Ezekiel 28: 1-10 Against the “Prince” of Tyre

¹The word of the LORD came to me: ²Mortal, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Because your heart is proud
and you have said, “I am a god;
I sit in the seat of the gods,
in the heart of the seas,”
yet you are but a mortal, and no god,
though you compare your mind
with the mind of a god.
³You are indeed wiser than Daniel;
no secret is hidden from you;
⁴by your wisdom and your understanding
you have amassed wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
into your treasuries.
⁵By your great wisdom in trade
you have increased your wealth,
and your heart has become proud in your wealth.
⁶Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you compare your mind
with the mind of a god,
⁷therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
the most terrible of the nations;
they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
and defile your splendor.
⁸They shall thrust you down to the Pit,
and you shall die a violent death
in the heart of the seas.
⁹Will you still say, “I am a god,”
in the presence of those who kill you,
though you are but a mortal, and no god,
in the hands of those who wound you?
¹⁰You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD.

This continuation of the oracles against Tyre, now focusing on the ‘prince’ and ‘king’ of Tyre highlight the reality that there is much we do not understand about either the worldview of the prophet Ezekiel and, assuming his audience in the exile understood his words, the worldview of the people of Judah at the time of the exile. It is clear from working through scripture that there are myths and stories that inform the text that we no longer possess that we get a hint of at various points. This pair of oracles against the ‘leaders’ of Tyre give us some interesting hints and I will do my best to make educated guesses of how to interpret these sections, but at certain points there are merely educated guesses. As Daniel Block states:

Chapter 28 is at the same time one of Ezekiel’s most intriguing artistic creations and one of the most difficult texts in the entire book. The problems, many of which defy satisfactory scholarly solution, include the identification of the limits of the unit, the relationship between vv. 1-10 and 11-19, the relationship between the oracles concerning the king of Tyre and the foregoing messages about the city, numerous textual difficulties, perplexing hapax legomena[1] and phrases, the sources of the prophet’s ideological notions, the relationship between this text and biblical traditions (esp. the narratives of Gen. 1-3, as well as the Priestly material in Exod. 28, and the wisdom writings), the message the prophet is attempting to convey to his own people. (Block, 1998, p. 87)

Structurally verses 1-10 and 11-19 are two separate oracles and the marker of “the word of the LORD came to me” indicates the separation in these related oracles. Both have a story that they are likely pulling on which give a fuller meaning to the text that we as modern readers can only attempt to reconstruct. The overall meaning of the texts is clear without fully grasping the backstory as these leaders of Tyre who are given great wisdom and abilities become foolish in their heart[2] leading to their destruction. This leader of Tyre is like Solomon, given great wisdom and turns that wisdom to trade-yet in their prosperity they begin to believe they are more than what they are created to be.

Verses 1-10 address the “prince” of Tyre. Previously Ezekiel referred to King Zedekiah of Jerusalem as ‘prince’ rather than ‘king’ and a similar usage is probably occurring here. This also provides a contrast to the following oracle where the “king” of Tyre is addressed. This proud hearted ‘prince’ whose throne is in the heart of the seas has the audacity to claim they are on par with a god. They compare their heart with the heart of a god.[3] They have been prosperous, and their heart has become proud in their wealth, and again they compare their heart to the heart of a god. Their arrogance leads to their death in the heart of the seas.

This prince is as wise as Daniel. Many scholars believe this cannot refer to the biblical Daniel since the book of Daniel most likely comes from a period much later than Ezekiel.[4] These scholars believe there must be some other Dan’el who is a figure known for his wisdom in the stories of the region (see the discussion on Ezekiel 14:12-23), yet the Book of Daniel relates the story of a younger contemporary of Ezekiel in the exile who by his wisdom ascends to a position of authority in Nebuchadrezzar’s court. I find it plausible that the stories of Daniel are known to his fellow exiles and become a point of hope for the people attempting to navigate the exile. These stories of hope probably continued to be told and would be formalized into the book of Daniel later.

This prince of Tyre who is an equal in wisdom to Daniel and perhaps even Solomon turns his wisdom to acquisition. King Solomon’s story forms an interesting parallel to this prince of Tyre. Both are stories of men given wisdom and wealth and both are viewed, by the scriptures, as failed leaders.[5] Solomon followed the ways of King Hiram of Tyre, the Pharoah of Egypt, and the Queen of Sheba in the end rather than the ways of the LORD the God of Israel and this ultimately led to the fracture of Israel in the next generation. Great wisdom in trade has filled the treasuries of the prince of Tyre but it has deceived his heart into believing that he has the heart of a god when he is merely a mortal and no god.

Marvin Pope theorizes that behind these two oracles lies the Ugaritic myths of the older god El being banished from the Mount Zaphon by the storm god Ba’al to dwell in the heart of the rivers. (NIB VI: 1387) Although this is possible, the Canaanite religions seem to be an ever-present alternative throughout the narrative of scripture and one that the people seem acquainted with. It is also likely that Tyre’s location in the ‘heart of the sea’ is merely referring to the city being an island. Ezekiel highlighted this in the previous chapter with his ship metaphor. Particularly for this first oracle the mythic background is not as necessary. This heart proud ‘prince’ who rules Tyre looks upon his prosperity and security and compares his wisdom, which is great by worldly standards, with the divine proving his foolishness. The consequence of his foolishness in the oracle is that he will “die the death of the slain” (NRSV die a violent death) and “die the death of the uncircumcised.” The residents of Tyre, like the people of Judah, practiced circumcision so this final taunt probably resonates something like Greenberg’s paraphrase. “You will die like a dog.” (NIB VI: 1389)

Ezekiel 28: 11-19 Against the “King” of Tyre

¹¹Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: ¹²Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:
You were the signet of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering,
carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and emerald;
and worked in gold were your settings
and your engravings.
On the day that you were created
they were prepared.
¹⁴With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you;
you were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked among the stones of fire.
¹⁵You were blameless in your ways
from the day that you were created,
until iniquity was found in you.
¹⁶In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out
from among the stones of fire.
¹⁷Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade,
you profaned your sanctuaries.
So I brought out fire from within you;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all who saw you.
¹⁹All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.

It is possible that there are mythic elements in the first oracle of the chapter, but in this second oracle for the king of Tyre they are undeniable. This chapter is a good example of the “openness, playfulness, and oddness” of the Jewish nature of the Hebrew Scriptures that Walter Brueggemann mentions in his Theology of the Old Testament. (Brueggemann, 1997, p. 111) This lamentation over the ‘king’ of Tyre which places this king in Eden and grants him the title of being an anointed cherub not only takes us back to the theophany scenes of Ezekiel 1 and 10 with the cherubim but into the stories of creation in Genesis 1-3. Yet, the presence of the ‘king’ of Tyre in this story may be playful, open, or odd to us modern readers but to Ezekiel it fit within his understanding of the world in which the LORD ruled over all creatures and the world of the divine is closer than our disenchanted world allows.

This lamentation is for the king (melek) rather than the prince of Tyre and the change in terminology is intentional. Either the king of Tyre is being looked on as a mythical figure, much like the Pharoah of Egypt was considered to either divine or connected to the gods of Egypt, or we are addressing the power behind the king of Tyre. In the ancient worlds the kings were often viewed as receiving their authority from the gods of their region and Melqart, the god of Tyre, whose name means “king of the city” may be in view here. The god of a region is sometimes addressed as representing the region itself, and although some scholars are resistant to this type of interpretation this is not uncommon in the bible where the God of Israel is portrayed as dominant over the gods of other cities or nations. If it is a god who is being addressed here, then their presence as a creation of the LORD in the garden of Eden and on the mountain of God makes more sense. This would resonate with the picture of the God of Israel taking his place at the head and judging the ‘gods’ at the divine council in Psalm 82.

Much as the prince of Tyre was wiser than Daniel, now the king of Tyre is the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. The indication of the king of Tyre as a signet of the LORD indicates that they are one who is a representative of God’s power on the earth. The precious stones listed are nine of the twelve stones listed for the breastplate of the high priest of Israel, and they may be worn as jewelry or a breastplate or in the creation of this ‘king’ they may be placed within him like in a sculpture. Ezekiel’s previous description of cherubim, particularly in Ezekiel 1, make them seem like living statues rather than normal fleshly creatures. Yet, Ezekiel insists that this ‘king’ and ‘cherub’ is a created being- a specially created being but a created being nonetheless. This anointed cherub occupies a position of privilege and power both in the garden of Eden and on the mountain of God walking among the stones of fire.[6]

Yet, like the prince in the previous oracle, this privilege and power end when iniquity is found in this king/cherub. Like humanity in the time of Noah, this king is ‘filled with violence’ and they sin. As a result they are cast out of the mountain of God to the ground and driven out by ‘guardian cherubs.’ This ‘cherub’s’ heart was proud, and their wisdom was corrupted. Their wisdom, as above, is turned to acquisition, their worship is turned towards wealth, and now the fire comes from within to consume this cherub.[7] This one who was once the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty is now an appalling sight who comes to a dreadful end.

For many conservative Christians this lament for the king of Tyre has become something much different. Since the time of Origin (185-253) some Christians have equated the king of Tyre and Lucifer, and this lament becomes the tragic story of Lucifer’s fall. This interpretation comes out in Milton’s Paradise Lost and is influential. It is also not what Ezekiel was intending. Even with the mythic elements this is a part of Ezekiel’s collection of oracles against the city of Tyre and their leaders. Yet, the imagery in this section is odd portraying either the king of Tyre or the god of Tyre as a character alongside the God of creation in Eden and present with God as a figure of authority. For all its oddness, the primary intention of the lament is clear. It announces the LORD’s judgment against the city of Tyre and either its king or its god.

Ezekiel 28: 20-23 Against Sidon

²⁰The word of the LORD came to me: ²¹Mortal, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it, ²²and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
I am against you, O Sidon,
and I will gain glory in your midst.
They shall know that I am the LORD
when I execute judgments in it,
and manifest my holiness in it;
²³for I will send pestilence into it,
and bloodshed into its streets;
and the dead shall fall in its midst,
by the sword that is against it on every side.
And they shall know that I am the LORD.

In sharp contrast to the previous oracles, the oracle against Sidon is both short and generic. As Daniel Block states compared to the earlier addresses:

this passage lacks vibrancy and luster…Except for the naming of Sidon as the addressee, the oracle could have been pronounced against any of the nations addressed earlier, as well as many that receive no attention in the book. (Block, 1998, p. 121)

Sidon, often listed together with Tyre, does not have the benefit of being an island nation. Sidon had once been the larger and more powerful of the two cities, but was conquered by Assyria’s King Sennachrib (704-681 BCE). Not much is known about any conflict with Sidon under Babylon, but Sidon’s king does appear as one of the captives at Nebuchadrezzar’s court. The oracle describes a similar fate for Sidon as Jerusalem suffered[8] which is plausible if Nebuchadrezzar’s armies came against it and laid siege to it. It is possible that this oracle against Sidon is included to bring the number of nations addressed to seven, one of the numbers of completeness in Hebrew. Sidon would have been an easier target as a land based port than the challenges of conquering an island stronghold like Tyre.

Ezekiel 28: 24-26 Hope for a Restored Israel

²⁴The house of Israel shall no longer find a pricking brier or a piercing thorn among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
²⁵Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall settle on their own soil that I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶They shall live in safety in it, and shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall live in safety, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

The biblical prophets frequently use the judgment of the other nations as a transition between the messages of judgment to Israel and a future hope[9] yet here at the midpoint of the judgment of the nations Ezekiel includes this moment of hope for Israel. This moment of hope acts almost like a hinge between the equal sized judgments on the first six nations and the equivalent space spent on the condemnation of Egypt. Yet, here is a hope for the end of the exile when the people are gathered from among the nations and returned to the land. Building houses and cultivating vineyards is a risky business in a time of conflict where enemies can either possess or burn, yet it also points to the ideal vision of life for the Hebrew people where everyone can rest under their own vine or fig tree. These actions for a time of peace, actions for a hopeful future much like Jeremiah’s purchase of a field was to indicate a future where the people would return to the land.[10] The LORD has not forgotten the people and from the remnant is committed to reestablishing the nation of Israel and living as their God.

[1] A hapax legomena is a word that only occurs once and because of this is difficult to translate with any certainty.

[2] “Heart” is a key word throughout this initial oracle occurring eight times. This is obscured by the NRSV which sometimes renders “heart” as “mind” which although it captures the Hebrew sense that the heart is the seat of will, decision making, and wisdom misses the emphasis in the text.

[3] This is a place where the NRSV changes the word from “heart” to “mind.” I have kept the Hebrew terminology to help give the rhythm of the text.

[4] Daniel is believed to be one of the last books of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible written around the time of the Maccabean revolt (167-141 BCE) around four centuries after the prophet Ezekiel.

[5] See my comments on the foolishness of Solomon in 1 Kings 11: 1-13

[6] The stones of fire may relate to the fire in the middle of the cherubim in both Ezekiel 1 and 10. It is very different than the image in Exodus 24 where the elders of Israel see God and the floors are a pavement of sapphire stones.

[7] Perhaps again a reference to the image in Ezekiel 1 and 10.

[8] For example, Ezekiel 5.

[9] See comments at the beginning of Ezekiel 25.

[10] Jeremiah 32: 1-15.