Introduction: Two Prophecies Concerning Tyre - To the Ruler and to the King
Chapter 28 of Yechezkel continues the series of prophecies concerning Tyre, but this time turns its focus directly toward the ruling figure. The chapter is structured into three parts: a prophecy to the "ruler of Tyre," a lamentation over the "king of Tyre," and a prophecy concerning Tzidon that concludes with great comfort for the House of Israel. From these verses, Chazal expound upon the figure of Chiram, king of Tyre - the friend of Shlomo and partner in building the Beis HaMikdash - whose heart grew so haughty that he made himself into a god. We will proceed through the verses in order according to the commentary of the Malbim, weaving in the teachings of Chazal and the Midrashim.
"Say to the Ruler of Tyre" - Haughtiness of Heart
בֶּן־אָדָם אֱמֹר לִנְגִיד צֹר כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה יַעַן גָּבַהּ לִבְּךָ וַתֹּאמֶר אֵל אָנִי מוֹשַׁב אֱלֹהִים יָשַׁבְתִּי בְּלֵב יַמִּים וְאַתָּה אָדָם וְלֹא־אֵל וַתִּתֵּן לִבְּךָ כְּלֵב אֱלֹהִים׃ - Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre: Thus said the Lord God: Because your heart grew haughty and you said, "I am a god, in the seat of God I sit, in the heart of the seas" - yet you are a man and not a god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god.
The Malbim cites the Abarbanel here: the "ruler of Tyre" (nagid) is not the "king of Tyre" (melech), for later in the chapter a separate prophecy will address the king of Tyre. According to the Abarbanel, the ruler was an official appointed over affairs of state, whereas the king was another matter entirely, the sovereign monarch himself. The Malbim notes that he will present his own explanation further on, and as we will see, he constructs a comprehensive approach that harmonizes everything.
"Because your heart grew haughty" - the Malbim explains that haughtiness of heart always means that a person values himself more than what he truly is. This is an abomination, as it is written, "Every haughty heart is an abomination to Hashem," and retribution inevitably follows in its wake. This haughtiness was also expressed in his place of residence: he went and dwelt in the heart of the seas, like a deity separated from mortals; he too withdrew from mankind and settled out in the open sea.
"Yet you are a man and not a god" - could anyone have truly imagined that he was a god? We have noted this several times: pagan nations would attribute divine powers to human beings and call them "god," not in the sense that they were the actual Creator, but that they possessed supernatural powers. Thus Pharaoh declared, "Mine is the river, and I have made it for myself," and thus Nevuchadnezzar wished to offer fragrant incense to Daniel after perceiving in him a supreme spiritual power that could decipher his dreams. To this, the prophet tells him: You are a mere man and not a god. You are not like Moshe, who was called "a man of God," nor like Daniel, in whom was "the spirit of the holy gods"; rather, you are an ordinary mortal, devoid of any divine power. "Though you make your heart like the heart of a god" - you present your heart as though it were the heart of God, even while you possess no divine emanation whatsoever.
The Malbim highlights the distinction between a nagid (leader or ruler) and a melech (king): Nagid is a general term for anyone entrusted with leadership - such as an officer over the House of God, or an overseer over the treasuries. A melech is someone whose royal line is secured by hereditary succession. Therefore David, before hereditary kingship was promised to him, was called a nagid; likewise Shaul - "I made you a ruler over My people" - since hereditary dynasty was not promised to him either; and likewise Yarov'am was called a nagid for the very same reason.
Midrash Yalkut: The Seven Heavens of Chiram
Chazal expound these verses as referring to Chiram, king of Tyre, and the Yalkut (as well as the Tosefta to Targum) provides an astonishing depiction of his arrogance. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Chiram: You make yourself into a god? Yet "behold, you are wiser than Daniel" - Nevuchadnezzar sought to draw near to Daniel and offer him a meal offering and fragrant incense, yet Daniel refused. Daniel refused because the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment not only from the worshipers but also from the deities themselves, and if so, He would exact punishment from him as well. Even so, Daniel possessed genuine spiritual power - whereas you, what do you possess that you have made yourself a god?
