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Ezekiel

About this book
Chapter 28

1 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘Your heart is proud and you said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas”—yet⁠ you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike. 3 Look, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you.⁠ 4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself; you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5 By your great skill in trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart is proud because of your wealth. 6 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you think you are godlike, 7 I am about to bring foreigners against you, the most terrifying of nations. They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, and they will defile your splendor. 8 They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die violently in the heart of the seas. 9 Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you—though you are a man and not a god—when you are in the power of those who wound you? 10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” 11 The Lord’s message came to me: 12 “Son of man, sing a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the sealer of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God.⁠ Every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and emerald, the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; your settings and mounts were made of gold. On the day you were created they were prepared.⁠ 14 I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub; you were on the holy mountain of God;⁠ you walked about amidst fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created, until sin was discovered in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I defiled you and banished you from the mountain of God—the guardian cherub expelled you from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor. I threw you down to the ground; I placed you before kings, that they might see you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness of your trade, you desecrated your sanctuaries. So I drew fire out from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth before the eyes of all who saw you. 19 All who know you among the peoples are shocked at you; you have become terrified and will be no more.’” 20 The Lord’s message came to me: 21 “Son of man, turn toward Sidon and prophesy against it. 22 Say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look, I am against you, Sidon, and I will magnify myself in your midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments on her and reveal my sovereign power in her.⁠ 23 I will send a plague into the city and bloodshed into its streets; the slain will fall within it, by the sword that attacks it from every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 24 “‘No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. 25 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will live securely in it; they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely when I execute my judgments on all those who scorn them and surround them.⁠ Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”

Texts in conversation

How 1 Enoch's Fiery Stones Echo Ezekiel's King of Tyre

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch describes a fiery mountain, reflecting ancient Near Eastern traditions of a divine temple on a cosmic mountain. This echoes Ezekiel’s portrayal of the king of Tyre in the Eden temple on a mountain, walking with fiery stones and a guardian cherub.

Passages

Ezekiel 28:12

Hebrew Bible
12 “Son of man, sing a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the sealer of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and emerald, the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; your settings and mounts were made of gold. On the day you were created they were prepared. 14 I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked about amidst fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created, until sin was discovered in you.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

1 Enoch 24:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And from there I went to another place on the earth, and he showed me a mountain range of fire that burned day and night. 2 I went beyond it and saw seven magnificent mountains, each distinct from the others, with stones that were magnificent and beautiful, overall glorious in appearance and fair exterior: three towards the east, stacked one on top of the other, and three towards the south, each one upon the other, with deep rough ravines, none of which connected with any other. 3 The seventh mountain was in the midst of these, and it was the tallest, resembling the seat of a throne, with fragrant trees encircling the throne.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... These fiery mountains (see verse 1), which are spectacular, glimmering gemstones, are drawn from ancient Near Eastern conceptions of the abode of the God/the gods and His/their council. On the bejeweled cosmic mountain abode of the gods/God, see comments and footnoted sources at 18:7. This is the point of the language of Ezekiel 28:11–14. When the prophet describes the anointed cherub as “walking among the stones of fire,” his point is that the cherub was in the divine abode, the place of the divine council ..."
Michael S. Heiser, A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader's Commentary (Crane, MO: Defender, 2019), 1:212–213.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Ezekiel 28:12 and 1 Enoch 24:2

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