Who Ezekiel’s ill-fated ruler of Tyre was not

by Damien F. Mackey “In these chapters [Ezekiel 27, 28], we have the most vivid picture of an ancient civilization painted by an historian of antiquity”. Arnold J. Tkacik O.S.B. Here Fr. J. Tkacik, writing his commentary on “Ezekiel” for The Jerome Biblical Commentary (1968, 21:60), is citing A. Parrot, in Babylon and the Old Testament (NY, 1958, p. 129). Before - hopefully in a forthcoming article - proceeding to explain to whom, as I think, the prophet Ezekiel’s “ruler of Tyre”, or “prince of Tyre” (נְגִיד צֹר), might be referring, I want to clear aside three possible candidates who have frequently been proposed for this “ruler of Tyre”, but whom I (as have various others) would reject as not properly matching Ezekiel’s description. These three candidates are the quite mixed bag of: (i) SATAN; (ii) ADAM; and (iii) QUEEN ATHALIAH. (i) Satan (“Lucifer”) An argument for Satan as the ruler of Tyre will go something like this: https://www.gotquestions.org/King-of-Tyre.html At first glance, the prophecy in Ezekiel 28:11–19 seems to refer to a human king. The city of Tyre was the recipient of some of the strongest prophetic condemnations in the Bible (Isaiah 23:1–18; Jeremiah 25:22; 27:1–11; Ezekiel 26:1– 28:19; Joel 3:4–8; Amos 1:9, 10). Tyre was known for building its wealth by exploiting its neighbors. Ancient writers referred to Tyre as a city filled with unscrupulous merchants. Tyre was a center of religious idolatry and sexual immorality. The biblical prophets rebuked Tyre for its pride brought on by its great wealth and strategic location. Ezekiel 28:11–19 seems to be a particularly strong indictment against the king of Tyre in the prophet Ezekiel’s day, rebuking the king for his insatiable pride and greed. However, some of the descriptions in Ezekiel 28:11–19 go beyond any mere human king. In no sense could an earthly king claim to be “in Eden” or to be “the anointed cherub who covers” or to be “on the holy mountain of God.” Therefore, most Bible interpreters believe that Ezekiel 28:11–19 is a dual prophecy, comparing the pride of the king of Tyre to the pride of Satan. Some propose that the king of Tyre was actually possessed by Satan, making the link between the two even more powerful and applicable. Before his fall, Satan was indeed a beautiful creature (Ezekiel 28:12–13). He was perhaps the most beautiful and powerful of all the angels. The phrase “guardian cherub” possibly indicates that Satan was the angel who “guarded” God’s presence. Pride led to Satan’s fall. Rather than give God the glory for creating him so beautifully, Satan took pride in himself, thinking that he himself was responsible for his exalted status. Satan’s rebellion resulted in God casting Satan from His presence and will, eventually, result in God condemning Satan to the lake of fire for all eternity (Revelation 20:10). Like Satan, the human king of Tyre was prideful. Rather than recognize God’s sovereignty, the king of Tyre attributed Tyre’s riches to his own wisdom and strength. Not satisfied with his extravagant position, the king of Tyre sought more and more, resulting in Tyre taking advantage of other nations, expanding its own wealth at the expense of others. But just as Satan’s pride led to his fall and … eternal destruction, so will the city of Tyre lose its wealth, power, and status. Ezekiel’s prophecy of Tyre’s total destruction was fulfilled partially by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 29:17–21) and ultimately by Alexander the Great. [End of quote] Whether or not “the king of Tyre was actually possessed by Satan”, an argument could be made that the prophet Ezekiel may have had in mind the rise and fall of Satan, when describing an actual ruler of Tyre – but only in an allegorical, not literal sense. Satan, though indeed once “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty” (Ezekiel 28:12), like the ruler of Tyre, was not, however, like the ruler of Tyre, a “man”. Nor was Satan ever a king or ruler of Tyre. Nor was Satan ever glorified in Eden (vv. 13-15), but had there insinuated his fallen self in the form of a serpent (Genesis 3). Satan had already been “cast down to the ground” (v. 17), but not from “the mountain of God”, in Eden (v. 16), but from ‘heaven” (Luke 10:18): “I [Jesus] saw Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning”. (ii) Adam Adam fits better than Satan insofar as he was indeed great in the Garden of Eden, a true king, but then fell from his position of splendour and was expelled from the Garden. Moreover Adam was, like Ezekiel’s ruler of Tyre, a man - Ezekiel uses the word adam here - and was “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty”. Ezekiel seems to have had Adam well in mind here – but, once again, only allegorically speaking, not literally. For Adam could by no means be called a King of Tyre, which city was then non-existent. (iii) Queen Athaliah Fr. J. Tkacik, again, has written (op. cit., 21:63), with reference to Ezekiel 28: “The anointed cherub drove you out” refers to the high priest, Jehoiada, who cast out Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel (2 Kgs 11:13-16), from the Temple, which ended the long and friendly association between Judah and Tyre. As interesting as this hopeful identification may seem to be, Queen Athaliah does not fit the narrative on various counts: Firstly, she did not rule over Tyre, but over Jerusalem. Secondly, her background (if) as a daughter of Jezebel, was, not Tyrian, but Sidonian (I Kings 16:31): “… Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians …”. Thirdly, Queen Athaliah was obviously not a “man” (אָדָ֛ם) (Ezekiel 28:9). Fourthly, she lived centuries before Ezekiel was writing. So – if not Satan, Adam or Queen Athaliah - who was Ezekiel’s “ruler of Tyre”? And, was Ezekiel referring in his chapters 27 and 28 to just one prominent Tyrian, or to several?