And what did Chiram do? The Midrash relates: Chiram, king of Tyre, was exceedingly proud and haughty. What did he do? He went out into the sea and erected forty pillars of iron, square, tall, and of uniform measure, positioning them opposite one another. Upon them he constructed seven firmaments - resembling a seven-story structure supported by forty columns - covering them and fashioning heavenly creatures, thunder, and lightning. The first firmament he made of glass, measuring five hundred cubits by five hundred cubits (about 250 by 250 meters), in which he placed a sun, moon, and stars. The structure grew wider as it ascended: the second firmament was made of iron, one thousand cubits by one thousand cubits, with a stream of water - a fountain - separating the first from the second. The third was also made of iron, fifteen hundred cubits by fifteen hundred cubits, with a stream of water separating the second from the third, and he placed rounded stones within the iron firmament that scraped and banged against one another, sounding like thunder. All of this was designed to simulate the actual heavens: sun, stars, and thunder.
The Midrash continues: The fourth firmament was of lead, two thousand by two thousand, with a stream of water separating the third from the fourth. The fifth was of copper, twenty-five hundred by twenty-five hundred, with a stream of water separating the fourth from the fifth. The sixth was of silver, three thousand by three thousand, with a stream of water separating the fifth from the sixth. The seventh was of gold, thirty-five hundred by thirty-five hundred, and in it he set precious stones and pearls measuring a cubit by a cubit - enormous gems. Flashes were produced from both sides: lightning bolts from here and sparks from there, and he would shake the structure so that those stones struck against one another, producing the sound of thunder. And he sat enthroned on high, in the seventh firmament.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Yechezkel: Son of man, say to Hiram king of Tyre: Why are you haughty? You are born of a woman! Yechezkel said before Him: Master of the Universe, how can I go to him when he is suspended in midair? At that moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, brought a wind, took hold of the lock of Yechezkel's hair, and lifted him up to Hiram. When Hiram saw Yechezkel, he was terrified and shaken, and said to him: Who brought you up here? He replied: The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me: Go say to him, why are you haughty? You are born of a woman.
Hiram said to him: Am I merely born of a woman? I live and endure forever! Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has His dwelling in the heart of the seas - so too is my dwelling in the heart of the seas; just as the Holy One, blessed be He, resides in the seven heavens - so do I. Moreover, so many kings have died while I remain alive: twenty-one kings of the House of David, twenty-one kings of Israel, fifty prophets, and ten High Priests - I have buried them all in my lifetime, yet I still live. Surely I am a god: "I sit in the seat of God, in the heart of the seas." And here his error becomes understandable: from the days of Shlomo, when Shlomo took timber from him for the Beis HaMikdash, until the days of Yechezkel, at least four hundred years had passed. If he had already been forty or fifty years old in Shlomo's time, we are looking at a man approximately four hundred and fifty years old. He was therefore convinced: If I have lived so long, it is a sign that I will never die; I am a god.
Yechezkel said to him: Greater men than you have arisen and did not act as you have - there were people of far higher stature than you, and they did not indulge in your delusions. To what was Hiram comparable? To a servant who made a garment for his master. Where did his immense pride come from? From the feeling that "I built the Beis HaMikdash, I made a house for Hashem, I supplied the cedar trees." As long as the garment is on his master, the servant looks at it and boasts: I made this garment for my master. The master said: I will tear the garment so that the servant cannot boast over me. Similarly, Hiram boasted about sending cedars for the Beis HaMikdash. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I am destroying My House so that Hiram will not boast over Me, as it is said, "Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars." And why were Lebanon and the cedars specifically mentioned? Because Hiram took pride in those very cedars, having brought them from Lebanon.
And what was his end? The Holy One, blessed be He, brought Nevuchadnezzar against him, who violated his mother before his eyes - an astonishing thing, for if Hiram was four hundred and fifty, his mother must have been close to five hundred years old. He deposed him from his throne, cut off about two fingerbreadths of his flesh every day, dipped them in vinegar, and fed them to him, until he died an unnatural death. This clearly indicates that it was done while he was still alive, day after day. And what became of that palace? That entire colossal structure of celestial spheres - the Holy One, blessed be He, tore open the earth and concealed them for the righteous in the Future to Come.
