Ezekiel 28:17

This sarcastic description of the prince of Tyre's greatness and pride sets him up for his fall, similar to the fall of humanity (Genesis 3). Like Adam, the king of Tyre's supposedly blameless state was temporary and ended abruptly when evil was found in him. His wealth and dishonest trade led him to violence (compare Ezekiel 26:17).

Someone who claimed to be greater than Adam could experience a similar fall from favor and be banished from the mountain of God, the place of God's favor. The prince of Tyre's God-given beauty and wisdom were corrupted by his pride, leading to disaster and revealing his true nature.

At first, this funeral song seems to treat the prince of Tyre’s claim to be divine as if it were true. It describes him as the model of perfection, full of wisdom and beauty.

But the tone is not sincere. The lament is sarcastic. It uses praise to expose his pride and to show how far he had fallen.

• This section is the third message against Tyre (see study note on Ezekiel 26:1–28:19). It speaks directly to the ruler of Tyre, called the prince of Tyre. It condemns him for his pride.

  The prince represents the city itself. What happens to him also happens to Tyre. In his pride, he claimed to be a god. He said that he sat on a divine throne and ruled over the powerful seas. But this was not true. He was only a man.

• This chapter and Isaiah 14, which speaks about the king of Babylon, are sometimes understood as describing a heavenly battle between God and Satan, who is called “the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24). However, this interpretation overlooks the historical setting of these passages.

  Tyre and Babylon were real cities. Their kings were real men. They had great power, but they were also very proud. The king of Tyre claimed to be a god, but his claim was empty.

  Political powers that oppose God and his people may serve as agents of Satan in his struggle against God. Yet these rulers will fall. Their defeat points forward to God’s final victory over all the powers of evil. Every authority that sets itself against the living God will be destroyed.

The message against Tyre, Israel’s northwestern neighbor, is more detailed than the short messages before it. It consists of three similar sections (Ezekiel 26:2–21; 27:1–36; and 28:1–19). Each section conveys the same idea: Tyre would meet a terrible end and cease to exist (Ezekiel 27:36).

• This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.

• One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.