16By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I have cast you as profane out of God’s mountain. I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the middle of the stones of fire.
17Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground. I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.
18By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your commerce, you have profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought out a fire from the middle of you. It has devoured you. I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.
16 By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I have cast you as profane out of God’s mountain. I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the middle of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I have cast you to the ground. I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your commerce, you have profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought out a fire from the middle of you. It has devoured you. I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.
KJVKing James Version
16 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.
17 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.
18 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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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
16 By the multitude of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I have cast thee to the ground, I have laid thee before kings, that they may gaze upon thee.
18 By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee, it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
Malachi 4:3(v18)You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
1 Timothy 6:9-10(v16)But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and…
Ezekiel 28:5(v17)by your great wisdom and by your trading you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches—”
Habakkuk 2:8(v16)Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done…
Proverbs 16:18(v17)Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
Show all 55 cross-references
Ezekiel 31:10(v17)“Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is…
Habakkuk 2:17(v16)For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men’s blood,…
James 4:6(v17)But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Revelation 18:8(v18)Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has…
Ezekiel 28:2(vv17–18)“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the…
Genesis 3:24(v16)So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the…
Ezekiel 28:16(v18)By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I have cast you as profane out of…
Amos 1:9-10(v18)Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they delivered up the whole…
Luke 14:11(v17)For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
John 2:16(v16)To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
Psalms 147:6(v17)Yahweh upholds the humble. He brings the wicked down to the ground.
Proverbs 11:2(v17)When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.
Ezekiel 8:17(v16)Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they…
Ezekiel 32:10(v17)Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid for you, when I brandish my sword before them. They…
Micah 2:2(v16)They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Genesis 6:11(v16)The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Leviticus 18:24-28(v16)“ ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. The land…
Judges 9:20(v18)but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of…
Job 40:11-12(v17)Pour out the fury of your anger. Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low. Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the…
Psalms 73:18(v17)Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
Isaiah 14:9-11(v17)Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the departed spirits for you, even all the rulers of the…
Isaiah 19:11-13(v17)The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I…
Isaiah 22:19(v16)I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.
Isaiah 23:9(v16)Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
Isaiah 23:17-18(v16)It will happen after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre. She will return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with…
Jeremiah 8:9(v17)The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?
Ezekiel 5:4(v18)Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the middle of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From it a fire will come out into all…
Ezekiel 16:14-15(v17)Your renown went out among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,” says the Lord…
Ezekiel 16:41(v17)They will burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. I will cause you to cease from playing the…
Ezekiel 23:48(v17)“ ‘Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to be lewd like you.
Ezekiel 27:12-36(v16)“ ‘ “Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches. They traded for your wares with silver, iron, tin, and…
Ezekiel 28:7(v17)therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your…
Ezekiel 28:13-14(v18)You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise,…
Ezekiel 28:14(v16)You were the anointed cherub who covers. Then I set you up on the holy mountain of God. You have walked up and down in the middle of the…
Hosea 12:7(v16)A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.
Amos 1:14(v18)But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day…
Amos 2:2(v18)but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound…
Amos 2:5(v18)but I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
Amos 3:9(v16)Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and…
Micah 2:10(v16)Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, because of uncleanness that destroys, even with a grievous destruction.
Micah 6:12(v16)Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech.
Zephaniah 1:9(v16)In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
Mark 8:36(v18)For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
Luke 19:45-46(v16)He entered into the temple, and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of…
Romans 1:22-25(v17)Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of…
1 Corinthians 1:19-21(v17)For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.” Where is the wise?…
2 Peter 2:4-6(v16)For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for…
2 Peter 2:6(v18)and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live…
Revelation 12:9(v16)The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown…
Judges 9:15(v18)“The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come…
55 distinct cross-references across this passage (56 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18Thou shalt have no part among my people.
Thou shalt have no part among my people.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv16–18Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they…
Eze 28:16 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.
Ver. 16. By the multitude of thy merchandise.] Many merchants think they may do anything for their own advantage; cheating and overreaching pass for virtues with them. {a}
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And thou hast sinned.] By suffering it so to be; for there is a passive injustice as well as an active.