An Ambivalent View of Hiram
Here we see a dual attitude toward Hiram: on the one hand, he merited what many others did not, by virtue of his contribution to the building of the Beis HaMikdash; on the other hand, he was punished with severe afflictions and met a horrific end. The Midrash states: There are thirteen who never tasted the taste of death, and they are - Chanoch, Eliezer the servant of Avraham, Mesushelach, Hiram king of Tyre, Eved-Melech the Cushite, Bityah the daughter of Pharaoh, Serach the daughter of Asher, the three sons of Korach, Eliyahu of blessed memory, Mashiach, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. The Midrash further states: Nine entered Gan Eden alive - Chanoch, Eliyahu, Mashiach, Eliezer, Eved-Melech the Cushite, Hiram king of Tyre, Ya'avetz the grandson of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, Serach the daughter of Asher, and Bityah the daughter of Pharaoh; and some say: Remove Hiram and insert Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in his place. Thus there is an opinion that Hiram merited entering Gan Eden alive due to his partnership in building the Beis HaMikdash, while others disagree and exclude him from the list - and indeed, from the pesukim and the Midrash there emerges a sharp critique of the arrogance that seized him as a result of that very partnership.
"Behold, You Are Wiser than Daniel"
הִנֵּה חָכָם אַתָּה מִדָּנִיֵּאל כׇּל־סָתוּם לֹא עֲמָמוּךָ׃ - Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from you.
Are you indeed comparable to Daniel, whom Nevuchadnezzar addressed with divine honors because of his wisdom, as it is written, "and he worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him" - he bowed down to him and sought to offer a meal-offering and incense before him, but Daniel refused. Are you wiser than Daniel, that "there is no secret that they can hide from you [amamuha]"? With Daniel, his wisdom was so profound that nothing was obscure or concealed from him; everything was bright and clear. The Malbim cites two interpretations of "amamuha": The first connects it to the phrase "How is the gold become dim [yutam / yu'am]", where light is hidden - meaning there was nothing whose light was not revealed to Daniel (as in the expression "gachalim omemos", glowing coals whose light is veiled). The second explanation connects it to "hayah immcha" (was with you): is every concealed matter likewise present with you and made plain before you?
"By Your Wisdom and Understanding You Have Gained Wealth" - Said as a Rhetorical Question
בְּחׇכְמָתְךָ וּבִתְבוּנָתְךָ עָשִׂיתָ לְּךָ חָיִל וַתַּעַשׂ זָהָב וָכֶסֶף בְּאוֹצְרוֹתֶיךָ׃ - By your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten you riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures.
The Malbim explains that this verse is posed as a rhetorical question: Did you truly produce and create on your own the wealth in which you boast? Did you master the art of alchemy, or occult formulas and hidden properties, such that the base metals lying in your treasuries were transmuted into gold and silver? In the Middle Ages, people believed that if they could only advance the art of alchemy a little further - the methods of chemical operations - they would succeed in turning iron into gold, and many investigated, labored, and were convinced they were just one step away. This is what the prophet is saying to him: Have you developed such a chemical invention, or attained an esoteric, spiritual wisdom through which you can transform iron into gold? If so, I would say your gold was produced by your understanding. But in truth, that is not how you acquired your wealth.
בְּרֹב חׇכְמָתְךָ בִּרְכֻלָּתְךָ הִרְבִּיתָ חֵילֶךָ וַיִּגְבַּהּ לְבָבְךָ בְּחֵילֶךָ׃ - By your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has grown haughty because of your wealth.
What kind of wisdom did you possess? The wisdom of commerce, buying and selling, trade. Through this you increased your wealth - and this is no great wisdom. All the more so since your commerce was not conducted with justice and integrity, but through deceit, forgery, and fraud, thereby drawing others' money to yourself. Any peddler knows how to do that! If so, how did your heart grow haughty because of your wealth? Just because you managed to become wealthy through all sorts of shady schemes, you feel you possess special wisdom, a divine manifestation, and a supreme spiritual power?
