Ezekiel 28

Ezekiel 25–32 collects prophecies of judgment against the nations surrounding Israel. Chapter 28 concludes the prophecy against Tyre begun in chapters 26–27 and is followed by a brief prophecy against Sidon and a promise of Israel's restoration.

Outline

• Verses 1–10: The king of Tyre has grown proud, saying, "I am a God." God declares that he is only a man and that foreign armies will put him to death in the midst of the seas.
• Verses 11–19: God commands Ezekiel to take up a lament (a song mourning a death) for the king of Tyre. The lament recounts that he was a "covering cherub" adorned with precious stones in Eden, but that through his trade he was filled with violence and grew proud because of his beauty, so that he was cast out and reduced to ashes.
• Verses 20–23: A prophecy against Sidon. God will judge Sidon with pestilence and the sword and thereby reveal His holiness.
• Verses 24–26: God promises that the thorn that tormented Israel will be removed and that the scattered house of Israel will return to the land He gave to Jacob and dwell there in safety.

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 28:2: "Thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God" — exposes pride, the sin that runs throughout the chapter.
• Ezekiel 28:14: "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth" — the verse at the center of interpretive debate.
• Ezekiel 28:26: "And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards" — a promise of restoration set among prophecies of judgment.

People and Places

• King of Tyre: The ruler of Tyre, a trading city on the Mediterranean coast. The text does not name him.
• Daniel: Mentioned in verse 3 as a standard of wisdom. Interpreters differ over whether this figure is the prophet Daniel; some scholars suggest he may be Danel, a righteous figure in ancient Ugaritic literature.
• Garden of Eden: Described in verse 13 as "the garden of God," where the king of Tyre had been.
• Sidon: A Phoenician port city north of Tyre.

Points for Reflection

Interpretations of verses 11–19 fall into two broad camps.

• The fall of Satan: This view reads the passage, together with Isaiah 14, as a description of the fall of Satan. The interpretation dates back to the early church.
• A poetic portrayal of the king of Tyre: This view holds that the passage borrows the imagery of Eden and the cherubim to depict the splendor and downfall of the king of Tyre. Its proponents note that the text addresses the king of Tyre from beginning to end.

The Hebrew of verse 14 is difficult. Some ancient versions, including the Septuagint, render it "I placed you with the cherub."

Commentators frequently note that the list of precious stones in verse 13 overlaps with the stones of the high priest's breastplate (Exodus 28).

The title "son of man," by which Ezekiel is addressed, means "human being." Its usage is distinct from that of the title Jesus applied to Himself in the Gospels. In the New Testament, Jesus refers to Tyre and Sidon when speaking of judgment (Matthew 11:21–22).

In the Korean Church

Verses 11–19, together with Isaiah 14, are frequently used as sermon texts on the origin of Satan and the dangers of pride.