I will cast thee.] I will bring thee down with a vengeance, and make thee an example of that rule, Great sins have great punishments. {b}
{a} Multae sunt fraudes ubi mercatura fervet. - Oecolamp.
{b} Mεγαλων αδικηματων μεγαλαι εισι αι τιμωριαι παρα του Yεου.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv16–18By the multitude; by, or in, or according to…
By the multitude; by, or in, or according to (as the Gallic version) the multitude or greatness of thy trading: in Tyre were merchants that traded in very great adventures, with vast stocks, and in mighty cargoes.
With violence; thy merchants have by craft, where that would, and by violence where craft would not, compassed their unjust designs, as noted, Eze 27:36. This injustice and violence grew as their trade did, and filled the city with guilt as fast as that did with wealth.
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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 oppressed all they could; or hast, contrary to justice and equity, supported them in their violence, and judged for them against oppressed strangers. Thou who weft a king, and wouldst be thought a god, is this like to God, who hates violence, loves justice, relieveth the stranger, and righteth the oppressed?
I will cast thee out: these abominable things hast thou done, and now, as an abominable thing, I will throw thee out, either of thy throne and kingly dignity, see Eze 28:14, or thy fancied and imagined heaven, where thou wouldst be a god, for such gods of violence and injustice deserve to be cast out with the aspiring angels.
Destroy thee; utterly destroy.
O covering cherub: see Eze 28:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv16–18By the multitude of thy merchandise,.... With the several…
By the multitude of thy merchandise,.... With the several nations of the earth, who came to the markets and fairs of Tyre, and to whom she sent her goods:
they have filled the midst of thee with violence; or, as the Targum,
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"thy treasures are filled with rapine;''
with ill gotten goods, as the pope's coffers are through his merchandise of the souls of men, and the great trade that is driven in pardons and indulgences:
and thou hast sinned; by this unjust and ungodly way of dealing:
therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; Mount Zion, the church of the living God, where he dwells, and is worshipped, and on which the Lamb stands with his hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name and his Father's on their foreheads, Rev 14:1, these will have no communion with the church and pope of Rome; will not receive his mark, nor worship his image; from this mountain, and the inhabitants of it, he stands excluded as a profane person, with whom they will have nothing to do; and hence he persecutes them to the utmost of his power:
and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire; from among the people of God, who have the clear light of the Gospel, and a sincere love for Christ; these withdrew themselves from his jurisdiction and government; and with whom his name, power, and authority perish, especially when they shall have got the victory over him, Rev 15:1. Kimchi paraphrases it,
"from the midst of the saints who are the Israelites, comparable to stones of fire;''
and Jarchi's note is,
"that thou mayest not take a portion with the righteous;''
have no part, lot, or fellowship with them. The Targum is,
"I will destroy thee, O king that art anointed, because thou thoughtest to rule over the holy people.''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv16–18I will cast - Out thy kingly dignity.
I will cast - Out thy kingly dignity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18Verse 16. I will cast thee as profane] Thou…
Verse 16. I will cast thee as profane] Thou shalt be cast down from thine eminence.
From the midst of the stones of fire.] Some, supposing that stones of fire means the stars, have thought that the whole refers to the fall of Satan.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18Eze 28:16-17. By the multitude of thy merchandise, &c.…
Eze 28:16-17. By the multitude of thy merchandise, &c. — The riches which thy great trade has produced have but increased thy love of gain more and more, and induced thee to commit acts of violence, fraud, and extortion, to make further additions to thy power and riches; therefore I will cast thee out of the mountain of God — I will cast thee down to contempt from that super-eminent degree of power and glory to which I had raised thee, and from the exalted station of governing others, and being able to afford them protection, and from all thy great pomp and magnificence. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty — Thou becamest vain and insolent on account of thy power, riches, and magnificence. Here the root of this prince’s ruin is pointed out to us. His power and riches produced pride and insolence in him, and those every evil way. His grandeur blinded him, so that he did not see his true happiness, nor the right way of pursuing it, but wandered in ways which led to ruin. I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee — I will make thee a spectacle to other princes, expose thee as a miserable object before their eyes, that thou mayest be an example to them to deter them from the like pride and practices.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv17–18Beauty. Riches have corrupted thy heart.
Beauty. Riches have corrupted thy heart.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv16–18filled the midst of thee--that is, they have filled…
filled the midst of thee--that is, they have filled the midst of the city; he as the head of the state being involved in the guilt of the state, which he did not check, but fostered.
cast thee as profane--no longer treated as sacred, but driven out of the place of sanctity (see Eze 28:14) which thou hast occupied (compare Psa 89:39).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv16–1816. Will cast… will destroy — Rather, have cast……
16. Will cast… will destroy — Rather, have cast… have destroyed. So in Eze_28:17-18 the verbs are in the past tense. These words were spoken from the standpoint of prophecy fulfilled. Some scholars amend so as to read, “and the cherub hath destroyed thee.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv16–1816. By the multitude] Or, in the multitude.
16. By the multitude] Or, in the multitude.
they have filled] Or, thy midst (heart) was filled with wrong, and thou didst sin. LXX., thou didst fill.
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therefore I will cast] therefore have I cast. The destruction of the prince is described as completed, lit. therefore have I profaned thee (casting thee) out of the mountain.
and I will destroy thee] More probably: and the (covering) cherub hath destroyed thee (driving thee) from the midst of the stones of fire. The construction as 1st pers. I have destroyed is possible, but quite improbable. The cherub is rather regarded as active in the expulsion from Paradise; in Gen_3:24, he is represented as barring the return of those whom God had expelled.
With the words wanting in LXX. put in square brackets the verses would read: “Thou art the (a) seal of symmetry, [full of wisdom], and the perfection of beauty. 13 Thou wast in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx and the jaspar, the sapphire, the carbuncle and the emerald; and gold was the workmanship of thy sockets and grooves in thee in the day that thou wast created” [they were prepared]. Or, drawing the last words to the beginning of Eze_28:14. 14 “In the day that thou wast created I set thee with the [outspread, the covering] cherub, thou wast in the holy mountain of God, in the midst of the stones of fire [thou didst walk]. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 In the multitude of thy traffic thy midst was filled with wrong [LXX. thou didst fill], and thou didst sin: therefore I have profaned thee (and cast thee) from the mountain of God; and the [covering] cherub hath destroyed thee (driving thee) from the midst of the stones of fire.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18(16) Filled the midst of thee.—The language passes very…
(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 stones of fire shall for ever cease.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv16–17Sin and destruction.
Sin and destruction.
No doubt the inspired prophet of the Lord saw in the fate of Tyro what was not discernible to worldly and enlightened minds. These would look for political causes and motives and consequences in the rise and fall of states. But Ezekiel saw below the surface. He knew that there was Divine action in and beneath the action of Tyre"s enemies; and that there were reasons only recognizable by a reflecting and religious man for the awful disasters which he was commissioned to foretell.
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I THE OCCASIONS OF SIN.
1. We may discover what may be called material occasions of sin, in the wealth and prosperity, the fame and renown, the beauty and splendor, of Tyre. Circumstances of very different kinds may yet agree in suggesting evil thoughts, desires, and habits. Men lay the blame upon circumstances, but this is a very shortsighted method of proceeding.
2. There are moral promptings to sin which may spring out of the former. The heart is lifted up with exultation; a not unnatural confidence in possessions and resources springs up and asserts itself.
II THE MANIFESTATIONS OF SIN. "Thou hast sinned" is the reproach addressed by God to the guilty city; and it is the reproach addressed to every nation and to every man that has yielded to temptations which should have been withstood, repelled, and mastered. The forms which sin assumes are innumerable, and vary with varying times and with varying states of society. The context refers to:
1. Iniquity, or the violation of Divine laws regulating men"s relations among themselves and to God himself.
2. Violence, such as the powerful, willful, and haughty are given to exercise in their treatment of their inferiors.
3. Corruption and defilement, such as are certain to prevail where God is not honored, and where selfish ends inspire men"s conduct.
III THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. This is:
1. By the decree of God. He is the Speaker throughout this passage. He claims to bestow privileges, and to call men to account for the manner in which those privileges are used. Whatever be the agency or instrumentality of chastisement and correction, it is by the Eternal Wisdom and Righteousness that it is inflicted.
2. In the case of national sin, the penalties are put in force through the instrumentality of neighboring nations. A barbarian horde, or a mighty sovereign and conqueror, has again and again been used as a "scourge of God." It would be wrong to attribute any moral superiority to the victorious people; they may be merely the rod, the sword, in the hand of the Lord of hosts.
3. Where the offence has been heinous, the visitation may be one involving complete destruction, as in the case of Tyre. The terms of threatening here recorded are of the strongest and most unsparing. "I will destroy thee;" "I will cast thee to the ground;" "I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee; it shall devour thee." Such punishment is sometimes regarded as inconsistent with the attributes of a just and merciful King and Judge. But, whilst it may not be in our power to vindicate all the ways of God, it is certainly not for us to question the acts of him who is omniscient, and whose righteousness is without a flaw. There is nothing in Scripture to support the opinions of those who think that, because God is benevolent, therefore there is no such thing as punishment. There is a moral law which the Sovereign Judge will surely maintain and vindicate.
4. The punishment inflicted upon sinners shall be published far and wide. What is done by God in the exercise of punitive justice is done in the sight of all, and all shall be astonished. This publicity may surely be explained as an arrangement intended for the universal good to impress upon the minds of all mankind the heinousness of iniquity, that they may "stand in awe, and sin not. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v18By the iniquity of thy traffic.
Eze_28:18
By the iniquity of thy traffic.
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Corruption in commerce
The tendency is to measure all things by a money standard. The business that cannot be ruled by Christianity is wrong. What this does for a land, if it grows unchecked, is to make men sell the best things. Phoenicia did, and the spirit of her people died. Her inhabitants became the ministers of vice in every Eastern city. And the man eaten up by love of gain is preparing for himself and all he influences a like fate. Men object that business is a sort of neutral world in which the maxims of New Testament morality cannot come into play. But if this is true, either Christianity cannot be a faith for the whole of a mans life, or the business that cannot be ruled by it is wrong. It is to rule my eating and drinking, my clothing and housing of myself and mine, my buying and selling, my work am! play. Whatsoever ye do, buying or booking, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. But men object today that the severity of the competition by which they are pressed makes some moral laxity in the conduct of business most difficult to avoid. They have to contend with others who are not hampered by scrupulosity in the methods by which they obtain orders or make profits. Some time ago, the Rev. Mr. Carter, the Secretary of the Christian Social Union, informs us, the Oxford branch of that society sent out a number of queries to practical men on the subject of commercial morality. In answer to the question: Do you find it difficult to apply the principles of Christian truth and justice to the conduct of business? two employers write: Business is based on the gladiatorial theory of existence. If Christian truth and justice is not consistent with this, business is in a bad case. A commercial traveller writes: Not only difficult, but impossible, for a man is not master of himself. If one would live, and avoid the bankruptcy court, one must do business on the same lines as others do, without troubling whether, the methods are in harmony with the principles of Christian truth and justice or not. A drapers assistant answers: Extremely so. The tendency to misrepresent, deceive, or take unfair advantage under circumstances that daily offer the opportunity of so doing is generally too strong to resist where self-interest is the motive power of action, the conventional morality the only check. To me they appear to be opposing principles--the first of self-sacrifice, the second of self-interest. Another says: If it were possible to do away with competition, the excuse and justification for a large proportion of commercial immorality would be gone. As it is, it is quite plain that honourable trade has to meet with and fight what is unjust. As Arthur Hugh Clough says in one of his poems Thou shalt not covet, but tradition Approves all forms of competition. (G. T. Forbes, M. A.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv16, 18Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to the king of Tyre.
