Go to Related Reading
About this book

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

Ezekiel Echoes El's Seat at the Rivers in a Ugaritic Text

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

A Ugaritic text from the 14th century BCE describes El, the head god, living in a temple at the source of the rivers along with the springs of the two deeps. Ezekiel 28 describes the king of Tyre claim to sit in that same seat in the heart of the sea.

Passages

KTU 1.3 V:5

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
and a dwelling like the sons of Athirat!” She stamped her feet, and the earth shook. Then she set her face towards El at the source of the rivers, amidst the springs of the two deeps. She rolled back the tent of El, and came to the pavilion of the King, the Father of the Bright One. She came to the territory, the tent of the creator. Bull El her father heard her voice. El replied from within the seven chambers,
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Ezekiel 28:2

Hebrew Bible
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.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

References

... The name used for God in Ezekiel 28:2 (twice) and 9 is El (ʼēl). This is found in only one other place in the book of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 10:5 (El-Shaddai). Compare also Psalm 82:1, Job 36:26 and Psalm 102:25-28 for some other places in the Old Testament where the name ʼel is used for God in association with ideas that actually pertain to El in the Ugaritic texts (divine assembly, aged deity, and creation). In saying, “I am El (God),” the king of Tyre declares, “I sit in the seat of God [or gods] (môšab ʼelōhîm) in the heart of the seas” (Ezekiel 28:2). This is suggestive of El, whose dwelling is said in the Ugaritic texts to be “at the source of rivers, in the midst of the double deep.” Although the location of Tyre itself was “in the heart of the seas” (compare Ezekiel 27:4, 32), the association of this with the “seat of God” clearly reflects El. ...
John Day, Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan, JSOTSup 265 (London: Sheffield Academic, 2002), 26–28.

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

Your feedback

KTU 1.3 V:5 and Ezekiel 28:2

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library