About Ezekiel

Ezekiel proclaimed God's judgment from Babylon, using dramatic visions and symbolic acts, while promising future restoration.

Author: EzekielWritten: c. 593-571 BCReading time: ~3 minVerses: 26
Glory of GodJudgmentRestorationNew HeartSovereigntyTemple

King James Version

Ezekiel 28

26 verses with commentary

Prophecy Against the King of Tyre

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

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,</strong> The prophetic formula <em>vayehi devar-YHWH elai</em> (וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלַי) marks a distinct oracle, the second of two concerning Tyre (following 26:1-28:19). <em>Devar</em> (דְּבַר, "word") isn't merely information but dynamic, authoritative divine speech that accomplishes God's purposes (Isaiah 55:11). This word-event theol...
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Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: midst: Heb. heart

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KJV Study Commentary

God addresses 'the prince of Tyre,' exposing his arrogant claim: 'Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.' The Hebrew 'gabah libekha' (גָּבַהּ לִבֶּךָ, 'your heart is lifted up') describes pride's essential nature—self-exaltation. The princ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2) **I am a God.**—The arraignment of the prince occupies Ezekiel 28:2-5, his consequent doom Ezekiel 28:6-10. The point of the charge is inordinate pride, begotten of great prosperity; this prosperity, being attributed to his own powers instead of to its true source, led him to imagine himself almost more than mortal. Similar instances of what may be called “the insanity of prosperity” may be se...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER (ELEGY) 2 La 2:1-22. Aleph. **1. How--**The title of the collection repeated here, and in La 4:1. **covered ... with a cloud--**that is, with the darkness of ignominy. **cast down from heaven unto ... earth--**(Mt 11:23); dashed down from the highest prosperity to the lowest misery. **beauty of Israel--**the beautiful temple (Psa 29:2; 74:7; 96:9, Margin; Is 60:7; 64:11). **...
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Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

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KJV Study Commentary

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel sarcastically compares the king of Tyre to Daniel, famous for wisdom. No secret that they can hide from thee claims omniscience. This is obvious sarcasm—the king thinks himself all-knowing. Pride inflates self-assessment beyond reality. The king believes his commercial success proves superior intelligence. But worldly success doesn't equal wisdom. The fear of the...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(3) **Wiser than Daniel**.—This is ironically spoken. Daniel was so famed for his wisdom in the great Chaldæan Empire (Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:48; Daniel 4:18; Daniel 5:11-12; Daniel 6:3, &c.) that the report must have already reached Tyre. He had been twenty years in Nebuchadnezzar’s court when Jerusalem fell, and the siege of Tyre was five years later.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**2. polluted--**by delivering it into the hands of the profane foe. Compare Psa 89:39, "profaned ... crown." Gimel.

With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

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KJV Study Commentary

With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches attributes Tyre's wealth to human intelligence. And hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures details the accumulation. This isn't entirely false—human intelligence does produce wealth. But the error is attributing everything to human effort while ignoring God who gives the intelligence, the resources, the opportunity, ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**3. horn--**worn in the East as an ornament on the forehead, and an emblem of power and majesty (1Sa 2:10; Psa 132:17; see on Jr 48:25). **drawn back ... fight hand--**(Psa 74:11). God has withdrawn the help which He before gave them. Not as Henderson, "He has turned back his (Israel's) right hand" (Psa 89:43). Daleth.

By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: thy great: Heb. the greatness of thy wisdom

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KJV Study Commentary

By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches continues crediting human commercial skill. And thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches identifies the spiritual result—pride. Riches produce pride unless counterbalanced by humility and acknowledgment of God's grace. Wealth convinces us we're self-sufficient, capable, deserving. Unless we actively resist, prosperity bre...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. (Is 63:10). **stood with ... right hand--**He took His stand so as to use His right hand as an adversary. Henderson makes the image to be that of an archer steadying his right hand to take aim. Not only did He withdraw His help, but also took arms against Israel. **all ... pleasant to ... eye--**(Eze 24:25). All that were conspicuous for youth, beauty, and rank. **in ... tabernacle--**the...
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Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

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KJV Study Commentary

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God introduces divine response to human pride. Setting one's heart as God's heart is self-deification—claiming divine status, knowledge, or prerogatives. This is the original sin (Genesis 3:5, 'ye shall be as gods'). Every prideful claim to self-sufficiency, every denial of dependence on God, every assertion of hu...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(6) **Set thine heart as the heart of God.**—The same expression as in Ezekiel 28:2. (Comp. Obadiah 1:3, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.”) The meaning is plain: thou hast entertained thoughts and purposes fitting only to the Supreme.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**5. an enemy--**(Jr 30:14). **mourning and lamentation--**There is a play of similar sounds in the original, "sorrow and sadness," to heighten the effect (Job 30:3, Hebrew; Eze 35:3, Margin). Vau.