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General Information:
The words "you" and "your" in these verses refer to the king of Tyre.
great trade
"large volume of trade"
you were filled with violence
Yahweh speaks of the king of Tyre as if he were a container that was filled up with violence. The king is a synecdoche for himself and his people The abstract noun "violence" can be translated using the adjective "violent." AT: "you and your people became completely violent" or "you and your peoplewere completely violent" (See: Metaphor and Synecdoche and Abstract Nouns)
guardian cherub
"guarding cherub"
the fiery stones
"the stones of fire." See how you translated this in Ezekiel 28:14. Possible meanings are 1) a metaphor for the colorful and bright stones mentioned in Ezekiel 28:13 or 2) other fiery stones on the "holy mountain of God." (See: Metaphor)
Your heart was arrogant
Here the "heart" represents the whole person, emphasizing the person's thoughts. AT: "You were arrogant" (See: Synecdoche)
arrogant
falsely believing oneself to be importantbelieving oneself to be important
Your heart was arrogant with your beauty; you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor
The abstract nouns "beauty," wisdom" and "splendor" can be translated using the adjectives "beautiful," "wise" and "splendid." AT: "Your heart was arrogant because you were beautiful; you became unwise because you were so splendid" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v1828:18-19 Far from being a deity who could sanctify…
28:18-19 Far from being a deity who could sanctify a piece of ground by his presence, the prince of Tyre had the opposite effect. He defiled the holy ground of his sanctuaries. Judgment was pronounced on his city in the previous two panels, and it was the prince of Tyre’s fate to come to a terrible end, and . . . exist no more (cp. 26:21; 27:36). The exalted captain would go down with his glorious ship and be brought to nothing by the Lord’s act.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Thou shalt have no part among my people.
Thou shalt have no part among my people.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they…
Eze 28:16 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.
Ver. 16. By the multitude of thy merchandise.] Many merchants think they may do anything for their own advantage; cheating and overreaching pass for virtues with them. {a}
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And thou hast sinned.] By suffering it so to be; for there is a passive injustice as well as an active.
I will cast thee.] I will bring thee down with a vengeance, and make thee an example of that rule, Great sins have great punishments. {b}
{a} Multae sunt fraudes ubi mercatura fervet. - Oecolamp.
{b} Mεγαλων αδικηματων μεγαλαι εισι αι τιμωριαι παρα του Yεου.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–18 By the multitude; by, or in, or according to…
By the multitude; by, or in, or according to (as the Gallic version) the multitude or greatness of thy trading: in Tyre were merchants that traded in very great adventures, with vast stocks, and in mighty cargoes.
With violence; thy merchants have by craft, where that would, and by violence where craft would not, compassed their unjust designs, as noted, Eze 27:36. This injustice and violence grew as their trade did, and filled the city with guilt as fast as that did with wealth.
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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 oppressed all they could; or hast, contrary to justice and equity, supported them in their violence, and judged for them against oppressed strangers. Thou who weft a king, and wouldst be thought a god, is this like to God, who hates violence, loves justice, relieveth the stranger, and righteth the oppressed?
I will cast thee out: these abominable things hast thou done, and now, as an abominable thing, I will throw thee out, either of thy throne and kingly dignity, see Eze 28:14, or thy fancied and imagined heaven, where thou wouldst be a god, for such gods of violence and injustice deserve to be cast out with the aspiring angels.
Destroy thee; utterly destroy.
