Ezekiel 28

THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

Son of man, say unto Of. the prince King, whose name was either Ethbaal, or Ithoba. of Tyrus, thus says the Lord GOD; because thine heart is lifted Thou art waxen proud, and aspirest above all reason, and boastest extravagantly in thy self, state, policy and power. up, and thou hast said Thought, imagined, or flattered thy self. I am a god Or the mighty and strong one, for so the Heb. is, and perhaps were better so rendred, he gloried in his strength, as if he were a God, the like you have, Isai. 14.14., I sit in the seat of GOD As a Magistrate he did bear the name, and authority of God, but he thought not of this, he dreams of the stateliness strength, convenience, safety, and inaccessibleness of his seat, as if he were safe and impregnable as heaven it self., in the midst of the seas, yet thou art a man Subject to all the casualties, sorrows, and distresses of mans state and life, thou art Adam of Earth, not El, nor like unto the mighty one in Heaven., and not GOD, though thou set thine heart Thou hast entertained thoughts, which become none but God, thou hast projected things, which none but God can effect, thou hast promised thy self perpetual peace, safety, riches, and happiness in thy self, and from thy self. as the heart of GOD:

Behold, thou art In thy own thoughts of thy self. wiser then Who was then famous for his wisdom, which was imparted to him from Heaven, chap. 14.20. Dan. 1.20. and 2.20, 48. Daniel, there is no secret that they That any sort of men can conceal, that thine adversaries shall contrive against thee to thy danger, or hurt; all this Ironically said. can hide from thee:

With thy wisdom By thy policy in Government, and by thy skill in Trading, for he speaks of that kind of prudence, to which these names are given. and with thine understanding thou hast gotten Or made, so the word. thee riches Power, and might, so the Heb. as well as wealth, and riches, and so the Gall. Version reads puissance, the Princes of Tyrus had been prudent, and so increast their power, and interest., and hast gotten Or made, procured. gold and silver into thy treasures. Into both his own private purse, and into the publick Treasuries too.

By thy great Here the eminent degree of this Princes Wisdom is owned. wisdom, and And, might as well be spared, for, as 'tis not in the Heb. so it rather obscures, then clears the Text, let it be read by thy great Wisdom in thy Traffick, and 'tis very plain, and so the French reads it. by thy traffick hast thou increased Made great or enlarged. thy riches Thy Power, as ver. 4. let. n., and thine heart is lifted Exalts it self, carrieth it loftily, and proudly above thy Neighbours, which is not good, above thy self, which is worse, and above God too, which is worst of all, as ver. 2. up because of thy riches Thy puissance at home, and abroad by Nature and Art..

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart Vide ver. 2. let. b. as the heart of God Who does, as justly he may, design himself, his own glory in all he designeth and worketh, and take the glory to himself, thou hast done so too, designed thy own greatness, and gloried in it.;

Behold therefore, I will bring Cause to come. strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations A forreign People, called strangers for their multitude in the plural, and to intimate how little regard they would have to the Tyrian glory; these strangers were the Babylonian Forces. A fierce, violent, and cruel Nation, Hab. 1.7, 8.: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile Pour contempt and stain. thy brightness. Thy Royal dignity, depose thee from thy Throne, and kill thy Autority and thy Person.

They These strangers shall s ay thee, which is a blemish to the honour of a King thus to be brought to the Pit. shall bring thee down to the pit A usual periphrasis of Death and the Grave., and thou shalt die the deaths In the plural, because of the many Terrors, Dangers, and Wounds such mee with, the successive deaths s ain, drowned, eat of fish, cast upon shoar, and become meat to Sea Fowl. of them that are slain in the midst If literally understood, Thou shalt dye as other common Marriners, and be cast overboard, if figuratively; Seas for great distresses, then amidst multitude of deep distresses thou shalt meet with more than one death, be often dying. of the seas.

Wilt A cutting taunt, or sarcasm, what will become of thy Godship then? thou yet say Wilt thou then dream of Immortality, and Almighty power, when thine Enemy is cutting thy Throat? before him that slayeth thee I am God: but thou shalt be Appear then to thy self, and others to be a mortal, weak, conquered man, who dieth a Sacrifice to the Conquerors pride and c uelty. a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

Thou shalt die the deaths Ver, 8. let, h. A Twofold Death, Temporal, and Eternal. of the uncircumcised Of the wicked, or an accursed Death, the Iews do express a vile, and miserable Death thus, or the uncircumcised; i. e. Heathens, cruel, and merciless men shall slay thee, and this suits with what follows in the verse, and this was ignominious with the Iews, 1 Sam. 31.4., by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD O thou proud, self-admiring Prince! Slight not what is threatned, for God, the God of truth has spoken it..

