Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 28:11 - 28:19

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 28:11 - 28:19


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Lamentation over the King of Tyre

v. 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord,
of Jehovah, the Lord of the covenant, came unto me, saying,

v. 12. Son of man, take up a lamentation,
raising a mournful song, upon the king of Tyrus and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest up the sum, literally, "Thou sealer-up of the measure of perfection. " full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. The prince of Tyre had erected the building of Tyre's wealth and beauty in perfection of symmetry and exactness of detail and, as it were, placed his seal upon the finished product, which was certainly wonderful in the eyes of men.

v. 13. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God,
the outward aspect of Tyre being that of ideal loveliness, of the greatest earthly advantages, as a garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, all possible magnificence was exhibited in the adornment of the city and particularly of the king's person, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, or chrysolite, the onyx and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, or the chrysoprase, and the carbuncle, stones of varying degrees of hardness and of the most beautiful colors, and gold, for it was this metal in which the precious stones were set; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created, literally, "the service of thy kettledrums and of thy women was ready for thee on the day of thy creation," that is, the prince of Tyre was born to the luxury of music and costly amusements, or he entered upon them on the day of his accession, he was accustomed to them from his earliest days.

v. 14. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth,
because he, as an anointed king, had the duty of protecting a nation of people, like a sanctuary in God's care; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God, for he was God's representative in governing the Tyrian state; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, which, like a fiery wall erected by God, protected the king in his office. Note that the pictures throughout are taken from the true Temple-worship and from the functions of kings of Judah, with which Ezekiel was familiar.

v. 15. Thou wast perfect in thy ways,
and therefore, in outer civic righteousness, acceptable to the Lord, from the day that thou wast created, which most likely means the day of his accession to the throne, till iniquity was found in thee, namely, when he made himself unworthy of his position on account of rebelliousness and perverseness.

v. 16. By the multitude of thy merchandise,
that is, on account of the fact that the commerce of Tyre gave the state great power among the nations, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, the unrighteous mammon held in the city having this influence upon those in power, that it caused them to violate the rights of the poor and needy, and thou hast sinned, the prince with his people; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, deposing him from his position as leader of the people; and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Cf v. 14.

v. 17. Thine heart was lifted up,
in blasphemous self-elation, because of thy beauty, of which the ruler of Tyre was so inordinately proud, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness, thinking that Tyre's splendor would serve as an excuse for every form of sin and guilt; I will cast thee to the ground, dashing him to utter destruction, I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee, as an example of God's wrath upon such as are lifted up in sinful pride.

v. 18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries,
the special holy privileges which are given by the Lord to governments, by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity, the deep corruptness, of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, the prince's iniquity itself becoming such a consuming fire; it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, thus completely consumed, in the sight of all them that behold thee, the surrounding nations being witnesses of Tyre's complete overthrow.

v. 19. All they that know thee among the people,
being acquainted with Tyre's former position and wealth, shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror, an object of horror to others, and never shalt thou be any more. This prophecy, together with the entire cycle of prophecies, was fulfilled partly in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, but still more completely at the time of Alexander the Great. If rightly interpreted and on the basis of all available data, secular history invariably supports the historical descriptions given in the Bible.