The Punishment: "Behold, I am bringing strangers upon you, the most ruthless of nations"
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה יַעַן תִּתְּךָ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ כְּלֵב אֱלֹהִים׃ - Therefore, thus said the Lord God: Because you have made your heart like the heart of God.
לָכֵן הִנְנִי מֵבִיא עָלֶיךָ זָרִים עָרִיצֵי גּוֹיִם וְהֵרִיקוּ חַרְבוֹתָם עַל־יְפִי חׇכְמָתֶךָ וְחִלְּלוּ יִפְעָתֶךָ׃ - Therefore behold, I will bring strangers upon you, the most ruthless of nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and desecrate your splendor.
"Every proud heart is an abomination to Hashem" - and the punishment comes because you made your heart like the heart of a god. According to the words of the Yalkut we saw earlier, matters are wondrously understood: "Behold, I am bringing strangers upon you" - this refers to Nebuchadnezzar; "and they shall desecrate your splendor" - they indeed desecrated his splendor and majesty when they killed him and carved his flesh into pieces, while he had been confident that he was already sitting in the seventh heaven. And "and they shall desecrate your splendor" can also be interpreted as referring to his mother, whom Nebuchadnezzar violated before his very eyes.
The Malbim explains: These strangers will not spare your honor, and they will be "the most ruthless of nations." The term aritz (ruthless/tyrant) describes a mighty warrior in a derogatory sense. A warrior can be praised, but when one wants to describe a mighty person who commits evil deeds, he is called an aritz; even today, a ruler who does not govern with justice and benevolence is called a tyrannical ruler ("moshel aritz"). These will be the wicked and corrupt among the nations, against whom you will not be able to stand. "And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom" - against your wealth, through which you believed you proved your wisdom, and they will plunder all your riches. "And desecrate your splendor (yif'atecha)" - yif'ah stems from the root of hofa'ah (manifestation). You claim that divine wisdom has manifested upon you, but they will profane it and reduce it to mundane status. For if there were indeed a divine manifestation within you, you should have survived and remained completely unharmed. The very fact that they strike you down and kill you proves that you have no divine manifestation within you at all. The Malbim emphasizes that the concept of yif'ah and hofa'ah is always an expression of an influencing spiritual presence, as in "He scatters His cloud's lightning (hofia or anano)" and "You Who dwell among the cherubim, shine forth (hofi'ah)."
Rashi cites a Midrash Aggadah: What was this desecration? Homosexual sodomy, for he was violated like a woman. And the Midrash says: Three individuals made themselves into a god and were violated like women - which is the greatest possible humiliation - Yoash the son of Achazyahu, as it is said, "And against Yoash they executed judgments"; Hiram; and Nebuchadnezzar.
לַשַּׁחַת יוֹרִדוּךָ וָמַתָּה מְמוֹתֵי חָלָל בְּלֵב יַמִּים׃ - They shall bring you down to the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.
"They shall bring you down to the pit" - they will kill you, and this will be the proof that you are not eternal, after you were so confident that you were an everlasting god. "And you shall die the death of the slain" - an ignominious death, which proves that you have no divine manifestation within you. And why is "deaths" (memotei) phrased in the plural? The Malbim explains that this will occur through multiple stab wounds, multiple killings. And according to the Midrash, this fits wonderfully, for they sliced his flesh and killed him slowly, cutting away a piece of his flesh the width of two fingers each day and feeding it to him - thus inflicting multiple deaths, draining his soul away bit by bit.
הֶאָמֹר תֹּאמַר אֱלֹהִים אָנִי לִפְנֵי הֹרְגֶךָ וְאַתָּה אָדָם וְלֹא־אֵל בְּיַד מְחַלְלֶיךָ׃ - Will you still say, 'I am a god,' before him who slays you, when you are a man and not a god in the hand of those who desecrate you?
When they come to slay you, will you still be able to say, "I am a god"? If you are a god, how could they harm you? Can a god be killed? And from the perspective of "those who desecrate you," who profane you through the degradation they inflict upon you - or as we saw, being violated like a woman - this will prove that you are a man and not a god. This humiliation will demonstrate that there is nothing divine about you, and not even a divine spirit rests upon you; you are not even a mortal upon whom a higher spirit has settled.
