1 The word of the Lord came againe vnto me, saying,
2 Sonne of man, say vnto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted vp, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seate of God in the middest of the seas; yet thou art a man and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.
3 Behold, thou art wiser then Daniel: there is no secret that they can hide from thee.
4 With thy wisedome and with thine vnderstanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and siluer into thy treasures.
5 By thy great wisedome, and by thy traffique hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted vp because of thy riches.
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7 Behold therefore, I will bring strangers vpon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beautie of thy wisedome, & they shall defile thy brightnesse.
8 They shall bring thee downe to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them, that are slaine in the middest of the seas.
9 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.
10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the vncircumcised, by the hand of strangers: for I haue spoken it, saith the Lord God.
11 ¶ Moreouer the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying;
12 Sonne of man, take vp a lamentation vpon the king of Tyrus, and say vnto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest vp the summe, full of wisedome and perfect in beautie.
13 Thou hast beene in Eden the garden of God; euery precious stone was thy couering, the Sardius, Topaze, and the Diamond, the Beril, the Onyx, and the Iasper, the Saphir, the Emeraude, 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.
14 Thou art the annointed Cherub that couereth: and I haue set thee so; thou wast vpon the holy mountaine of God; thou hast walked vp and downe in the middest of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy wayes from the day that thou wast created, till iniquitie was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they haue filled the middest of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as prophane out of the mountaine of God: and I wil destroy thee, O couering Cherub, from the middest of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted vp because of thy beautie, thou hast corrupted thy wisedome by reason of thy brightnesse: 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 iniquitie of thy traffique: therefore will I bring forth a fire from the middest of thee, it shall deuoure thee: and I will bring thee to ashes vpon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people, shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terrour, and neuer shalt thou be any more.
20 ¶ Againe the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying;
21 Sonne of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophecie against it,
22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon, and I will be glorified in the middest of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall haue executed iudgements in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 For I will send into her, pestilence, and blood into her streetes, and the wounded shall be iudged in the middest of her by the sword vpon her on euery side, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 ¶ And there shall be no more a pricking briar vnto the house of Israel, nor any grieuing thorne of all that are round about them that despised them, and they shal know that I am the Lord God.
25 Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall haue gathered the house of Israel frō 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 haue giuen to my seruant Iacob.
26 And they shal dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards: yea, they shall dwell with confidence when I haue executed iudgments vpon all those that despise them round about them, and they shal know that I am the Lord their God.
The sentence against the prince or king of Tyre. (1-19) The fall of Zidon. (20-23) The restoration of Israel. (24-26)1-19 Ethbaal, or Ithobal, was the prince or king of Tyre; and being lifted up with excessive pride, he claimed Divine honours. Pride is peculiarly the sin of our fallen nature. Nor can any wisdom, except that which the Lord gives, lead to happiness in this world or in that which is to come. The haughty prince of Tyre thought he was able to protect his people by his own power, and considered himself as equal to the inhabitants of heaven. If it were possible to dwell in the garden of Eden, or even to enter heaven, no solid happiness could be enjoyed without a humble, holy, and spiritual mind. Especially all spiritual pride is of the devil. Those who indulge therein must expect to perish.
20-26. The Zidonians were borderers upon the land of Israel, and they might have learned to glorify the Lord; but, instead of that, they seduced Israel to the worship of their idols. War and pestilence are God's messengers; but he will be glorified in the restoring his people to their former safety and prosperity. God will cure them of their sins, and ease them of their troubles. This promise will at length fully come to pass in the heavenly Canaan: when all the saints shall be gathered together, every thing that offends shall be removed, all griefs and fears for ever banished. Happy, then, is the church of God, and every living member of it, though poor, afflicted, and despised; for the Lord will display his truth, power, and mercy, in the salvation and happiness of his redeemed people.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.