1Hospodin mne oslovil a řekl: 2Synu člověkův, rci knížeti tyrskému: Toto praví Pán Bůh: Proto, že se pozdvihlo tvé srdce, že jsi řekl: „Bůh já jsem, na trůně božím sedím v srdci moře," kdyžtě jsi člověk a ne Bůh, (proto, žes) pokládal bytost svou za bytost Boží: – 3hle, tys moudřejší nežli Daniel, žádná věc tajná není před tebou skryta; 4moudrostí a důvtipem svým zjednal jsi sobě moc, nabyl jsi zlata a stříbra do svých pokladnic; 5množstvím moudrosti své a obchodem svým rozmnožil jsi svou moc, i pozdvihlo se tvé srdce pro tvou zámožnost – 6proto – praví Pán Bůh toto: Za to, že zpyšněla tvá bytost v domnění, že jest bytost Boží: 7za to – aj – já přivedu na tě cizozemce, nejkrutější z národů; obnaží své meče na krásu moudrosti tvé a znesvětí nádheru tvou. 8Zabijí, strhnou tě, i umřeš smrtí zbitých prostřed moře. 9Zdali mluviti budeš „Bůh já jsem" před zabíjejícími tě, kdyžtě jsi člověk a ne Bůh v ruce zabíjejících tě? 10Smrtí neobřezanců zemřeš cizinců rukou; neboť já jsem (to) mluvil, praví Pán Bůh. 11Hospodin mne oslovil a řekl: Synu člověkův, počni žalozpěv nad králem tyrským. 12Rci mu: Toto praví Pán Bůh: Ty vrchole dokonalosti, plný moudrosti a nejvyšší krásy! 13V rozkoších ráje Božího byl jsi; všecky drahé kameny tebe pokrývaly: karneol, topas a jaspis, chrysolit, onyx a beryl, safír, rubín a smaragd; ze zlata umělecké dílo byly tvé šperky; dírkování (jejich) bylo (již) připraveno tobě v den, kdy byl jsi stvořen, 14Tys byl (jako) cherub (s křídly) roztaženými a kryjícími; a postavil jsem tě na svaté Boží hoře, mezi ohnivými kameny jsi chodil. 15Dokonalých mravů byl jsi ode dne stvoření svého, až byla nepravost shledána při tobě. 16Pro velký tvůj obchod naplnilo se tvé nitro nespravedlností, prohřešil ses, i svrhl jsem tě s hory Boží, a vyhladil jsem tě, cherube kryjící, z prostřed ohnivých kamenů. 17Pozdvihloť se srdce tvé krásou tvou, ztratil jsi svou moudrost v nádheře své. Na zemi srazil jsem tě, králům na pospas dal jsem tě, aby se zálibou hleděli na tě. 18Množstvím svých nepravostí a nepoctivostí v obchodě svém poskvrnil jsi svatost svou; protož vyvedu oheň z prostřed tebe, který tě spálí, a obrátím tě v popel na zemi před očima všech, kteří viděli tě. 19Všichni, kteří tě znali mezi národy, ztrnou nad tebou, veta po tobě bude, nebudeš na věky. 20Hospodin mne oslovil a řekl: 21Synu člověkův, upři tvář svou proti Sidonu a prorokuj proti němu. 22Rci: Toto praví Pán Bůh: Aj, já (přijdu) na tě, Sidone, a oslavím se prostřed tebe, i zvědí, že já jsem Hospodin, až vykonám na něm soudy, a ukáži na něm, že svatý jsem. 23Pošlu na něj mor, a krveprolití do ulic jeho, že padati budou zbití mečem v něm vůkol, i zvědí, že já jsem Hospodin. 24A tak nebude již míti dům Israelův podnětu k hořkosti nebo trnu bolest působícího v kruhu všech sousedů, kteří nevrazili na něj, i zvědí, že já jsem Pán Bůh. 25Toto praví Pán Bůh: Až shromáždím dům Israelův z národů, mezi něž rozptýleni jsou, ukáži na nich před národy, že jsem svatý i bydliti budou ve své zemi, kterou jsem dal svému služebníku Jakobovi. 26Budou bydliti v ní bezpečně; budou stavěti domy, štěpovati vinice, slovem budou bydliti klidně, kdežto na všech, kteří kolem nich nevrazili na ně, konati budu soudy; i zvědí, že já jsem Hospodin, jejich Bůh.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 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. (Eze. 28:1-26)
Because, &c.--repeated resumptively in
Ezek 28:6. The apodosis begins at
Ezek 28:7. "The prince of Tyrus" at the time was Ithobal, or Ithbaal II; the name implying his close connection with Baal, the Phśnician 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 (
Isa 14:13-
Isa 14:14), yet has an ulterior and fuller accomplishment in Satan and his embodiment in Antichrist (
Dan 7:25;
Dan 11:36-
Dan 11:37;
2Thess 2:4;
Rev 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 (
Zech 9:2).
no secret--namely, forgetting riches (
Ezek 28:4).
that they can hide--that is, that can be hidden.
5 (
Ps 62:10).
6 Because, &c.--resumptive of
Ezek 28:2.
7 therefore--apodosis.
strangers . . . terrible of the nations--the Chaldean foreigners noted for their ferocity (
Ezek 30:11;
Ezek 31:12).
against the beauty of thy wisdom--that is, against thy beautiful possessions acquired by thy wisdom on which thou pridest thyself (
Ezek 28:3-
Ezek 28:5).
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 (
Jer 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
Ezek 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 (
1Sam 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 (
Dan 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 (
Ezek 31:8-
Ezek 31:9;
Ezek 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 (
Gen 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 (
Exod 39:10-
Exod 39:13;
Rev 21:14,
Rev 21:19-
Rev 21:21). 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 (
Zech 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
Gen 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" (
2Thess 2:4).
I have set thee--not thou set thyself (
Pro 8:16;
Rom 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" (
Exod 24:10,
Exod 24:17).
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 (
1Kgs 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
Ezek 28:14) which thou hast occupied (compare
Ps 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
Ezek 28:14, as his ideal position. As he "profaned" it, so God will "profane" him (
Ezek 28:16).
fire . . . devour--As he abused his supposed elevation amidst "the stones of fire" (
Ezek 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 (
Gen 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 (
Ezek 8:14;
Judg 10:6;
1Kgs 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,
Judg 1:31) had been (
Num 33:55;
Josh 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" (
Lev 13:51-
Lev 13:52). The wicked are often called "thorns" (
2Sam 23:6).
25 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 (
Matt 15:21,
Matt 15:24,
Matt 15:26-
Matt 15:28; compare
Isa 11:12).
dwell safely-- (
Jer 23:6).
This is the last of the world kingdoms against which Ezekiel's prophecies are directed, and occupies the largest space in them, namely, the next four chapters. Though farther off than Tyre, it exercised a more powerful influence on Israel.