Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 28:17
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
17. The prince’s sin was self-exaltation because of his beauty and wisdom. The prince is but the representative of the city and its inhabitants; the beauty of the one (Eze 27:3) and the wisdom of the other (Eze 27:8-9) are attributed to him. The prophet’s own deep humility before Jehovah makes him recoil from the self-exaltation of men elsewhere.
corrupted thy wisdom ] i.e. lost thy wisdom over, or amidst, thy splendour. The tenses “I will cast” &c. are all perfects, the threat taking the form of an accomplished judgment.
that they may behold thee ] i.e. as a spectacle to feast their eyes upon.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thine heart was lifted up: see Eze 28:2,5.
Thy beauty: see Eze 28:12.
Converted thy wisdom; depraved or lost thy wisdom, by reflecting and gazing on thy own glory, state, wealth, and magnificence, and hast forgotten thou art a man; thou exaltest thyself above man, above thy neighbour kings.
I will cast thee to the ground; I will bring down thy pride, dethrone thee, and make thee sit in the dust; sully and darken all thy brightness.
Lay thee before kings; or, set thee before men of thy quality, who are, as thou, apt to forget men, themselves, and God, as he who, though he said not, I am God, yet, atheist-like, asked,
Who is God, that I should obey him? That they may behold thee; or, that thou mayst be a spectacle, an example and warning to them; or, that they see thee in chains, or an abused captive, and despise thee.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. brightnessthy splendor.
lay thee before kingsasan example of God’s wrath against presumptuous pride.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,…. Riches, wealth, power, and authority; see Eze 28:5, as the pope of Rome is, because of his dignity, the pomp and splendour of the Roman church, and the gaudy appearance it makes:
thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; outward lustre and glory, which dazzled his eyes so that he could not see things in a true light; but neglecting the word of God, and setting up his own infallibility, corrupted his doctrine and worship, and became foolish, stupid, and sottish:
I will cast thee to the ground; from the throne and pinnacle of honour, to the lowest state and condition:
and I will lay thee before kings: prostrate at the feet of them, who heretofore has set his feet on the necks of them; or he shall fall before them, and be destroyed by them, when they shall hate the whore, and make her desolate, and burn her flesh with fire, Re 17:16: that they may behold thee; with contempt and disdain, and as an instance and example of divine vengeance.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
17. Corrupted Rather, put to naught (Kautzsch), or stifled (Mitchel) (Amo 1:11). That is, his wisdom has been lost or lessened because of the glory which made him vain. Ezekiel only inveighed against the intellectual conceit, the aesthetic culture, and the commercial greatness of the Tyrian prince, because of his irreligious spirit and sacrilegious assumption ( vs. Bertholet). Yet ancient Judaism was opposed to the mercantile spirit. On the influence of successful commerce on the religious life see Expositor’s Bible.
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty,
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendour,
I have cast you to the ground, I have exposed you before kings,
That they may see you (as you are).”
The great advantage Tyre had had did not have good consequences, it corrupted her rather than uplifting her. It caused her to become proud and vain, so that she forgot true wisdom. It is the fear of Yahweh that is the beginning of wisdom, and they had forgotten it. So she will be cast to the ground and exposed before kings, those very kings over whom she had lorded herself. They would see her as she really was.
Eze 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Ver. 17. Thine heart, &c. ] Fastus inest pulchris.
By reason of thy brightness.
That they may behold thee. hast corrupted = didst corrupt. When this took place we are not told. It was before Gen 3:11, Mat 13:35.
I will cast thee = I did cast thee.
ground = earth, Hebrew ‘eretz, (with Art.)
heart: Eze 28:2, Eze 28:5, Eze 16:14, Eze 16:15, Eze 31:10, Pro 11:2, Pro 16:18, Luk 14:11, Jam 4:6
thou hast: Isa 19:11-13, Jer 8:9, Rom 1:22-25, 1Co 1:19-21
I will cast: Job 40:11, Job 40:12, Psa 73:18, Psa 147:6
I will lay: Eze 16:41, Eze 23:48, Eze 32:10, Isa 14:9-11
Reciprocal: Jdg 7:2 – Mine own 2Ch 32:25 – his heart Isa 47:1 – down Eze 16:49 – pride Eze 27:35 – their kings Eze 28:14 – stones Eze 28:15 – till iniquity Dan 4:4 – was Dan 5:23 – lifted Dan 11:12 – his heart
Eze 28:17. Briefly speaking, the pride of Tyrus over the successes caused the city to destroy her good character. Lay thee before kings is a prediction of the subjugation to be suffered by Tyrus at the hands of foreign kings, such as Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander and possibly some others of less note.
The Lord repeated the fact of His judgment and the reason for it, namely, the pride of the king. Yahweh had brought him down from his exalted position to the level of other ordinary people; he would no longer be god-like. He had also demonstrated His humiliation before the king’s peers, other kings, that they might observe and learn.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)