Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 28:3
Behold, thou [art] wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
3. wiser than Daniel ] Cf. on ch. Eze 14:14. The language appears ironical. It does not follow from the allusion that the story of Daniel was known in Tyre.
no secret hide ] Or, no secret is hidden. In Eze 31:8 the word seems to mean “be equal to,” “come up to.” This sense would require a personal subject, which might be got if the term “no secret,” lit. no closed, could be taken as Num 24:3; Num 24:5 closed of eyes, i.e. inspired. The versions differ widely from one another.
Eze 28:4 seq. The wisdom of the prince, who is but the incarnation of the spirit of the city, displayed itself in his commercial enterprise, in his skill in arts and manufactures, for which the Tyrians were famous, and thus he amassed such riches and surrounded himself with such splendour that he deemed himself God ( Eze 28:6). Already Homer calls the Sidonians poludaidaloi ( Il. 23. 743).
Eze 28:7 seq. His chastisement because of his self-deification. As Nebuchadnezzar affected to set himself in the sides of the North but was brought down to the sides of the pit, the prince of Tyre shall die an ignominious death. The “terrible” i.e. most terrible of the nations are the Chaldeans, cf. the prophet’s contemporary Hab 1:6-10. See ch. Eze 7:21; Eze 7:24, Eze 30:11, Eze 31:12, Eze 32:12.
the beauty of thy wisdom ] The beauty is not regarded as the product of his wisdom, but rather as the expression of it, that in which it clothes itself. Cf. Eze 28:12.
defile thy brightness ] profane, cf. Eze 28:17. The term “profane” is used on account of the prince’s assumption of divinity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. Thou art wiser than Daniel] Daniel was at this time living, and was reputable for his great wisdom. This is said ironically. See Eze 14:14; Eze 26:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou art wiser, in thy own thoughts of thyself, than Daniel, who was then famous for his wisdom, which was imparted to him from Heaven, Eze 14:20; Dan 1:20; 2:20,48.
That they can hide from thee; that any sort of men can conceal, that thine adversaries shall contrive against thee to thy danger or hurt: all this ironically said.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Ezekiel ironically alludes toIthbaal’s overweening opinion of the wisdom of himself and theTyrians, as though superior to that of Daniel, whose fame had reachedeven Tyre as eclipsing the Chaldean sages. “Thou art wiser,”namely, in thine own opinion (Zec9:2).
no secretnamely,forgetting riches (Eze 28:4).
that they can hidethatis, that can be hidden.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold; thou art wiser than Daniel,…. That is, in his own opinion; or it is ironically said. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it by way of interrogation, “art thou not wiser than Daniel?” who was now at the court of Babylon, and was famous throughout all Chaldea for his knowledge in politics, his wisdom and prudence in government, as well as his skill in interpreting dreams. The Jews have a saying, that
“if all the wise men of the nations were in one scale, and Daniel in the other, he would weigh them all down.”
And perhaps the fame of him had reached the king of Tyre, and yet he thought himself wiser than he; see Zec 9:2, antichrist thinks himself wiser than Daniel, or any of the prophets and apostles; he is wise above that which is written, and takes upon him the sole interpretation of the Scriptures, and to fix the sense of them:
there is no secret that they can hide from thee; as he fancied; he had sagacity to penetrate into the councils of neighbouring princes, and discover all plots and intrigues against him; he understood all the “arcana” and secrets of government, and could counterwork the designs of his enemies. Antichrist pretends to know all mysteries, and solve all difficulties, and pass an infallible judgment on things; as if he was of the privy council of heaven, and nothing was transacted there but he was acquainted with it, and had full knowledge of the mind of God in all things.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Wiser than Daniel.This is ironically spoken. Daniel was so famed for his wisdom in the great Chaldan Empire (Dan. 1:20; Dan. 2:48; Dan. 4:18; Dan. 5:11-12; Dan. 6:3, &c.) that the report must have already reached Tyre. He had been twenty years in Nebuchadnezzars court when Jerusalem fell, and the siege of Tyre was five years later.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Wiser than Daniel Is this an acknowledgment that Eth-baal, “prince” or “king” of Tyre (Eze 28:2; Eze 28:12), was wiser than Daniel, the wisest and best Hebrew (compare Eze 14:14), or is it merely a continuation of the boasting which must now be rebuked? No doubt the latter; for although the Israelites recognized the superiority of Tyrian wisdom in some directions, it was only the Hebrew seer from whom no secret could be hid. (Compare Dan 2:21; Dan 2:28; Dan 4:9; Dan 5:11, etc.) This verse does not prove necessarily that the king of Tyre at this date recognized Daniel as the typical Hebrew sage (Konig, Einleitung, p. 385), but it does prove that Ezekiel and his hearers did do this. (See note Eze 14:14.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Behold, you are wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that they can hide from you.”
Again we are confronted by the question as to who is meant by Dani’el (compare on Eze 14:14; Eze 14:20). It is quite possible that Ezekiel is comparing him with that great contemporary figure Daniel (Daniyye’l, an alternative form. Compare Do’eg (1Sa 21:7; 1Sa 22:9) spelled Doyeg in 1Sa 22:18; 1Sa 22:22) who had risen so high in the court of the king of Babylon and had become a folk-hero to his people. He was renowned for his wisdom (Dan 1:17; Dan 1:20) and vision (Dan 2:19) and as the one to whom the secrets of God were revealed (Dan 2:22; Dan 2:28; Dan 2:30; Dan 2:47). As the message of the prophecy was for Israel and not for Tyre, who would probably never receive it, the fact that Tyre might not have known much about Daniel is irrelevant, although Daniel was by now such a powerful figure (Dan 2:48) that he had probably already become a legend in his own time, even in Tyre.
Alternately there may be in mind some patriarchal figure like the Dan’el described at Ugarit, the Dispenser of fertility, who was seen as upright and as judging the cause of the widow and the fatherless. That Dan’el would certainly be known to the Tyrians.
Either way the point is that he claimed to have supernatural knowledge, to a knowledge of all secrets greater than Daniel’s, and that Ezekiel is deriding him for it, while agreeing that he has a certain kind of wisdom. There is wry sarcasm here, for had he been a knower of all secrets he would have known the secret of his own downfall.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 28:3 Behold, thou [art] wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
Ver. 3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel. ] That oracular man, who was , as one saith of Homer, , the most wise and knowing man alive. His name was now up at Babylon; and Ezekiel, his contemporary, commendeth him; so doth the Baptist, Christ; and Peter, Paul. Eph 3:15 Though there had been a breach between them, Gal 2:14 there was no envy. But such another braggart as this in the text was Richardus de Sancto Victore, a monk of Paris, who said that himself was a better divine than any prophet or apostle of them all. a But how much better, saith Gregory, b is humble ignorance than proud knowledge!
a Paraei, Hist. Sac. Medul.
b Moral., 17:
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Behold. Figure of speech Asteismos (App-6), to attract our attention.
wiser. In thine own eyes.
Daniel. Here an example of wisdom; as of righteousness in Eze 14:14, Eze 14:20. Compare Dan 1:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thou art: Dan 1:20, Dan 2:48, Dan 5:11, Dan 5:12, Zec 9:2, Zec 9:3
no secret: 1Ki 4:29-32, 1Ki 10:3, Job 15:8, Psa 25:14, Dan 2:22, Dan 2:27, Dan 2:28, Dan 2:47, Dan 5:12
Reciprocal: Job 32:13 – We Pro 28:11 – rich Eze 14:14 – Daniel Eze 27:3 – O thou Eze 28:15 – perfect Dan 1:6 – Daniel Dan 1:17 – Daniel had understanding Dan 4:9 – no secret Hab 1:16 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 28:3. This verse is what is known in literature and oral speech as Irony, a form of expression in which the author says the very opposite of what he means. It is a very pointed kind of rebuke, and generally is employed where the person addressed is re-garded as being unworthy of more serious consideration. Job used such a form of speech in his reply to the three friends. (See Job 12:2.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 28:3-8. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel In thy own conceit. The fame of Daniels wisdom was quickly spread over Chaldea, upon his being advanced to several posts of honour and dignity by Nebuchadnezzar. See Dan 2:8. So here the prophet in an ironical manner upbraids the vain boasts which the prince of Tyre made of his wisdom, and the policy of those about him, as if it exceeded the endowments of Daniel. The Phenicians, of whom the Tyrians were a colony, (see note on Isa 23:12,) valued themselves for their wisdom and ingenuity, as being inventors of navigation, letters, and sciences. Compare Zec 9:2. With thy wisdom, &c., thou hast gotten thee riches Thy skill in navigation and trade has increased thy wealth. Behold, I will bring upon thee the terrible of the nations The Babylonians, who by their conquests have made themselves terrible to all the nations round about them. They shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom They shall deface and destroy all the beautiful edifices which thou hast erected with admirable art, and every thing which thou valuest as ornamental or useful, beauteous or magnificent, even all the glory of thy kingdom. They shall defile thy brightness They shall render thy kingdom, which is now flourishing and glorious, weak and contemptible. Thou shalt die the deaths, &c. Thou shalt die the death of those who perished in the flood. The expression deaths, in the plural, intimates a still further punishment, even after the death of the body; such as that impious race experienced, and such as this haughty prince had well deserved by his mad pride and blasphemous impiety. And therefore with the same emphasis the prophet tells us, Eze 28:10, Thou shalt die the deaths, the double death, of the uncircumcised; that is, of unbelievers and enemies to God. For circumcision being the rite which distinguished Gods chosen people from the heathen, uncircumcised is equivalent in sense to wicked or profane. So the Chaldee Paraphrase renders it here. This is not the only place in this prophecy where the destruction by the deluge is alluded to: for this, and the fall of angels, being two of the greatest events that ever happened, and the most remarkable of Gods judgments, it was very natural for the prophets to recur to them, when they would raise their style in the description of the fall of empires and tyrants. See Eze 26:19-20; Eze 27:26; Eze 27:32; Eze 27:34. As the style of this prophet is wonderfully adapted to the subject whereof he treats, so he compares the destruction of this famous maritime city to a vessel shipwrecked in the sea, and so sends its inhabitants to the people of old times, as he calls them, who were swallowed up in the universal deluge. Their prince he compares to the prince of the rebel angels, whose pride had given him such a dreadful fall. See Peters on Job, p. 373, and notes on Eze 28:14.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
28:3 Behold, thou [art] wiser than {b} Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
(b) Thus he speaks by derision: for Daniel had declared notable signs of his wisdom in Babylon, when Ezekiel wrote this.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Indeed, the king was a very wise man, wiser even than Daniel, who had revealed divine secrets to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel had been in Babylon since 605 B.C., almost 20 years, so he was by this time well-known. Another possible interpretation is that the king thought he was wiser than Daniel, not that he knew of Daniel necessarily, but Ezekiel used Daniel as a standard of great wisdom. The king of Tyre had understanding of matters that were obscure to other people, or he believed that he did. His wisdom had enabled him to become rich personally and to make Tyre wealthy. His wise trading had enabled him to increase those riches. He had become very proud because of the success he had enjoyed. Note that the character of Daniel was the opposite of this ruler, though they were both very intelligent. It is not uncommon for people today, even Christians, to deify themselves in their own minds when they experience great success.