O covering cherub: see Eze 28:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–18 By the multitude of thy merchandise,.... With the several…
By the multitude of thy merchandise,.... With the several nations of the earth, who came to the markets and fairs of Tyre, and to whom she sent her goods:
they have filled the midst of thee with violence; or, as the Targum,
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"thy treasures are filled with rapine;''
with ill gotten goods, as the pope's coffers are through his merchandise of the souls of men, and the great trade that is driven in pardons and indulgences:
and thou hast sinned; by this unjust and ungodly way of dealing:
therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; Mount Zion, the church of the living God, where he dwells, and is worshipped, and on which the Lamb stands with his hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name and his Father's on their foreheads, Rev 14:1, these will have no communion with the church and pope of Rome; will not receive his mark, nor worship his image; from this mountain, and the inhabitants of it, he stands excluded as a profane person, with whom they will have nothing to do; and hence he persecutes them to the utmost of his power:
and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire; from among the people of God, who have the clear light of the Gospel, and a sincere love for Christ; these withdrew themselves from his jurisdiction and government; and with whom his name, power, and authority perish, especially when they shall have got the victory over him, Rev 15:1. Kimchi paraphrases it,
"from the midst of the saints who are the Israelites, comparable to stones of fire;''
and Jarchi's note is,
"that thou mayest not take a portion with the righteous;''
have no part, lot, or fellowship with them. The Targum is,
"I will destroy thee, O king that art anointed, because thou thoughtest to rule over the holy people.''
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–18 I will cast - Out thy kingly dignity.
I will cast - Out thy kingly dignity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Verse 16. I will cast thee as profane] Thou…
Verse 16. I will cast thee as profane] Thou shalt be cast down from thine eminence.
From the midst of the stones of fire.] Some, supposing that stones of fire means the stars, have thought that the whole refers to the fall of Satan.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Eze 28:16-17. By the multitude of thy merchandise, &c.…
Eze 28:16-17. By the multitude of thy merchandise, &c. — The riches which thy great trade has produced have but increased thy love of gain more and more, and induced thee to commit acts of violence, fraud, and extortion, to make further additions to thy power and riches; therefore I will cast thee out of the mountain of God — I will cast thee down to contempt from that super-eminent degree of power and glory to which I had raised thee, and from the exalted station of governing others, and being able to afford them protection, and from all thy great pomp and magnificence. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty — Thou becamest vain and insolent on account of thy power, riches, and magnificence. Here the root of this prince’s ruin is pointed out to us. His power and riches produced pride and insolence in him, and those every evil way. His grandeur blinded him, so that he did not see his true happiness, nor the right way of pursuing it, but wandered in ways which led to ruin. I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee — I will make thee a spectacle to other princes, expose thee as a miserable object before their eyes, that thou mayest be an example to them to deter them from the like pride and practices.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Beauty. Riches have corrupted thy heart.
Beauty. Riches have corrupted thy heart.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–18 filled the midst of thee--that is, they have filled…
filled the midst of thee--that is, they have filled the midst of the city; he as the head of the state being involved in the guilt of the state, which he did not check, but fostered.
cast thee as profane--no longer treated as sacred, but driven out of the place of sanctity (see Eze 28:14) which thou hast occupied (compare Psa 89:39).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. Will cast… will destroy — Rather, have cast……
16. Will cast… will destroy — Rather, have cast… have destroyed. So in Eze_28:17-18 the verbs are in the past tense. These words were spoken from the standpoint of prophecy fulfilled. Some scholars amend so as to read, “and the cherub hath destroyed thee.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. By the multitude] Or, in the multitude.
16. By the multitude] Or, in the multitude.
they have filled] Or, thy midst (heart) was filled with wrong, and thou didst sin. LXX., thou didst fill.
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therefore I will cast] therefore have I cast. The destruction of the prince is described as completed, lit. therefore have I profaned thee (casting thee) out of the mountain.
and I will destroy thee] More probably: and the (covering) cherub hath destroyed thee (driving thee) from the midst of the stones of fire. The construction as 1st pers. I have destroyed is possible, but quite improbable. The cherub is rather regarded as active in the expulsion from Paradise; in Gen_3:24, he is represented as barring the return of those whom God had expelled.