Moreover, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, take up a lamentation See chap. 27. ver. 2. let. a, b. upon the King Called Prince, ver. 2. let. b. of Tyrus, and say unto him: Thus says the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum In the search into the frame of thy Government, the manage of it, the prosperity thereof, and its Glory, Power, Riches, and Confederacies thou doest think thy self but just to thy Kingdom to account it the perfect Idea of a good Government, that in the Tyrian State nothing is wanting that might be required in a good Government, in the best Government, and so sealest to the premisses; thus vainly puft up thou wilt have it, that fulness of Wisdom, and perfection of Beauty are in thee, but neither thy Wisdom shall prevent, or defeat the attempts of thine Enemies, nor thy Beauty charme their rage, thou shalt fall by them., full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Thou hast been Thou hast dwelt and reigned. in Eden In the midst of all delights, and though nature made thy lot a very barren Rock; thy Art and Industry added to that of thy Progenitors have made it as Pleasant, Rich, and Beautiful, as Eden, that place of all desirable enjoyments. the garden of GOD This is explicative of the former, a Garden is a place of delight, and men have made some delightful to a wonder, but none ever like that God planted: This of Tyre came as near as any, and yet ungrateful, and Atheistical Tyre dreams of Divine Power, and Stability, forgetting Humane frailty, and uncertainty.: every Every ort of Rich Stones. precious stone was thy covering Bought to adorn thy Crown, thy Robes, thy Bed, &.c., the Sardius Of a R d, and by some said to be the Ruby., Topas Of a yellowish Green., and the Of clear, waterish, sparkling colour. diamond, Of a Sea-Green colour, the best. the beryl, Resembles the whiteness of the nail of a mans hand. the onyx Of divers colours, but the best Green., and the jasper Of Sky colour, or blue., the sapphire, Green interspersed with Golden spots. the emrald, Of flame colour. and the carbuncle, Beside the abundance, of which in their publick Treasures much was used about the Clothes, and Robes of this proud Prince, 'tis like these precious stones were set in Gold, that they might the safer be put upon his Garments. This was the acco trement of Solemnities, especially of the Coronation, as appears in close of the verse. and gold: The Now the Prophet notes their Joys, Musick, and Songs, both to Wind, or Loud Musick, and to softer Musick, as the Lute, and Tabret in the day of their Kings Coronation, and all this Musick on Instruments of most exquisite make, and of their own Artists work too, in this they exceeded as in the other. workmanship of thy tabrets, and of thy pipes, was prepared in thee in the day that thou Either born, for birth of Princes has been celebrated with great Joys, or rather in the day of this Kings Coronation, or investiture in the Kingdom and Royal Dignity. wast created.

Thou art the I would rather keep the order of the words in Hebr. which the French also keep, thou art a Cherub, Anointed, a Protector, or one, who covereth for defence. For thy Wisdom, Power, and Excellency like a cherub, or Angel, for the Sacredness of thy Person, and Office, as the Anointed of God, for the exercise of thy Power and Office, as a Shield, as a Protector of the weak; thus thou art, or thinkest thy self to be, and pridest thy self herein. anointed cherub that covereth: and I have set I, whom thou forgettest, I have made thee so, set thee above others, this should have been matter of thanks and humility, not of pride, and Atheism. Thus the sarcasm is continued, and he is upbraided for his insolence. thee so: thou Or thus, in the Holy Mountain a God thou hast been, so 'tis an Ironie. and suits the rest; or else, in pursuance of our version, thou wast advanced to Kingly Dignity, (which David calls a Mountain, Psa. 30.7. Ier. 51.25 Dan. 2.35.) a Sacred Office, and of Divine Institution, and Consecration, and thou hast in pride exalted thy self above me, as well as above men. wast upon the holy mountain of God: thou hast walked up and down In proud, and stately manner. in the midst of the stones Surrounded every way in thy Chambers, and Beds, and Clothes with stones, that sparkle like fire, thy Crown, thy Throne, thy Chariots, thy Umbrellas, or Canopies glistering, and dazling Beholders; as if thus also thou wouldest contend with God, who is clothed with light. of fire.

