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

Compare Exodus 14:18 and Ezekiel 28:22

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Exodus says Egypt would know God through defeat at the sea, when Pharaoh’s army fell and God’s honor was shown. Ezekiel uses the same idea for Tyre, whose collapse makes the nations recognize God within honor and shame culture.

Passages

Exodus 14:18

Hebrew Bible
16 And as for you, lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 17 And as for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will come after them, that I may be honored because of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I have gained my honor because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other the whole night.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Ezekiel 28:22

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

References

"... The Hebrew root שפט usually refers to leading or governing. Leading in external affairs involved delivering the people and leading the military, while in internal affairs judges were responsible for arbitrating between two people or groups. The paradigmatic example is YHWH, who as the governor of all the earth judges justly (Genesis 18:25). He also judges in the midst of the gods (Psalm 82:1). The word שפטים, denoting acts of judgment rather than adjudication, always occurs in the plural and appears frequently in Ezekiel. The cognate Akkadian word šiptu had a negative tone and was often used to refer to divine judgment or a severe punishment on those who were insubordinate. שפטים, which might have acquired its negative connotation from šiptu, in contrast to the other more positive uses of the root שפט (such as משפט), usually denotes divine judgment against an enemy of YHWH who acted against him or his people. The content of the divine judgment in Ezekiel was broadly similar to YHWH’s attack on Egypt: the sword (Ezekiel 14:21; 28:22–23), famine (Ezekiel 14:21), wild beasts (Ezekiel 14:21), pestilence (Ezekiel 14:21; 28:22–23), and military defeat (Ezekiel 5:10, 15; 11:9; 16:41; 25:11; 30:14, 19; see also 2 Chronicles 24:23) ..."
Charlie Trimm, "YHWH Fights for Them!": The Divine Warrior in the Exodus Narrative (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2014), 174–175.

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

Your feedback

Exodus 14:18 and Ezekiel 28:22

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library