With the words wanting in LXX. put in square brackets the verses would read: “Thou art the (a) seal of symmetry, [full of wisdom], and the perfection of beauty. 13 Thou wast in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx and the jaspar, the sapphire, the carbuncle and the emerald; and gold was the workmanship of thy sockets and grooves in thee in the day that thou wast created” [they were prepared]. Or, drawing the last words to the beginning of Eze_28:14. 14 “In the day that thou wast created I set thee with the [outspread, the covering] cherub, thou wast in the holy mountain of God, in the midst of the stones of fire [thou didst walk]. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 In the multitude of thy traffic thy midst was filled with wrong [LXX. thou didst fill], and thou didst sin: therefore I have profaned thee (and cast thee) from the mountain of God; and the [covering] cherub hath destroyed thee (driving thee) from the midst of the stones of fire.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 (16) Filled the midst of thee.—The language passes very…
(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 stones of fire shall for ever cease.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Sin and destruction.
Sin and destruction.
No doubt the inspired prophet of the Lord saw in the fate of Tyro what was not discernible to worldly and enlightened minds. These would look for political causes and motives and consequences in the rise and fall of states. But Ezekiel saw below the surface. He knew that there was Divine action in and beneath the action of Tyre"s enemies; and that there were reasons only recognizable by a reflecting and religious man for the awful disasters which he was commissioned to foretell.
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I THE OCCASIONS OF SIN.
1. We may discover what may be called material occasions of sin, in the wealth and prosperity, the fame and renown, the beauty and splendor, of Tyre. Circumstances of very different kinds may yet agree in suggesting evil thoughts, desires, and habits. Men lay the blame upon circumstances, but this is a very shortsighted method of proceeding.
2. There are moral promptings to sin which may spring out of the former. The heart is lifted up with exultation; a not unnatural confidence in possessions and resources springs up and asserts itself.
II THE MANIFESTATIONS OF SIN. "Thou hast sinned" is the reproach addressed by God to the guilty city; and it is the reproach addressed to every nation and to every man that has yielded to temptations which should have been withstood, repelled, and mastered. The forms which sin assumes are innumerable, and vary with varying times and with varying states of society. The context refers to:
1. Iniquity, or the violation of Divine laws regulating men"s relations among themselves and to God himself.
2. Violence, such as the powerful, willful, and haughty are given to exercise in their treatment of their inferiors.
3. Corruption and defilement, such as are certain to prevail where God is not honored, and where selfish ends inspire men"s conduct.
III THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. This is:
1. By the decree of God. He is the Speaker throughout this passage. He claims to bestow privileges, and to call men to account for the manner in which those privileges are used. Whatever be the agency or instrumentality of chastisement and correction, it is by the Eternal Wisdom and Righteousness that it is inflicted.
2. In the case of national sin, the penalties are put in force through the instrumentality of neighboring nations. A barbarian horde, or a mighty sovereign and conqueror, has again and again been used as a "scourge of God." It would be wrong to attribute any moral superiority to the victorious people; they may be merely the rod, the sword, in the hand of the Lord of hosts.
3. Where the offence has been heinous, the visitation may be one involving complete destruction, as in the case of Tyre. The terms of threatening here recorded are of the strongest and most unsparing. "I will destroy thee;" "I will cast thee to the ground;" "I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee; it shall devour thee." Such punishment is sometimes regarded as inconsistent with the attributes of a just and merciful King and Judge. But, whilst it may not be in our power to vindicate all the ways of God, it is certainly not for us to question the acts of him who is omniscient, and whose righteousness is without a flaw. There is nothing in Scripture to support the opinions of those who think that, because God is benevolent, therefore there is no such thing as punishment. There is a moral law which the Sovereign Judge will surely maintain and vindicate.
4. The punishment inflicted upon sinners shall be published far and wide. What is done by God in the exercise of punitive justice is done in the sight of all, and all shall be astonished. This publicity may surely be explained as an arrangement intended for the universal good to impress upon the minds of all mankind the heinousness of iniquity, that they may "stand in awe, and sin not. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v18 By the iniquity of thy traffic.
Eze_28:18
By the iniquity of thy traffic.
