= Ezekiel 28 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Ezekiel_27|Previous]] | [[Ezekiel_29|Next]] ] == Ezekiel 28 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. 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. 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. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 2 a seat of God he made for himself in the air, over the sea, with a mechanism that was a replica of seven heavens, and he sat down on the highest one. ==== Verse 3 Behold, are you wiser than Daniel [As for] Daniel Nebuchadnezzar came to make him a god (Dan. 2:46): “and prostrated himself before Daniel, and ordered that they should offer a meal offering and sacrifices of sweet odors to him,” but he did not accept it upon himself, yet you make yourself a God? that no secret is hidden from you [Heb. לֹא עֲמָמוּךָ,] is not hidden from you. These are taunts [by] which he is taunting; that is to say: Perhaps you are as wise as Daniel, about whom it is stated: (Dan. 4: 6): “and no secret overwhelms you?” ==== Verse 4 did you acquire wealth for yourself [Heb. עָשִיתָ לְךָ חָיִל. lit. did you make.] Did you acquire property for yourself? and gather gold and silver [Heb. וְתַעַשּׂ,] and gather. ==== Verse 7 and they will draw their swords [This is to be understood] according to its apparent meaning. [According to] Midrash Aggadah (see Mechilta to Exod. 15:9; Tan. Va’era 9), it means homosexuality, for he was used sexually as women are. Three pretended to be gods and were sexually molested like women: Joash the son of Ahaziah, as it is said (II Chron. 24:24): “and upon Joash they exacted judgment,” Hiram, and Nebuchadnezzar. your brightness [Heb. יִפְעָתֶךָ,] your brightness, an expression of the appearance of the countenance. The Medrash interprets it as “the beauty of your time (יְפֵה עִתֶּךָ) .” ==== Verse 9 your slayer [Heb. מְחַלְלֶךָ,] like הוֹרְגֶךָ. ==== Verse 12 images [Heb. תָּכְנִית,] peinture in French, painting, engraving. You are the one who engraves images, etc. You are full of the wisdom to seal and to stamp every pattern and shape. ==== Verse 13 In Eden, the garden of God With much goodness and pleasure. You enjoy yourself as if you were dwelling in Eden, the garden of God. All wealth, pride, and honor are given to you: all precious stones are set on your raiment. your covering Your canopy. Another explanation: Your raiment. the work of your drums and your orifices Although I gave you all this honor, I knew that you would become haughty, and I made in you the work of the perforated drums that let out wind with an instrumental sound like a drum, and these are what you should have contemplated about. ==== Verse 14 You are a cherub of great measure, that covers You are a bird of measure, i.e., the huge bird that covers a large area with his wings; i.e., you rule over a large dominion. מִמְשַּׁח is a word for largeness, like (Num. 13:32): “men of stature (אַנְשֵּׁי מִדוֹת).” which is translated into Aramaic as גַבְרֵי דְמִשְּׂחָן. and I gave that to you; you were on the mount of the sanctuary of God and I gave you a place to acquire a name for yourself in the edifice of the mountain of My sanctuary, for you assisted Solomon with the cedar wood. you walked among stones of fire You acquired for yourself a memorial with the kings of Israel, who are like the ministering angels. ==== Verse 15 until wrongdoing was found in you in your saying, “I am a god.” ==== Verse 16 they filled [Heb. מָלוּ, like מָלְאוּ,] they filled. and I shall cast you as profane You caused me to eradicate you, so that you shall no longer be remembered concerning the building of My House. and I shall destroy you [Heb. וָאַבֶּדְךָ,] like וָאֲאַבֶּדְךָ and I shall destroy you. from among the stones of fire that you shall not take a share with the righteous. Our Rabbis in the Midrash Aggadah (B. B. 75a) interpreted this section as referring to Adam: So said the prophet to Hiram, “Why should you be proud of your sky? Were you in the Garden of Eden, as Adam was? [13] every precious stone, etc. For I made all these canopies for Adam, and the least of them was gold, which is counted last. the work of your drums, etc. With this, I made you equal to him, but not with anything else, and I pondered over you and created drums and orifices in Adam. [14] Are you a cherub of great measure Are you like that cherub that was great in measure, whose great wingspan covered from one end of heaven completely to the other end of heaven, and did I place you to be on the holy mountains as I placed him? ==== Verse 17 you destroyed your wisdom with your brightness for you were proud of your brightness. to gaze upon you [Heb. לְרַאֲוָה בָּך] to gaze upon your shame; לְרַאֲוָה is like לִרְאִיָה, to see. ==== Verse 18 you profaned your sanctity [Heb. מִקְדָשֶׁךָ,] your sanctity. fire out of your midst Haughty words that came out of your mouth, saying, “I am a god.” Another explanation: [It is to be interpreted] according to the Targum: And I brought forth peoples as strong as fire because of your arrogant sins. ==== Verse 19 will wander [Heb. שָּׁמְמוּ.] will wonder. ==== Verse 23 and they will judge themselves as slain in her midst by the sword [coming] upon her from all around Because they will see the sword surrounding [them] from outside, the people of the city will assess [the situation] and be sure that they will be slain in her midst. [Heb. וְנִפְלַל,] like (Gen. 48:11): “I did not think (פִלָּלְתִּי),” and like (Deut. 32:31): “and our enemies judge (פְּלִילִים).” They will judge themselves to be slain in her midst. ==== Verse 24 And there will no longer be to the house of Israel, etc. Since he prophesied about Ammon, Moab, the Philistines, Edom, Tyre, and Zidon, who are the neighbors of the land of Israel, that they would be destroyed. Since they all will be destroyed, there will not be a briar or a thorn to [the people of Israel, in all their surroundings, to pain or harm them. briars [Heb. סִילוֹן,] a species of thistles and thorns. pricking [Heb. מַמְאִיר,] a matter of hurting, like (Lev. 13:51): “painful (מַמְאֶרֶת) zaarath,” poignante in French, stinging, pricking. who plunder them [Heb. הַשָּׁאטִים,] who plunder them. ==== Verse 25 to My servant, to Jacob As it was given to Jacob, an inheritance without boundaries (Gen. 28: 14): “and you will spread out toward the west and the east, toward the north and the south.”