thoſe rich ſtones that were ſet in the high-Prieſts Rationale, or breaſt-plate See on ver. 2.

The workmanſhip of thy tabrets] At thy birth, and at thine inauguration there was great mirth made, concrepantibus tympanis, tibiis & tubis. What a deal of joy and jollity was there lately expreſſed in many places for the birth of the Prince of Spain?

Trem.Ver. 14. Thou art the annointed Cherub] Or, thou art a Cherub ever ſince I annointed thee for Protectour: as the Cherubims cover the Ark with their wings, ſo doſt thou thy people; and therefore takeſt upon thee as if an earthly Angel.

Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God] Thou haſt been in heaven: or at leaſt on mount Sinai with Moſes, where God appeared with millions of his Angels having a fiery pavement under his feet, Exod. 24.10.

In the midſt of the ſtones of fire] i. e. Of Seraphims, ſay ſome, thoſe flaming creatures, of lightenings and thunderbolts, ſay others, which thou [illegible: 1 letter]utleſt about at thy pleaſure.

Saevum praeluſtri fulmes ab arce venit.

Ver. 15. Thou waſt perfect in thy wayes.] As the evil Angels alſo were: but now it is otherwiſe. Heaven ſpued out them in the very firſt act of their ſin, and ſoon after they were created. Look thou therefore to ſpeed accordingly, ſith iniquity is found in thee. Potentes potenter torquebuntur.

Ver. 16. By the multitude of thy merchandiſe] Multa ſunt fraudes ubi mercatura ſervet. Oecol. Many Merchants think they may do any thing for their own advantage: cheating and over-reaching paſſe for virtues with them.

And thou haſt ſinned] By ſuffering it ſo to be; for there is a paſſive injuſtice as well as an active.

I will caſt thee] I will bring thee down with a vengeance, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and make thee an example of that rule, Great ſins have great puniſhments.

Ver. 17. Thine heart, &c.] Faſtus ineſt palchris.

By reaſon of thy brightneſſe] Thine own ſplendor hath dazeled thee. Magna cognatio est ut rei ſic & nominis, di[illegible: 2 letters]is & vitiis.

That they may behold thee] And beware by thee.

Ver. 18. Thou haſt defiled thy ſanctuaries] i. e. Thy kingly palaces, where thou art looked upon and honoured as a God (but a wretched one) and which for ſtatelineſſe may vye with my Sanctuary. Adde hereto, that as none might come into the Temple but Prieſts only: ſo none might come into the palace but confiding perſons: The Turkes at this day ſuffer no ſtranger to come into the preſence of their Emperour, but firſt they claſp him by the arms, under colour of doing him honour,Turk. Hiſt. 715. but indeed to bereave him of the uſe of his hands, leſt he ſhould offer him any violence.

Therefore will I bring forth a fire in the midſt of thee] Thou ſhalt periſh by thine own ſins, as a houſe is burnt by fire kindled within it ſelf.

And I will bring thee to aſhes] Which ſhall remain as a laſting monument of the divine diſpleaſure; as did the aſhes and cinders of Sodom: and Herodotus ſaith the ſame of the aſhes of Troy.

Ver. 19. Thou ſhalt be a terrour] As Kings exceed all others in glory, ſo their fall is oft with ſo great ignominy, that they become a wonder and a terrour to all people.

Ver. 20. Again the Word of the Lord] See chap. 18.1.

Ver. 21. Set thy face againſt Zidon] An ancient and eminent City of Phenicia, little inferior to Tyrus: in Joſua it is called Zidon the great. Joſh 11. A very ſuperſtitious place, and a great enemy to Gods people.

Ver. 22. Behold I am againſt thee] Heb. I againſt thee, by an angry Apoſiopeſis,

I will be glorified] Viz. In thy juſt deſtruction.

And ſhall be ſanctified in her] See on Levit. 10.3.

Ver. 23. For I will ſend into her] Theſe are Gods evil Angels.

And the wounded ſhall be judged in the midſt of her] This was done likely by Nebuchaduezzar: but certainly by Artaxerxes Ochus the Perſian, as the Prophet Zachary had foretold, chap. 9. and as Diodorus Siculus hath left upon record.

Ver. 24. And there ſhall be no more a pricking bryar] For God will take away the Canaanite out of the land, Zach. 14. omnem ſpinum dolorificum: he will by his Judgements provide for his own glory, and for his peoples comfort.

Ver. 25. Then ſhall they dwel in their Land] Provided that they cleave cloſe to me: otherwiſe I will out them again. It hath been elſewhere noted, that the Promiſes are with a condition; which is as an oar in a boat, or ſtern of a ſhip, and turns the promiſe another way.

Ver. 26. And they ſhall dwell ſafely therein] Or, in confidence: And this is reiterated here to ſhew what a mercy of God it is, to live ſecure, and free from the fear of enemies.