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Corruption in commerce
The tendency is to measure all things by a money standard. The business that cannot be ruled by Christianity is wrong. What this does for a land, if it grows unchecked, is to make men sell the best things. Phoenicia did, and the spirit of her people died. Her inhabitants became the ministers of vice in every Eastern city. And the man eaten up by love of gain is preparing for himself and all he influences a like fate. Men object that business is a sort of neutral world in which the maxims of New Testament morality cannot come into play. But if this is true, either Christianity cannot be a faith for the whole of a mans life, or the business that cannot be ruled by it is wrong. It is to rule my eating and drinking, my clothing and housing of myself and mine, my buying and selling, my work am! play. Whatsoever ye do, buying or booking, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. But men object today that the severity of the competition by which they are pressed makes some moral laxity in the conduct of business most difficult to avoid. They have to contend with others who are not hampered by scrupulosity in the methods by which they obtain orders or make profits. Some time ago, the Rev. Mr. Carter, the Secretary of the Christian Social Union, informs us, the Oxford branch of that society sent out a number of queries to practical men on the subject of commercial morality. In answer to the question: Do you find it difficult to apply the principles of Christian truth and justice to the conduct of business? two employers write: Business is based on the gladiatorial theory of existence. If Christian truth and justice is not consistent with this, business is in a bad case. A commercial traveller writes: Not only difficult, but impossible, for a man is not master of himself. If one would live, and avoid the bankruptcy court, one must do business on the same lines as others do, without troubling whether, the methods are in harmony with the principles of Christian truth and justice or not. A drapers assistant answers: Extremely so. The tendency to misrepresent, deceive, or take unfair advantage under circumstances that daily offer the opportunity of so doing is generally too strong to resist where self-interest is the motive power of action, the conventional morality the only check. To me they appear to be opposing principles--the first of self-sacrifice, the second of self-interest. Another says: If it were possible to do away with competition, the excuse and justification for a large proportion of commercial immorality would be gone. As it is, it is quite plain that honourable trade has to meet with and fight what is unjust. As Arthur Hugh Clough says in one of his poems Thou shalt not covet, but tradition Approves all forms of competition. (G. T. Forbes, M. A.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to the king of Tyre.
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General Information:
The words "you" and "your" in these verses refer to the king of Tyre.
great trade
"large volume of trade"
you were filled with violence
Yahweh speaks of the king of Tyre as if he were a container that was filled up with violence. The king is a synecdoche for himself and his people The abstract noun "violence" can be translated using the adjective "violent." AT: "you and your people became completely violent" or "you and your peoplewere completely violent" (See: Metaphor and Synecdoche and Abstract Nouns)
guardian cherub
"guarding cherub"
the fiery stones
"the stones of fire." See how you translated this in Ezekiel 28:14. Possible meanings are 1) a metaphor for the colorful and bright stones mentioned in Ezekiel 28:13 or 2) other fiery stones on the "holy mountain of God." (See: Metaphor)
Your heart was arrogant
Here the "heart" represents the whole person, emphasizing the person's thoughts. AT: "You were arrogant" (See: Synecdoche)
arrogant
falsely believing oneself to be importantbelieving oneself to be important
Your heart was arrogant with your beauty; you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor
The abstract nouns "beauty," wisdom" and "splendor" can be translated using the adjectives "beautiful," "wise" and "splendid." AT: "Your heart was arrogant because you were beautiful; you became unwise because you were so splendid" (See: Abstract Nouns)
before kings
"in front of kings "
so they may see you
"so they may look at you"
translationWords
sin
defile
God
cherub
heart
arrogant
ruin
splendor
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v18 28:18-19 Far from being a deity who could sanctify…
28:18-19 Far from being a deity who could sanctify a piece of ground by his presence, the prince of Tyre had the opposite effect. He defiled the holy ground of his sanctuaries. Judgment was pronounced on his city in the previous two panels, and it was the prince of Tyre’s fate to come to a terrible end, and . . . exist no more (cp. 26:21; 27:36). The exalted captain would go down with his glorious ship and be brought to nothing by the Lord’s act.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.