מוֹתֵי עֲרֵלִים תָּמוּת בְּיַד־זָרִים כִּי אֲנִי דִבַּרְתִּי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken, says the Lord God.
They will not put you to death in the manner that a king or a godlike person is put to death, but rather in the manner of the uncircumcised, with utter disgrace. The Radak explains that "uncircumcised" here means wicked, as in "uncircumcised of heart" - for all those surrounding nations were uncircumcised, and among them that was not considered a disgrace or a flaw; therefore, the verse does not refer to the foreskin of the flesh, but rather to the foreskin of the heart.
The Lamentation over the King of Tyre - The Approach of the Malbim
בֶּן־אָדָם שָׂא קִינָה עַל־מֶלֶךְ צוֹר וְאָמַרְתָּ לּוֹ כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה אַתָּה חוֹתֵם תׇּכְנִית מָלֵא חׇכְמָה וּכְלִיל יֹפִי׃ - Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him: Thus said the Lord God: You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Here the Malbim returns to the words of the Abarbanel: The first prophecy was addressed to the "leader" (nagid) of Tyre, while this one is addressed to the "king" of Tyre, implying that these are two different individuals, for it is unlikely that Scripture would refer to him first as a leader and then as a king, especially since these are two distinct prophecies. On the other hand, notes the Malbim, the Midrash explains that Hiram was an ally of Solomon who lived until that very era and was killed by Nebuchadnezzar, whereas another Midrash indicates that Hiram entered the Garden of Eden alive - and Chazal derived all of this from these very verses before us. This is perplexing: first, in terms of reality, that a person could live for so many centuries; and second, in terms of the contradiction: did he truly enter the Garden of Eden alive, or did he die an unnatural, violent death?
The Malbim explains according to the plain sense (peshat): Hiram of Solomon's era was held in immense honor by the people of his kingdom, following the special treaty he had forged with David and Solomon, and because he assisted in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. His people revered him with quasi-divine adoration, believing that he held the status of the righteous of the nations of the world and was privileged to dwell in the Garden of Eden beneath ten canopies. After he died, because he was regarded as such a supreme leader, they refused to accept another king - similar to Stalin in his day, where people could not fathom his death and continued a cult of personality for years after he was gone. What did they do instead? They placed executive rule into the hands of a "leader" (nagid), while in their eyes, the true "king" remained Hiram, dwelling in the Garden of Eden. This resembles the relationship between a president and a prime minister in a system where the president holds ultimate authority and the prime minister merely carries out his directives.
And to preserve his memory, the Malbim adds, they fashioned an image in the likeness of Hiram: they portrayed him seated upon his throne, with ten canopies of precious stones above him, as though he were dwelling in the Garden of Eden. They also designed his banner in the form of a cherub - why a cherub? Because he was a partner in the building of the Beit HaMikdash, and the Beit HaMikdash contained cherubim. The cherubim were carved of olive wood overlaid with gold, sheltering the Ark; and since there were two cherubim, they understood that one alluded to Solomon and the second to the other partner in the construction - Hiram, who provided the timber. Another possibility raised by the Malbim is that they appointed a handsome and wise man in his place to serve as a figurehead representing Hiram - he made no actual decisions and did not govern the state, but merely personified Hiram dwelling in the Garden of Eden, and he was the "king of Tyre" in their imagination.
According to this, the first prophecy was directed toward the leader of Tyre - the one who actively managed the affairs of the kingdom; while the second prophecy is directed toward the "king of Tyre," which is either the sacred figure they fabricated for themselves, or the man chosen to symbolize him in wisdom and beauty. Therefore, it is said to him, "You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." And what is meant by "seal the measure" (chotem tochnit)? Not a signature on a document, but rather a seal or stamp: you yourself are not Hiram; you are merely his seal. When a seal is stamped, the exact identical image is produced, and likewise, the form of the king of Tyre was precisely imprinted upon you. "Tochnit" means according to the same measure and content - that is, you are a replica of Hiram's essence.
"You Were in Eden, the Garden of God"
בְּעֵדֶן גַּן־אֱלֹהִים הָיִיתָ כׇּל־אֶבֶן יְקָרָה מְסֻכָתֶךָ אֹדֶם פִּטְדָה וְיָהֲלֹם תַּרְשִׁישׁ שֹׁהַם וְיָשְׁפֵה סַפִּיר נֹפֶךְ וּבָרְקַת וְזָהָב מְלֶאכֶת תֻּפֶּיךָ וּנְקָבֶיךָ בָּךְ בְּיוֹם הִבָּרַאֲךָ כּוֹנָנוּ׃ - You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald, and gold; the workmanship of your settings and your sockets was in you; on the day you were created they were prepared.
The Targum renders: "With an abundance of goodness and delights are you pampered, as though you dwell in Eden, the garden of the Lord." Similarly, Rashi explains that the passage is addressed to Hiram himself, saying to him: You indulge in such luxury as though you were dwelling in the Garden of Eden - it is an allegory. Midrash Rabbah, however, expounds that he was literally in the Garden of Eden, being one of those who entered the Garden of Eden alive, but while in the Garden of Eden he grew arrogant, and as a result was cast out. With this, the contradiction is resolved: on the one hand, he entered the Garden of Eden alive; on the other hand, he was expelled from there, and the Holy One, blessed be He, brings him down through a severe prophecy.
And do not wonder how it is possible for a person to be in the Garden of Eden and still harbor pride. As explained previously: when a person dies, he does not automatically rectify his character traits; the very traits he possessed here accompany him onward. What he corrected during his lifetime is corrected, and what he left uncorrected remains with him until he undergoes purification in Gehinnom. Gehinnom is a laundering process, and as long as one has not undergone that laundering, he remains with whatever was inside him. And since there was a spark of arrogance within him in this world, it manifested even in the Garden of Eden: he began to imagine that he was a god because he had entered the Garden of Eden alive, and consequently, Hashem expelled him from there.
The Malbim explains according to his consistent approach: the people believed that he sat in Gan Eden under ten canopies, and to illustrate this, they depicted the figure they had created as sitting in Gan Eden and delighting there, shading it with pavilions of precious stones. Note that these are nine of the stones from the rows of the Choshen (breastplate). Why are the stones of the third row - leshem, shevo, and achlamah - missing? The Malbim explains that they correspond to the side of strict judgment (Din) and evil, corresponding among the twelve constellations to Scorpio, Cancer, and Sagittarius; in their place came gold, which corresponds to them because it denotes strict judgments.
"The workmanship of your timbrels and your pipes was in you; on the day you were created they were prepared" - this describes, as it were, how he delighted there in the pleasures of song and music. Musical instruments have hollow spaces through which melody emerges; almost every musical instrument - a drum, a guitar, a trombone - has a hollow space through which the sound is produced. Here, it refers to types of drums that have perforations producing sound, as though his body itself were an instrument playing various melodies. "On the day you were created they were prepared" - from the day of your creation, the Holy One, Blessed be He, established you in this state.
אַתְּ־כְּרוּב מִמְשַׁח הַסּוֹכֵךְ וּנְתַתִּיךָ בְּהַר קֹדֶשׁ אֱלֹהִים הָיִיתָ בְּתוֹךְ אַבְנֵי־אֵשׁ הִתְהַלָּכְתָּ׃ - "You are the anointed cherub that covers, and I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of stones of fire."
From here is the source for the phrase "at keruv mimshach ziv orecha" ("you are an anointed cherub, the brilliance of your light") that we recite in the hymn Bar Yochai. According to the Malbim, the reference is to a standard fashioned in the form of a cherub, as explained earlier. "Mimshach" - related to oil, olive wood (like "meshach revuta", the oil of greatness used for anointing); the cherubim above the Ark were made of olive wood and sheltered the Ark. "And I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God" - you dwelled on the holy mountain dedicated to God, in the Beis HaMikdash on Mount Zion, having been a partner in its construction. "You walked in the midst of stones of fire" - under the canopies in Gan Eden, where the precious gems are not physical but stones of fire, not made of earthly matter like ours, and you attained such an exalted stature.