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.</strong> The <em>hineni</em> (הִנְנִי, "behold") formula arrests attention: God Himself acts. <strong>Strangers</strong> (<em>zarim</em>, זָרִים) are foreign invaders—specifically Babylon, though unnamed he...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(7) **Against the beauty of thy wisdom.—**The figure seems incongruous, but it is to be remembered that the expression is only a form of designating Tyre itself. The description of the Chaldæans as “the terrible of the nations” is repeated in Ezekiel 30:11; Ezekiel 31:12 (comp. also Ezekiel 26:7 and Isaiah 47:6; Habakkuk 1:6). The term, however, is by no means necessarily confined to them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**6. tabernacle--**rather, "He hath violently taken away His hedge (the hedge of the place sacred to Him, Psa 80:12; 89:40; Is 5:5), as that of a garden" [Maurer]. Calvin supports English Version, "His tabernacle (that is, temple) as (one would take away the temporary cottage or booth) of a garden." Is 1:8 accords with this (Job 27:18). **places of ... assembly--**the temple and synagogues (Psa ...
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They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.</strong> The Hebrew <em>bôr</em> (בּוֹר, "pit") refers to Sheol, the realm of the dead—a dramatic reversal for one claiming divine status. This verse concludes God's judgment against the king of Tyre who declared "I am a God" (v. 2). The phrase <strong>"the deaths of them t...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **Deaths.**—The plural accurately represents the rare form of the original, and indicates emphatically a violent death.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**7. they ... made a noise in ... house of ... Lord, as in ... feast--**The foe's shout of triumph in the captured temple bore a resemblance (but oh, how sad a contrast as to the occasion of it!) to the joyous thanksgivings we used to offer in the same place at our "solemn feasts" (compare La 2:22). Cheth.

Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. of him that slayeth: or, of him that woundeth

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God?</strong> God's rhetorical question drips with devastating irony. The Hebrew interrogative <em>he'āmōr tō'mar</em> (הֶאָמֹר תֹּאמַר) uses emphatic repetition: "Will you really say, will you actually say...?" When facing the executioner's sword, will the king maintain his blasphemous claim to deity? The answer is obvious—confronted wi...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9) **Thou shalt be a man.—**The future, added to the text by the words in italics, should be omitted. The original form is exactly the same as in Ezekiel 28:2, and should be so translated. In both cases the article is better omitted. The contrast between the weakness of man and the power of God is strongly brought out: “yet thou art man, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.”

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**8. stretched ... a line--**The Easterns used a measuring-line not merely in building, but in destroying edifices (2Ki 21:13; Is 34:11); implying here the unsparing rigidness with which He would exact punishment. Teth.

Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers.</strong> The phrase "deaths of the uncircumcised" (<em>mōtê 'ărēlîm</em>, מוֹתֵי עֲרֵלִים) intensifies the judgment. To die uncircumcised meant to die outside covenant relationship with God, without hope, cut off from divine blessing—the ultimate ignominy for anyone who knew of Israel's covenant. The uncircumcised wer...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **The uncircumcised.**—To the Jew this term conveyed all, and more than all, the opprobrium which the Greeks and Romans attached to *barbarians*. (Comp. Ezekiel 31:18; Ezekiel 32:19; Ezekiel 32:21; Ezekiel 32:24-28, &c.) It is equivalent to saying “the profane and impious.” Ezekiel 28:11-19 contain the doom upon the prince of Tyre. He is represented as like the first man, perfect, and placed ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Her gates cannot oppose the entrance of the foe into the city, for they are sunk under a mass of rubbish and earth. **broken ... bars--**(Jr 51:30). **her king ... among ... Gentiles--**(De 28:36). **law ... no more--**(2Ch 15:3). The civil and religious laws were one under the theocracy. "All the legal ordinances (prophetical as well as priestly) of the theocracy, are no more" (Psa 74:9;...
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Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,</strong> This prophetic formula (<em>wayəhî dəbar-YHWH 'ēlay lē'mōr</em>, וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר) marks a transition to a new oracle. The phrase appears over 50 times in Ezekiel, authenticating the prophet's message as divine revelation, not human speculation. The structure emphasizes both the initiative ("came") and the conten...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. (Job 2:12, 13). The "elders," by their example, would draw the others to violent grief. **the virgins--**who usually are so anxious to set off their personal appearances to advantage. Caph.

