Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Go(r& Judgment on the King of Tyre, EZEKIEL XXVIII. Judgment of Zldon, and Israel Reslored.
custom dues levied on the wares. 34. In tlie time -wlieii
The nine precious stones here mentioned answer to nlnu of the twelve (representing the twelve tril)es) in the liigh priest's breastplate (Exodus 31). 10-13; Revelation 21. li, 19-. . . sSkalt . .» sliall—iVoio tliat thou a?< broken (wrecked),
&('., t.liy merchandise, &c.,are fallen. [Mauker.] 35. Isles —sea-coasts. 36. Uiss—with astonishment; as in 1 Kings
21). Of the four rows of three in ea(-h, the third is omitted in the Jfcbrcw, but is supplied in the LXX. In this, too, tdcre is an ulterior reference to Antichrist, who is blasphemously Lo arrogate the office of our Divine High J'riest (Zechariah 0. 13). tabrets—tambourines, pipea—lit., lioltB in musical j)ipes or flutes, created i. c., in the auy of tfune accession to tlie tlirone. Tanibournies and all tjia marks of j{iy w re ready prepared lor thee ("in thee,'' i. p. with and tor 'hee). Tliou hadst not, like others, to worU thy way to the throne through arduous sti uggles. No sooner created than, like Adam, thou wast surrounded with tlie gratifications of Eden. Fairbairn, for "pipes," translates, "females" (having reference to Genesis 1. 27.),
9. 8. CHAPTER XXVIII.
Vcr. 1-26. I'KOl'HETICAL DiKGE ON THE KiNQ OF TYRE, AS vuE Culmination and Embodiment op the Spirit
OS' CaHNAL Pr) UE and HELF-SUrFICIENCY OF THE WHOI.E Statu. The Fall of Zidon, the Mother-city. The Bestoration of Israel in contrast with Tyre and Zidon. 2. Ilecanse, &c.—Repeated resumptively in v. 6; the apodosis begins at d. 7. "The prince of Tyrus" at the time was Ithobiil, or Xtlibaal II.; the name implying his close couuection with Baal, the Phcenician supreme god, whose representative he was. I am . . . god, I sit in . . .
f. e., musician-women. Mauukr explains the Jlebrew not as to mu.sic, but as to the setting and mounting of the genvs previously mentioned. 14. anointed clterub—Gi-SKNiL'S translates from an Aramaic root, "extended cherub." English W'Tsion, from a Hebrew root, is better. "The cherub consecrated to the Lord by the anointing oil." [F'airbairn.] covtrctli — Tlie imagery employed by Ezekiel as a priest is from the Jewish temple, wherein the cherubim overshadowed the mercy-seat, as the king of Tj-re, a demi-god in his own esteen, extended hir. protection over tlie interests of Tyre. The cherub—an ideal compound of the higliest kinds of animal existence, and the type of redeemed man in liis ultimate state of perfection—is made tlie 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. Of. "As God ... in the temple of God" (2 Thessalonians 2. 4). I Have set tliee—not tliou set thj-self (Proverbs 8. 16; Romans 13. I), upon tlie Jioly 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," whilst His glory was like "devouring
Beail of (Jod . . . the seas—As God sits enthroned in His heavenly citadel exempt from all injury, so I sit secure in my i)npregnat)le stronghold amidst the stormiest elemi nts, able to control them at will, and make tliem subserve my interests. Tlie language, though primarily here apjilied to tlie king of Tyre, as similar language is to the king of Babylon (Isaiah II. 13, 14), yet has an ulterior and lnll( r a;'co)np Iish)nent in Satan and his embodiment in Antichrist (Daniel 7. 2.5; 11. 36, 37; 2 Thessalonians 2. 4; Revi laiion 13. 6). This feeling of superhuman elevation in the king ol Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on wi'.icli Tyre stood was called "the holy island" [Banco xia'iiion], being sacred to Hercules, so much so that the colonii-s looked up to Tyre as tlie mother-city of their religion, as well as of their political existence. The Hebrew for "God" is El, i. e., the Mighty One. yet, Ac.—keen irony, set tliiiie Jieart as . . . Iteart of Go«l—Thou tliinlcfst of thyself as if thou wert God. 3. Ezekiel iro\ii'-any alludi s to Ithbaal's overweening opinion of tlie wisdom of himself and the Tyrians, as though superior to that of Daniel, whose fame had reached even Tyre as eclipsing tlie Chaldean sages. "Thou art wiser," vt2., in thy own opinion (Zechariah 9. 2). no secret—i'i2., forgetting riches (,r. 4). tliat tUey can Itlde i. e., that can be hidden. 5. 'Psalm 02. 10.) 6. Because, &c.—resumptive of v. 2. 7. tlieiefore—apodosis. strangers . . . terrible of tUe nations— the Chaldean foreigners noted for their ferocity (ch.
