Yechezkel 28 | The Prophecy Concerning the King of Tyre

Yechezkel now turns his attention to the king of Tyre, who, in his arrogance over his great power, sees himself as a kind of god. Yechezkel rebukes him for his excessive pride and warns that he will suffer calamity that will make his true place clear: “Will you still say ‘I am god,’ before your slayer? You are a man, and not a god, in the hands of your killers” (28:9).

Within these prophecies concerning the king of Tyre, Yechezkel weaves in several motifs from ancient foreign literature. The verse Yechezkel places in the mouth of the king of tyre: “You said, ‘I am a god; I sit upon the seat of a god in the heart of the sea’” (28:2) appears to allude to El, the chief deity of the Canaanite pantheon, whose dwelling was said to be between the rivers. The king of Tyre thus viewed himself as akin to this god. The verse “but are you wiser than Daniel [in Hebrew the way it’s written, ketiv, is Danel; and the way it’s read, keri, is Daniel]? Is no obscure matter hidden from you?” (28:3) has been interpreted by many commentators as a reference to Daniel, the Babylon Jew after whom the biblical book is named. However, based on the ketiv form of the name, and given that Daniel the Jew was younger than Yechezkel and likely not widely known at the time, many scholars argue that the reference is instead to Danel, the hero of the ‘Ugaritic epic Danel and Aqhat’, a legendary judge renowned for his wisdom and justice toward the weak.

The next prophecy, which tells the allegory of a cherub who once dwelled in Eden but was cast out, may be an allusion to the original Garden of Eden story, in which Adam was expelled. However, as Cassuto notes, the imagery seems to have even deeper roots in the Sumerian Garden of Eden myth, which describes trees that grow precious stones — much like Yechezkel’s prophecy: "You were in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone as your wrapping, carnelian, olivine, and green quartz, aquamarine, rock crystal, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and garnet, gold the handiwork of your settings and grooves that were set on the day you were created" (28:13).

These references to foreign myths offer insight into the intended audience of the prophecy. When encountering a prophecy concerning the nations, we must ask: Was this prophecy meant for the people of Tyre, or was it intended for people of Yehuda, who needed to hear about Tyre? In Yeshayahu’s prophecies, for example, it is clear that the people of Yehuda needed to hear that their neighboring kingdoms would fall, so they would know not to ally with them against Assyria. Similarly, in Yechezkel’s case, one can consider possible meanings for the people of Yehuda — perhaps the prophecy against Tyre was meant to console the Israelites, assuring them that their enemies, too, would suffer defeat. Alternatively, it may have been a prophecy genuinely intended for the people of Tyre, meant to bring them to repentance.

Yechezkel’s extensive use of ancient myths can be understood in either direction. On the one hand, it may suggest that the prophecy was directed at the gentiles, employing their familiar myths to communicate the message effectively. However, it is also possible that the prophecy was still meant for the Israelites, and the use of their myths was intended to lend “reliability” — just as an American film might have characters suddenly switch to speaking Chinese to establish that they are truly Chinese. In the same way, Yechezkel integrates motifs from the myths of Tyre so that his Israelite audience would recognize this as a authentic prophecy concerning Tyre.