Thou wast perfect I think the Prophet continues his Ironie: The Prince of Tyrus would be a God, yes. Now God is perfect in all his wayes, or works: And thou, O Prince, wert so too; wert thou, and from thy Original? in thy waies But remember what a God is he, that has a beginning that was created, that at last was found full of Iniquity? And this reproof, and taunt leads us to look with the Prophet from the proud claim of this Prince to his great miscarriages. If any else will think all these things in the 14th and 15th verses to be asserters of God's bounty to this Prince, and of his great magnificence and state in Hyperboles and allusions: Nothing I have said shall contradict them, for they have their Liberty as I have mine, to think what seems most like the truth. from the day thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

By the multitude By, or in, or according to (as the Gall. version) the multitude, or greatness of thy Trading, in Tyrus were Merchants, that Traded in very great Adventures, with vast Stocks, and in mighty Cargoes. of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned Either as one Trading among them, thou hast violated Justice to promote thine own, and their gain, or hast connived at thy Merchants, when they opprest all they could, or hast contrary to Justice, and Equity supported them in their violence, and judged for them against oppressed Strangers: Thou who wert a King, and wouldest be thought a God, is this like to God, who hates violence, loves Justice, and relieveth the Stranger, and righteth the oppressed?: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain Either of thy Throne, and Kingly Dignity, vid. ver. 14. let. o, p. or thy fancied and imagined Heaven where thou wouldest be a God, for such Gods of violence, and injustice deserve to be cast out with the aspirng Angels. of God: and I will destroy Utterly destroy. thee, O covering cherub Vid. ver. 14. let. n, o., from the midst of the stones See ver. 14. let. r. of fire. Thy Merchants have by crafts, where that would, and by violence where craft would not, compassed their unjust designs, as noted chap. 27. ver. 36. This injustice and violence grew, as their Trade did, and filled the City with guilt as fast, as that did with wealth. These abominable things hast thou done, and now, as an abominable thing, I will throw thee out.

Thine heart was lifted See ver. 2. let. c. d. e. and ver. 5. let. u. up because of thy beauty See ver. 12. let. s., thou hast corrupted thy wisdom Depraved, or lost thy Wisdom. by reason of thy brightness By reflecting and gazing on thy own Glory, State, Wealth, and Magnificence, and hast forgotten thou art a man; thou exaltest thy self above Man, above thy Neighbour Kings.: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before Kings, that they may behold thee. I will bring down thy pride, dethrone thee, and make thee fit in the dust, fully and darken all thy brightness. Or set thee before men of thy quality, who are, as thou, apt to forget men, themselves, and God as he, who, though he said not I am God, yet Atheist like askt, who is God that I should obey him. Or that thou mayest be a spectacle, an example, and warning to them, or, that they see thee in chains, or an abused Captive, and despise thee.

Thou Thou who shouldest have kept all pure in Religion, as thou art King, pretending to Divinity, hast polluted it. hast defiled thy sanctuaries Still there is, as all along from the 14th verse I think there has been, much of an Irony deriding this proud Prince, an allusion to his pretended Godship. A God has his Sanctuaries, and thou thine, but they nasty polluted ones. by the multitude By the greatness, as as well as number. of thine iniquities Impieties, Irreligion, and Atheism of thy Merchants, as well as by their injustice, falsehood, and oppressions, by their perjuries, breaking Covenants confirmed in the Temples at the Altars, or in the name of their Gods, when thy Trade thrived by these, thou, and they have thought there was nothing Sacred, nor any God above thee., by the iniquity of thy traffick Impieties, Irreligion, and Atheism of thy Merchants, as well as by their injustice, falsehood, and oppressions, by their perjuries, breaking Covenants confirmed in the Temples at the Altars, or in the name of their Gods, when thy Trade thrived by these, thou, and they have thought there was nothing Sacred, nor any God above thee.: therefore will I bring forth a fire Some civil dissension or occasion of thy injustice shall, like a fire, rise. from the midst Among thy injured malecontents. of thee, it shall devour Which, like fire in the house, shall burn all up, and waste all, thou shalt never quench it; thy discontented Subjects applying themselves to Nebuchadnezzar with addresses for his Favour, Power, and Royal Justice to relieve them, and to right his own Subjects opprest by Tyre in their Trade, shall enkindle Nebuchadnezzar's rage, and he shall never be appeased, but in thy ruine. thee, and I will bring thee to ashes Thou shalt be burnt to Ashes, these cast on the Earth to be scattered abroad, and trampled under feet. upon earth in the sight All this done, that all about thee may see, fear; and reverence the Justice, Power, and Holiness of the God of Heaven, who ruleth among men, and knows how to abase proud Atheists. of all them that behold thee.

All they that know All, that have heard, seen, or formerly known, thy Riches, Power, Allies, Wisdom, and Vigilance. thee among the people, shall be astonished Be amazed at the certain news of thy great fall from greatest Glory to greatest reproach. at thee: thou shalt be a terrour To all, that hear the bruit hereof, though thou hast been a terror, so the Hebr. to others by thy puissance, and Arms, thou shalt never be so again for ever, and this word has been made good; Tyre never rose to that greatness, as to be feared by her Neighbours., and never shalt thou be any more.

¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, set thy face Vid. chap. 21.2. let. i. and chap. 20. ver. 46. let. o. against Zidon Neighbour, and Confederate of Tyrus., and prophesie Declare her sins, approaching sorrows, and my Judgments against her. against it.