fire" (Exodus 24. 10, 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 (1 Kings 5. 7, iSc). till ini<nuity ... in tliee like the primeval man thou hast fallen by abusing God's
30. il; ol. 12). against the beanty of tliy wisdom—j. p., against thy beautiful possessions acquired by tliy wisdom on which thou so pridest thyself (u. 3-5). defile tUy briglitness—obscure the briglitness of thy kingdom. 8. tine i>it gifts, and so hast provoked God's wratli. IG. filled tlie midst of thee—». c., they have filled the midst of tlie city he as the head of the state being involved in the guilt of tlie state, w'liich he did not check, but fostered, cast tliee as profane-no longer treated as sacred, but driven out of the place of sanctity (see v. 14) which thou hast occupied i.e., the bottom of the sea; the image being that of one conquered in a sea-fight, tlie deaths—piura?, as varioiis kinds of dentils are meant (Jeremiah 16. 4). of titein
(cf. Psalm 89. 39). IT. Iirlglituess—thy splendour, lay tiiee before Ulngs—as an example of God's wrath against presumptuous pride. 18. tliy sanctuaries—t. e., the holy places, attributed to the king of Tyre in v. 14, as his ideal position. As he "profaned" it, so God will "profane" him (u. 10). fire . . . devour—as he abused his supposed elevation amidst " the stones of fire" (?;. 16), so God will make His "fire" to "devour" him. ai. Zidon—famous for its fishery (from a root, Zud, " to fish") ; and afterwards for its wide-extended commerce; its artistic elegance was proverbial. P'ounded by Canaan's first-born (Genesis 10,. . . slain lit., pierced through. Such deaths as those, pierced with many wounds die. 9. yet say i. e., still saj-; referring to v. 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, Ac. 10. deitt Jis of . . . uncircnmcised i. e., such a death as the uncircumcised or godless heathen deserve; and perhaps, also, such as the uncircumci.sed inflict, a great ignominy in the eyes of a Jew (1 Samuel 31. 4) ; a fit retribution on him who had scoffed at the circumcised Jews. 13. eenlest up tl»e snm—lit., "Thou art the one sealing the sum of perfection." A thing is sealed when completed (Daniel i). 21). "The sum" implies the full measure of
I.)). 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 (Aslitaroth, Tamniuz or Adonis) infected Israel more than that of Tyre did (ch. 8. ; Judges 10. 6 ; 1 Kings II. 3A). The notorious Jezebel w;is a daughter of the Zidonian king, sliail be sanvtilied in lier—when all nations shall see that I am the Holy .fudge in the vengeance that I will inflict on her bciiiilj/, from a Hebrew root, "to measure." The normal man—one formed after accurate rule. 13. in £den—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 liuuianity in its most God-like form, garden of God the model of ideal loveliness (ch. 31. 8, 9; 30. 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 (Genesis 2. 12), "gold, bdellium, and the onyx tone." So the king of Tyre was arrayed In jcwel-beipauglcd robes after the fashion of Oriental monarchs.
for sin. no more . . . brier . . . luito . . . Israel— as tlie idolatrous nations left in Canaan (among which Zidon is expressly specified in the limits of Asher, Judges
I. 31) had been (Numbers 33. 53; Joshua 23. 13). "A brier," first ensnaring the Israelites in sin, and then l)eing made the instrument of punishing them, pricking—W., "causing bitlerness." The same Hebrew is translated, "fretting" (Leviticus 13. 51, 52). The wicked are often called " thorns" (2 Samuel 23. U). 85, :40. Fullilled in yart
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