תָּמִים אַתָּה בִּדְרָכֶיךָ מִיּוֹם הִבָּרְאָךְ עַד־נִמְצָא עַוְלָתָה בָּךְ׃ - "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you."
At first, you were blameless and worthy of all this honor, until iniquity was found in you, after which you were no longer worthy of it. And according to the Midrash, because he grew arrogant, he was expelled from Gan Eden.
"By the abundance of your trade they filled your midst with violence"
בְּרֹב רְכֻלָּתְךָ מָלוּ תוֹכְךָ חָמָס וַתֶּחֱטָא וָאֲחַלֶּלְךָ מֵהַר אֱלֹהִים וָאַבֶּדְךָ כְּרוּב הַסֹּכֵךְ מִתּוֹךְ אַבְנֵי־אֵשׁ׃ - "By the abundance of your trade they filled your midst with violence, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as profane from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."
We have seen that they engaged in merchandise and commerce, but the way you conducted your business was through deceit and dishonesty, and that was the source of sin. This connects to what we saw earlier: you thought you acquired your silver and gold through wisdom, but that was not so; it was through deception, lies, dishonest trade, and cheating people. Consequently, you lost your portion below in the Beis HaMikdash: "Therefore I cast you as profane from the mountain of God" - you once had the merit of sanctity through your partnership in building My House, but since you corrupted your ways and acted deceitfully in your commerce, you were desecrated and stripped of that merit. As a result, you also lost your portion in Gan Eden: "And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire" - for the stones of fire in Gan Eden were granted to you by virtue of being the "covering cherub", a partner in the construction of the Beis HaMikdash, and now you have lost everything.
Rashi cites a Midrash Aggadah wherein the Sages interpret these verses as referring to Adam HaRishon. This also resolves the difficulty that, on the one hand, there is great praise here, while on the other, great humiliation: all the glorious expressions here actually speak of Adam HaRishon, and they are part of the rebuke delivered to Chiram. The prophet says to him: Why do you boast of your firmaments? Were you in Gan Eden like Adam HaRishon, over whom every precious stone served as a canopy? I made all these canopies for Adam HaRishon, the lowest of which was made of gold, listed last. Yet you went ahead and made yourself canopies and firmaments, as though you were sitting high in heaven. In what way do you even resemble him? Only in "the workmanship of your timbrels and your pipes was in you; on the day you were created they were prepared" - in that you have bodily orifices and your physical form resembles his. "You are an anointed cherub" - are you like that great cherub, "anointed that covers," whose wings spread from one end of heaven to the other, just as it was said of Adam HaRishon that initially his stature filled the entire world until the Holy One, Blessed be He, placed His hand upon him and diminished him? Are you on his level? Did you merit what he merited? If so, of what are you boasting?
גָּבַהּ לִבְּךָ בְּיׇפְיֶךָ שִׁחַתָּ חׇכְמָתְךָ עַל־יִפְעָתֶךָ עַל־אֶרֶץ הִשְׁלַכְתִּיךָ לִפְנֵי מְלָכִים נְתַתִּיךָ לְרַאֲוָה בָךְ׃ - "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness; I cast you to the ground, I set you before kings, that they may gaze upon you."
Afterward, you sinned further when your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, and through this you corrupted your wisdom and your brightness (yif'ah) - as the Malbim explains that yif'ah refers to the Divine manifestation. You had attained a certain elevated stature through your partnership in building the Beis HaMikdash, yet you corrupted it and forfeited it. Therefore, the punishment: "I cast you to the ground, I set you before kings, that they may gaze upon you" - I cast you down to the earth, and placed you before kings so they would look upon your degradation. The Malbim explains that re'avah comes from the root ra'ah (to see), just as in modern usage a chalon re'avah is a display window in which a merchant exhibits his wares; and just as ga'avah (pride) derives from ga'ah, and za'avah (horror) from zua, so too re'avah derives from ra'ah. And when the phrase appears with the preposition bet - "to gaze upon you" (lera'avah bach) - it carries a negative connotation: they will look upon your shame and degradation.
