Ezekiel 28:7 kjv
Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
Ezekiel 28:7 nkjv
Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.
Ezekiel 28:7 niv
I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor.
Ezekiel 28:7 esv
therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor.
Ezekiel 28:7 nlt
I will now bring against you a foreign army,
the terror of the nations.
They will draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom
and defile your splendor!
Ezekiel 28 7 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Prov 16:18 | Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. | Consequences of pride. |
| Isa 2:12 | For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low. | God's judgment against pride. |
| Dan 4:37 | Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven... those who walk in pride he is able to humble. | God humbles the proud. |
| Jas 4:6 | ...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. | God's stance against pride. |
| 1 Pet 5:5 | ...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. | Humility urged, opposition to proud. |
| Obadiah 1:3-4 | The pride of your heart has deceived you... Though you soar aloft like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down... | Pride leading to downfall, similar to Tyre's situation. |
| Isa 10:5 | Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hand is my fury! | God uses nations as instruments of judgment. |
| Jer 25:9 | behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant... | God names an oppressor as His agent. |
| Hab 1:6-7 | For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. | God raises ruthless nations. |
| Deut 28:49-50 | The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth... a nation ruthless in appearance... | Description of foreign, ruthless invaders. |
| Mic 4:11-12 | Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled...” But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD... | Nations unaware they are God's instruments. |
| Isa 23:9 | The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. | God purposing to defile human glory (directly relates to Tyre). |
| Zech 9:3-4 | Tyre built herself a stronghold, piled up silver like dust... But the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her wealth... | Tyre's wealth and downfall prophesied. |
| Amos 1:9-10 | Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole colony to Edom... | Tyre's specific sins and promised judgment. |
| Ezek 26:7 | For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon... | Identifies the specific ruthless nation. |
| Isa 5:21 | Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! | Rebuke for self-exalting wisdom. |
| Jer 9:23 | Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might... | Rejection of human wisdom as a boast. |
| 1 Cor 1:19 | For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” | God's destruction of human wisdom. |
| Job 5:12-13 | He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their own craftiness... | God foils the wisdom of the world. |
| Lam 2:2 | The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its princes. | God bringing down and dishonoring/profaning. |
| Psa 89:39 | You have renounced the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown in the dust. | The act of defiling royal splendor. |
| Jer 6:22-23 | Thus says the LORD: Behold, a people is coming from the north country... They are cruel and have no mercy... | Description of the cruel invading force. |
| Psa 115:3 | Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. | God's absolute sovereignty and control. |
Ezekiel 28 verses
Ezekiel 28 7 Meaning
Ezekiel 28:7 describes God's direct and imminent judgment against the proud prince (and city) of Tyre. Due to Tyre's self-exaltation and perceived wisdom, God declares He will send a fearsome, foreign army to violently destroy its prized possessions: its beauty, its boasted wisdom, and its accumulated splendor. This divine action will profane all that Tyre held sacred and glorious in itself.
Ezekiel 28 7 Context
Ezekiel chapter 28 presents two distinct oracles concerning Tyre: the first (vv. 1-10) against the "prince" of Tyre, and the second (vv. 11-19) a lamentation over the "king" of Tyre. Verse 7 specifically belongs to the oracle against the prince. Tyre, a prominent Phoenician city-state, was renowned for its vast wealth, maritime trade, strategic location, and sophisticated craftsmanship. The prince of Tyre, intoxicated by this prosperity, boasted of his self-generated wisdom and considered himself a god, sitting "in the seat of God" (v. 2) in the heart of the seas. This verse directly follows God's condemnation of this extreme pride and blasphemy, establishing the direct divine consequence. Historically, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Tyre for thirteen years (c. 586-573 BC), fulfilling this prophecy, though it speaks broadly of "ruthless nations" encompassing the full range of Tyre's eventual destructions. The prophet conveys that Tyre's accumulated splendor, which led to its arrogance, would become the very object of God's wrath through foreign hands.
Ezekiel 28 7 Word analysis
- Behold (הִנְנִי - hinnēnī): A strong interjection signaling God's personal engagement and the certain, imminent nature of the declaration. It commands attention to a divine, solemn pronouncement.
- therefore (לָכֵן - lāḵēn): Links this judgment directly to the preceding pride and blasphemous claims of the prince of Tyre (vv. 2-6). It highlights cause and effect: because of your arrogance, therefore this will happen.
- I am bringing (מֵבִיא - mēḇīʾ): Emphasizes God's active, intentional, and sovereign agency. This is not fate or chance, but a deliberate act initiated by the divine.
- strangers (זָרִים - zārīm): Foreigners, aliens. This term can imply those who are outsiders, not part of Tyre's familiar allies or trading partners, emphasizing the unexpected and devastating nature of the invasion. They are not beholden to Tyre's agreements.