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

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KJV Study Commentary

Shifting from the prince to 'the king of Tyre,' God says: 'Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.' The Hebrew 'chotem toknit' (חוֹתֵם תָּכְנִית, 'sealest up the sum') suggests the final measure or perfect model. The description 'full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty' seems excessive for any human king, leading many interpreters to see dual reference—the earthly king of Tyr...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(12) **Thou sealest up the sum.—**Thou markest it as complete or perfect. (Comp. Daniel 9:24; Job 9:7.) The word for *sum* occurs only here and in Ezekiel 43:10, where it refers to the well measured and arranged building of the Temple.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**11. liver is poured, &amp;c.--**that is, as the liver was thought to be the seat of the passions, "all my feelings are poured out and prostrated for," &amp;c. The "liver," is here put for the bile ("gall," Job 16:13; "bowels," Psa 22:14) in a bladder on the surface of the liver, copiously discharged when the passions are agitated. **swoon--**through faintness from the effects of hunger. Lam...
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Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. sardius: or, ruby beryl: or, chrysolite emerald: or, chrysoprase

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KJV Study Commentary

Describing the king of Tyre's original state: 'Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering... the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.' The mention of 'Eden the garden of God' clearly transcends any historical Tyrian king, pointing to prelapsarian conditions. The nine precious stones listed (sardius,...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(13) **Every precious stone.—**There is some uncertainty in regard to the names of some of these stones (as sardius may be *carnelian,* and beryl *chrysolite*)*,* but the general fact is an allusion to the profuse use of precious stones as ornaments of their royal apparel by Oriental monarchs. The stones mentioned are the same with those in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 39:10), the th...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**12. as the wounded--**famine being as deadly as the sword (Jr 52:6). **soul ... poured ... into ... mothers bosom--**Instinctively turning to their mother's bosom, but finding no milk there, they breathe out their life as it were "into her bosom." Mem.

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

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KJV Study Commentary

Continuing the description: 'Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.' The phrase 'anointed cherub that covereth' (kerub mimshach hasokek, כְּרוּב מִמְשַׁח הַסּוֹכֵךְ) describes a cherub with covering/protecting function, perhaps like the cherubim overshadowing the a...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(14) **Thou art the anointed cherub.—**The tense is not expressed in the Hebrew, and it is better to supply the same simple past as is used throughout the passage: *thou wert.* The imagery is taken from the Temple upon Mount Zion: not that the king of Tyre had at this time any special connection with this, but that these terms were natural to the prophet in this ironical description of him. “The c...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**13. What thing shall I take to witness--**What can I bring forward as a witness, or instance, to prove that others have sustained as grievous ills as thou? I cannot console thee as mourners are often consoled by showing that thy lot is only what others, too, suffer. The "sea" affords the only suitable emblem of thy woes, by its boundless extent and depth (La 1:12; Da 9:12). Nun.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

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KJV Study Commentary

"Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." This confirms that Satan was created good—evil isn't eternal or inherent but entered through willful rebellion. The phrase "till iniquity was found" indicates a transition from righteousness to sin. This demonstrates that moral evil originates in will, not nature. God created all things good (Gene...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(15) **Till iniquity was found in thee.—**This and the following verse renew still more clearly the comparison with Adam. The king was altogether prosperous until his sin became manifest; then, when his heart was corrupted by his prosperity (Ezekiel 28:16), he was cast out for ever, like Adam from his paradise.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**14. Thy prophets--**not God's (Jr 23:26). **vain ... for thee--**to gratify thy appetite, not for truth, but for false things. **not discovered thine iniquity--**in opposition to God's command to the true prophets (Is 58:1). Literally, "They have not taken off (the veil) which was on thine iniquity, so as to set it before thee." **burdens--**Their prophecies were soothing and flattering; b...
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By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