And say, Thus says the Lord God To these Heathen, yet Neighbours of the Jews the Prophet might well suppose the name and greatness of the God of Israel was so known, as to command their attention, when he speaketh.; behold, I am against thee Provoked by thy sins, I am an adversary to thee, and as such, determine to proceed with thee., O Zidon A City in the Northwestfrom Canaan, at the foot of Mount Liban s, a Kings Seat of old, and from which Tyrus descended, as a swarm cast out of that Hive. Isa. 23.2. for 'twas a great City in Ioshua's time, Iosh. 11.8. and 19.28. and built by Sidon Canaan's Son, Gen. 10.15. and 1 Chron. 1.13. a famous Mart full of Merchants like Tyre, and as full of sin as riches.; and I will be glorified When my Judgments make my Justice, Power, Holiness, Sovereignty, and Truth appear, both you Sidonians, and others about shall confess my Glory, and ascribe Honour to me. I will vindicate my Honour, and Glory, which by thy sins thou hast eclipsed, and I by judgments will illustrate, as Exod. 14.4, 17. in the midst of thee: and they That dwell in thee, and round about thee, all that are concerned for thee. shall know See chap. 6. ver. 10. that I am the LORD, when So late do sinners come to any due sense of God's Power, Justice, and Majesty. I shall have executed judgments The hardned Sinners learn not by any other way, but this, and by this too in the rigours, and repeated executions of it. in her, and shall be sanctified Own'd as Holy, Reverenced as just, obeyed as Sovereign, and submitted to as Wise, and Mighty, and a hater of Violence. in her.

For I will send The Pestilence is one of God's Arrows, and he sends it wheresoever it walks, 'tis one of his sore Judgments, and wasteth where it cometh. into her pestilence The most dreadful of Diseases, because most deadly, swift, and comes so immediately from the Wrath of God offended with men, this Pestilence attends o War, and seldom faileth to make havock in besieged Towns, or Cities., and blood Bloody War by an Enemy, that shall bring the War to the Gates, nay into the Streets of Zidon. into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged Fall, be cast down, punisht in the midst of the City. in the midst of her by the sword By her Enemies Sword prevailing, and conquering. upon her on every side A Description either of the Siege that Sidon should suffer by, or pointing out the multitude of her Enemies on every side agreeing against her.; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

¶ And there shall be no more The time intended here is, when after 70 years Captivity, loathing themselves for their Iniquities, and repenting, they return and settle in their own Land. a pricking briar By these two Metaphors the Prophet points out the troublesom Neighbours of the Jews. unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about Such as Moab, Ammon, Edom, Tyre, and this Sidon, which on all occasions did grieve, wound, and reproach the Jews, and triumph in the fall of the Jews, and were ever ready, being near. them, that despised them Contemning both in word and carriage, the Jews, their Religion, Manners, Laws, and their God.; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Thus says the Lord GOD; When Seventy years is expired, which is the term of their Captive State I shall have gathered Move the hearts of my people to come together upon Cyrus Proclamation, and from all parts of that vast Kingdom, prepare for a return to the Country most of them never saw, it was God, who moved Cyrus to give them leave; 'twas as much God's work to stir up the people to return. the house The generality of them, those that were Israelites indeed. of Israel from the people Several Nations subjects to the King of Babylon. among whom they are scattered By the Babylonish King at first, and afterward, by incident necessity, or their own choice., and shall be sanctified Have vindicated my Name, which by them was blasphemed. in them in the sight I was dishonoured by the Jews in the sight of the Heathen, and I will be honoured by the Jews in their sight, they shall be witnesses of my vindication. of the heathen, then shall they dwell Settle in peace, and for continuance. in their land In a Land that is theirs, their own, as 'tis often called., that I have given Their Title is of me by deed of Gift, not of late, But to my servant to one that was long since my Servant Jacob To Iacob, Father to these returning Captives. The Heb. repeats the Praeposition, to my Servant, To Iacob, with an Emphasis to mind them of God's faithfulness..

And they shall dwell safely Which is to be understood comparatively, safer than before, it must be accommodated to the circumstances of Humane condition, in such safety, as excludes continual inward cares, and fears, and perplexities, as 'tis said of Laish, Iudg 18.7. or as in the days of Solomon, 1 King. 4.25. or as Iob 11.18, 19. therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when That seems to intimate, that there might be some attempts as by Sanballat, and Tobias, but God blasted these, or it may refer more properly to the destruction of Babylon, and the Nations Confederate with them, who ruined, and despised the Iews. I have executed judgments upon all those that despised them round about them; and they Returned Captives. shall know that I am the Lord their Shall own, and know by experience, that I am not only the Lord, but their God too. GOD.