- upon you (עָלֶיךָ - ʻaleykha): Directs the judgment personally towards the prince/city of Tyre. The targeting is specific.
- the most ruthless (עָרִיצִים - ʻārīṣīm): From the root signifying terror or dread, meaning fierce, violent, oppressive, tyrannical. It depicts invaders devoid of mercy, designed by God for devastating destruction, not negotiation or compromise.
- of nations (גּוֹיִם - gōyim): Refers to non-Israelite, gentile nations. God will use the common nations of the world, specifically a powerful one like Babylon, as His instruments.
- and they shall draw (וְשָׁלְפוּ - wĕšāləfû): Literally "and they shall unsheathe." Denotes immediate, aggressive, and violent military action. The drawing of the sword implies preparation for slaughter and total war.
- their swords (חַרְבֹתֵיהֶם - ḥarbōṯêhem): The primary weapon of warfare, symbolizing war, conquest, and destruction.
- against the beauty (עַל יְפִי - ʻal yəfî): "Beauty" here represents what Tyre proudly displayed: its fortifications, grand architecture, refined goods, and general aesthetic glory. This, the object of Tyre's self-admiration, will be assaulted.
- of your wisdom (חָכְמָה - ḥokhmātekha): The very intellectual acumen and strategic brilliance Tyre relied upon for its wealth, trade, and defense. God directly strikes at the source of Tyre's self-confidence. This wisdom, apart from God, became an instrument of pride and ultimately, a target of judgment.
- and defile (וְחִלְּלוּ - wĕḥillĕlû): From ḥālal, meaning to profane, desecrate, pollute, make common. This powerful term implies stripping away the perceived sacredness or value. What Tyre held in highest esteem will be rendered unclean, dishonorable, and valueless in its destruction.
- your splendor (הָדָר - hāḏār): Represents majesty, glory, honor, magnificence, especially the outward manifestation of wealth and prestige. This includes its rich trading empire, its magnificent palaces, and all that demonstrated its supposed greatness.
Words-group analysis
- "Behold, therefore I am bringing strangers upon you, the most ruthless of nations": This phrase underscores divine sovereignty. God Himself is the initiator, selecting and deploying instruments (the "strangers" or foreign armies) that are "ruthless." The use of "ruthless" specifies the violent, destructive nature of these agents, implying they will act without pity or restraint, fulfilling God's judgmental purpose.
- "and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor": This highlights the precision of God's judgment. The sword will be aimed at Tyre's most cherished attributes – its "beauty," representing its aesthetic and material achievements, and its "wisdom," representing its strategic and intellectual pride. The action of "defile" signifies a total degradation, stripping away the perceived glory and honor, exposing the vanity of human self-exaltation. God specifically targets the things Tyre relied on instead of Him.
Ezekiel 28 7 Bonus section
The profound judgment against the prince of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1-10 often sets the stage for a parallel, symbolic interpretation in verses 11-19, which details a lament over the "king" of Tyre. While verse 7 primarily describes the literal destruction of the historical city-state and its proud ruler, the highly elevated language and themes of original perfection, fall through pride, and expulsion from God's holy mountain in the subsequent verses (11-19) have led many commentators to see a dual application. This secondary application points to the fall of Lucifer, Satan, drawing connections between the prince/king of Tyre's boastful self-deification and the original rebellion of a powerful, wise, and glorious created being against God. In this light, verse 7 foreshadows that even the grandest and most divinely endowed creations, when steeped in pride and self-exaltation, will face the swift and violent hand of God's judgment, striking at the very "wisdom" and "splendor" they wrongly cherished over their Creator. The destructive force here not only targets human achievement but symbolically anticipates the ultimate downfall of all rebellion against divine sovereignty.
Ezekiel 28 7 Commentary
Ezekiel 28:7 is a profound declaration of God's direct intervention against human pride. Tyre, symbolizing human achievement and self-sufficiency, had elevated its strategic brilliance, accumulated wealth, and aesthetic grandeur to a divine level, viewing them as impervious. This verse emphatically counters such arrogance by showing God's absolute sovereignty. He does not merely permit judgment; He actively "brings" it. The instruments of this judgment are "ruthless strangers," embodying an unstoppable, unmerciful force – nations like Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar – perfectly tailored by God to dismantle Tyre's false security. The judgment is precise, striking at the very roots of Tyre's pride: its "beauty" (outward glory), "wisdom" (intellectual prowess), and "splendor" (overall magnificence). The term "defile" is particularly strong, indicating not just destruction, but a degradation, making common what Tyre held as most precious. It shows that human glory, when untethered from God and leading to pride, is ultimately fragile and can be stripped of its honor by the Creator, reducing it to dust. It stands as a timeless reminder that all human strength and glory are transient and ultimately subject to God's ultimate authority.