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denounced, and then follows in fuller detail the charge and the doom of Tyre. The
judgment on Tyre includes a repetition in miniature of Gen. 1: 2.
"When I shall bring up the deep (Heb. Tehom, same word Gen. 1: 2) upon thee, and the
great waters shall cover thee" (Ezek. 26: 19).
"I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more" (Ezek. 26: 21).
The doom pronounced in verse twenty-one is repeated in chapters 27: and 28:
The denunciation of Tyre continues throughout chapter 27:, where we meet the
boastful saying "I am of perfect beauty" (3), and after a long series of descriptive
reference to the merchandise of Tyre we return to the doom already pronounced:
"Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more" (Ezek. 27: 36).
Yet, Tyre continues to occupy the attention of the Prophet, for Ezek. 28: opens
with an address to "the prince of Tyre". This chapter is divided into three parts, from
verse twenty to the end Zidon comes into view, but for the moment can be left out of
our reckoning. Verses 1-19 is a complete section and is divided into two portions,
verses 1-10 speaking of the Prince of Tyre, who for all his boasting is after all "a man
and no god" and shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers (9, 10);
and verses 11-19 which speak of the King of Tyre, whose end is described in the words
"Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more" (19). But this time the doom
is accompanied by statements that lift this character out of the ordinary. Instead of being
a "man" and dying the death of the uncircumcised at the hand of strangers we have this
strange statement:
"I will bring forth 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" (18).
When Ezekiel described the appearance of the One who occupied the throne supported
by the Cherubim, he said:
"From the appearance of His loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins
even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire" (Ezek. 1: 27).
and if we look at Ezek. 28: 14, 16 we shall read:
"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth . . . . . I will destroy thee O covering
cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."
Such appearances, titles and experiences are superhuman, words like these apply
strictly to an order that is above the human, the angelic.
The Prince of Tyre seems to be a type, a reflection, a shadow of the King of Tyre, the
former being human, the latter superhuman. The Prince of Tyre lifted up his heart in
blasphemous boasting, and in so doing revealed the nature of the greater supernatural
blasphemer. He had said "I am God" (2) and had a conceited estimate both of his
wisdom and beauty (3, 7). The opening description of this mighty being is truly
wonderful: