Ezekiel 28 is the twenty-eighth chapter of the

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

Ezekiel, and is one of the

Books of the Prophets Nevi'im (; he, נְבִיאִים ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the Torah (instruction) and Ketuvim (wri ...

. This chapter contains a prophecy against the king of Tyre and a prophecy against neighbouring

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, concluding with a promise that Israel will be "delivered from the nations".

Text

The original text was written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 26 verses. Tyr2

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century),

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus designated by siglum Q is a 6th-century Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. The text was written on vellum in uncial letters. Palaeographically it ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century). Phoenicia map-en

Against the Ruler of Tyre (28:1-19)

This part contains an oracle against the ruler (''negid''; "prince") of Tyre (verses 1–10) and a lament over the destruction of the king (''melek'') of Tyre (verses 11–19).

Verse 2

: ""Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, : ‘Thus says the Lord God: :: "Because your heart is lifted up, :: And you say, 'I am a god' ::: I sit in the seat of gods, ::: In the midst of the seas', :: Yet you are a man, and not a god, ::: Though you set your heart as the heart of a god" * "Son of man" (Hebrew: בן־אדם ''-''): this phrase is used 93 times to address Ezekiel. * "Prince" (Hebrew: נָגִיד '): the Hebrew word has a meaning of "ruler", "leader" of people, tribal "chief", a nobleman. The "king" in is referring to the same person. The leader of Tyre is judged for his pride and self-deification. During Ezekiel's time, this leader would have been the Tyrian king Ittobaal III.

Verse 3

:''Are you wiser than Daniel?'' ::''Is no secret hidden from you?'' The name "Daniel" may refer to

Danel Danel (), father of Aqhat, was a culture hero who appears in an incomplete Ugaritic text of the fourteenth century BCE at Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), Syria, where the name is rendered DN'IL, " El is judge". Tale of Aqhat The text in ''Corpus T ...

, "a man of renown in ancient literature". The text in the

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...

reads: :''You are now wiser than Daniel;'' ::''there is no sage as wise as you.''

Verse 13

:''You were in Eden, the garden of God;'' ::''every precious stone was your covering,'' :''sardius, topaz, and diamond,'' ::''beryl, onyx, and jasper,'' :''sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;'' ::''and crafted in gold were your settings'' ::''and your engravings.'' :''On the day that you were created'' ::''they were prepared.'' *Cross reference: , , ; . *"Every precious stone was your covering": comparable to the stones in the " breastpiece of judgement" wore by the High Priest of Israel (cf. ; ). *"Sapphire" (Hebrew: ספיר ): "a kind of gem"; "lapis lazuli" (; Ezekiel 1:26).

Against Sidon (28:20-23)

This section contains an oracle of Yahweh's judgement against Sidon, another member of the anti-Babylonian alliance (

Jeremiah 27 Jeremiah 27 is the twenty-seventh chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The material found in Jeremiah 27 is found in Jeremiah 34 in the Septuagint, which orders some material differe ...

), but less important than Tyre,Jerusalem Bible (1966), footnote at Ezekiel 28:20 with the ultimate goal, repeated twice in this brief oracle, that they shall acknowledge Yahweh's sovereignty.

Promises to Israel (28:24-26)

Following the oracles against Israel neighbours, two promises are prophesied to Israel: (1) Israel will cease to be provoked by these neighbours (verse 24); (2) having punished Israel's neighbours, Yahweh will restore Israel to its land and his presence to Israel (verses 25–26).

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish

Ezekiel 28 Hebrew with Parallel EnglishEzekiel 28 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

Ezekiel 28 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezekiel 28 28 Phoenicians in the Hebrew Bible