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KJV Study Commentary

"By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God." The language shifts between commercial activity (fitting Tyre) and cosmic rebellion (fitting Satan). "Cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God" describes Satan's expulsion from God's presence, echoing Revelation 12:7-...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(16) **Filled the midst of thee.—**The language passes very naturally here from the king himself to the state over which be presided, and with which he was identified, immediately recurring, however, to the king personally. He, as polluted, should be cast out of his imagined mountain of God: he, the cherub covering the mercy-seat, forsooth, shall be destroyed: his fancied God-like walking amid the...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**15. clap ... hands--**in derision (Job 27:23; 34:37). **wag ... head--**(2Ki 19:21; Psa 44:14). **perfection of beauty ... joy of ... earth--**(Psa 48:2; 50:2). The Jews' enemies quote their very words in scorn. Pe.

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

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KJV Study Commentary

The indictment: 'Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.' Pride in beauty and wisdom caused the fall. The Hebrew 'gabah libekha' (גָּבַהּ לִבֶּךָ, 'your heart was lifted up') identifies pride as root sin. Beauty became occasion for vanity, wi...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16-17. For the transposition of Hebrew letters (Pe and Ain, La 2:16, 17) in the order of verses, see Introduction. **opened ... mouth--**as ravening, roaring wild beasts (Job 16:9, 10; Psa 22:13). Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah. **gnash ... teeth--**in vindictive malice. **we have seen it--**(Psa 35:21). Ain.

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities</strong>—This section (28:11-19) shifts from Tyre's king to a figure some interpret as Satan's fall, though primarily addressing Tyre's prince. חִלַּלְתָּ מִקְדָּשֶׁיךָ (ḥillaltā miqdāshêkā, 'you have profaned your sanctuaries') suggests corrupting holy places through עֲוֺנֶיךָ (ăwōnekhā, 'your iniquities').<br><br><str...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(18) **Defiled thy sanctuaries.—**These are not to be understood so much of the actual temples of Tyre as of the ideal “holy mountain of God,” in which the prophet has represented the prince of Tyre as “a covering cherub.” Yet still, doubtless, even in the former sense, it was true that the Tyrians, like the Gentiles of whom St. Paul speaks in Romans 1:21, did not act up to the religious light the...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16-17. For the transposition of Hebrew letters (Pe and Ain, La 2:16, 17) in the order of verses, see Introduction. **opened ... mouth--**as ravening, roaring wild beasts (Job 16:9, 10; Psa 22:13). Herein Jerusalem was a type of Messiah. **gnash ... teeth--**in vindictive malice. **we have seen it--**(Psa 35:21). Ain.

All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more . a terror: Heb. terrors

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee</strong>—The fire (v. 18) reduces Tyre to לְאֵפֶר עַל־הָאָרֶץ (lĕʾēpher ʿal-hāʾāreṣ, 'to ashes upon the earth') לְעֵינֵי כָּל־רֹאֶיךָ (lĕʿênê khol-rōʾekhā, 'before the eyes of all who see you'). Public judgment serves as warning to observers.<br><br><strong>All they that know thee among the people shall...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**18. wall--**(La 2:8). Personified. "Their heart," that is, the Jews'; while their heart is lifted up to the Lord in prayer, their speech is addressed to the "wall" (the part being put for the whole city). **let tears, &amp;c.--**(Jr 14:17). The wall is called on to weep for its own ruin and that of the city. Compare the similar personification (La 1:4). **apple--**the pupil of the eye (Psa 1...
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Prophecy Against Sidon

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

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it</strong>—After Tyre (chapters 26-28:19), God turns to צִידוֹן (Ṣîdôn, 'Sidon'), Tyre's sister city 25 miles north. Both were principal Phoenician cities; judgment on one extends to the other.<br><br>The command שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ (śîm pānekhā, 'set your face') signals hostile prophetic attention (6:2, 13:17, 21:2). Sidon shared Ty...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**19. cry ... in ... night--**(Psa 119:147). **beginning of ... watches--**that is, the first of the three equal divisions (four hours each) into which the ancient Jews divided the night; namely, from sunset to ten o'clock. The second was called "the middle watch" (Jud 7:19), from ten till two o'clock. The third, "the morning watch," from two to sunrise (Ex 14:24; 1Sa 11:11). Afterwards, under t...
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Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon</strong>—The covenant lawsuit formula: הִנְנִי עָלַיִךְ (hinnĕnî ʿālayik, 'behold, I am against you'). When God positions Himself as adversary, no defense avails.<br><br><strong>And I will be glorified in the midst of thee</strong>—וְנִכְבַּדְתִּי בְּתוֹכֵךְ (wĕnikhbadtî bĕthôkhēkh, 'and I will be glorified in your midst'...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**20. women eat ... fruit--**as threatened (Le 26:29; De 28:53, 56, 57; Jr 19:9). **children ... span long--**or else, "children whom they carry in their arms" [Maurer]. Schin.

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets</strong>—God's instruments of judgment: דֶּבֶר (deber, 'pestilence/plague') and דָּם (dām, 'blood'). The combination appears frequently in covenant curses (Leviticus 26:25, Deuteronomy 32:24).<br><br><strong>And the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side</strong>—The Hebrew וְנִפַל חָלָ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

21. (2Ch 36:17). Tau.

For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn</strong>—After judging Israel's oppressors (chapters 25-28), God promises deliverance. סִלּוֹן מַמְאִיר (sillôn mamʾîr, 'pricking brier') and קוֹץ מַכְאִב (qôṣ makhʾîb, 'painful thorn') represent hostile neighbors who tormented Israel.<br><br><strong>Of all that are round about them, that despised ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**22. Thou hast called as in ... solemn day ... terrors--**Thou hast summoned my enemies against me from all quarters, just as multitudes used to be convened to Jerusalem, on the solemn feast days. The objects, for which the enemies and the festal multitude respectively met, formed a sad contrast. Compare La 1:15: "called an assembly against me."

And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered</strong>—The restoration promise: בְּקַבְּצִי אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל (bĕqabbĕṣî ʾet-bêt yiśrāʾēl, 'when I gather the house of Israel') מִן־הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר נָפֹצוּ בָם (min-hāʿammîm ăsher nāphōṣû bām, 'from the peoples among whom they were scattered').<br><br><strong>And shal...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(24) **A pricking brier.**—The language refers back to the threat of Numbers 33:55, of the reality of which Israel had long had such bitter experience. Nothing is said of the special sins of Zidon, and very little of the detail of her overthrow; these were already sufficiently known, or else included in what has been said of Tyre. It is noticeable that no such utter desolation is foretold as in th...
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Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards</strong>—The restoration includes בֶּטַח (beṭaḥ, 'security/safety'), construction (וּבָנוּ בָתִּים, ûbānû bāttîm, 'and build houses'), and agriculture (וְנָטְעוּ כְרָמִים, wĕnāṭĕʿû khĕrāmîm, 'and plant vineyards'). These images depict covenant blessing reversal: Deuteronomy 28:30 cursed disobedience with build...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(25) **Sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen.**—The course of God’s providence is very distinctly marked out in these verses of promise. The judgment upon Judah had already come, in the fall of their holy city and the captivity of the people. This leads them to repentance, and thus God is “sanctified in the sight of the heathen;” His holiness and justice are exhibited to the world. Then c...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER (ELEGY) 3 La 3:1-66. Jeremiah proposes his own experience under afflictions, as an example as to how the Jews should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration; hence the change from singular to plural (La 3:22, 40-47). The stanzas consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter. Aleph. **1-3. seen affliction--**his own in the dungeon of Mal...
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And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God. safely: or, with confidence despise: or, spoil

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them</strong>—The recognition formula with possessive pronoun: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם (YHWH ĕlōhêhem, 'the LORD their God'). Not just acknowledging God exists, but recognizing their covenant relationship restored.<br><br>Israel's suffering through exile and oppression by...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER (ELEGY) 3 La 3:1-66. Jeremiah proposes his own experience under afflictions, as an example as to how the Jews should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration; hence the change from singular to plural (La 3:22, 40-47). The stanzas consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter. Aleph. **1-3. seen affliction--**his own in the dungeon of Mal...
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