מֵרֹב עֲוֺנֶיךָ בְּעֶוֶל רְכֻלָּתְךָ חִלַּלְתָּ מִקְדָּשֶׁיךָ וָאוֹצִא־אֵשׁ מִתּוֹכְךָ הִיא אֲכָלַתְךָ וָאֶתֶּנְךָ לְאֵפֶר עַל־הָאָרֶץ לְעֵינֵי כׇּל־רֹאֶיךָ׃ - By the abundance of your iniquities, in the injustice of your commerce, you desecrated your sanctuaries; therefore I brought forth fire from your midst, it consumed you, and I turned you to ash upon the earth in the sight of all who behold you.
You sinned even further: from the multitude of your iniquities, through the dishonesty you practiced in your commerce, you also "desecrated your sanctuaries." Malbim explains that he rejoiced over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and through this joy, he forfeited the merit he had possessed in its construction. You considered yourself a partner in the building of the Beis HaMikdash - indeed, you took part in its building, but you rejoiced at its destruction, and that rejoicing erased the merit. Therefore, measure for measure: "Therefore I brought forth fire from your midst, it consumed you" - just as you rejoiced over the burning of the Beis HaMikdash, so will you now become ash upon the earth.
כׇּל־יוֹדְעֶיךָ בָּעַמִּים שָׁמְמוּ עָלֶיךָ בַּלָּהוֹת הָיִיתָ וְאֵינְךָ עַד־עוֹלָם׃ - All who know you among the nations are appalled at you; you have become a dread, and you shall be no more forever.
The disgrace will be so immense that all your acquaintances among the nations will stand astounded. Shamemu denotes astonishment, like "he will be astonished and hiss," where a person is so stunned that a whistle escapes his lips in shock. "Balahot hayita" - Malbim explains in several places that balahah is an expression related to demons and destructive forces; Radak explains that it is like behalot (terrors), meaning that everyone who sees you will be terrified by the scale of your downfall. "And you shall be no more forever" - you will perish eternally.
The Prophecy Regarding Tzidon
בֶּן־אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ אֶל־צִידוֹן וְהִנָּבֵא עָלֶיהָ׃ - Son of man, set your face toward Tzidon and prophesy against it.
After Tzor, Tzidon too will be destroyed; therefore: "Set your face toward Tzidon."
וְאָמַרְתָּ כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הִנְנִי עָלַיִךְ צִידוֹן וְנִכְבַּדְתִּי בְּתוֹכֵךְ וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה בַּעֲשׂוֹתִי בָהּ שְׁפָטִים וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי בָהּ׃ - And you shall say: Thus said the Lord Hashem: Behold, I am against you, O Tzidon, and I will be glorified in your midst; and they shall know that I am Hashem when I execute judgments in her, and I will be sanctified through her.
Metzudas David explains: "And I will be glorified in your midst" - through the judgment that I execute upon you, I will attain honor in your midst. When the Holy One, blessed be He, avenges Himself upon His enemies and exacts retribution from the nations, His Name is magnified and sanctified in the world, as it is said: "And I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself in the eyes of many nations" - when? When He exacts retribution from Gog. "When I execute judgments in her" - a retribution that everyone will recognize as proceeding along the path of justice, measure for measure for the evil they committed. "And they shall know that I am Hashem" - they will recognize that the Holy One, blessed be He, is faithful to pay reward and faithful also to punish those who deserve it. "And I will be sanctified through her" - Kiddush Hashem is a higher level than Kavod Hashem: first "and I will be glorified in your midst," and ultimately His Name, blessed be He, will be sanctified. And that honor, Malbim notes, consists of them declaring that Hashem is the God of gods.
וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי־בָהּ דֶּבֶר וָדָם בְּחוּצוֹתֶיהָ וְנִפְלַל חָלָל בְּתוֹכָהּ בְּחֶרֶב עָלֶיהָ מִסָּבִיב וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ - For I will send pestilence into her and blood into her streets, and the slain shall fall judged in her midst by the sword against her from all around, and they shall know that I am Hashem.
This verse elaborates upon the previous one. Corresponding to "Behold, I am against you, O Tzidon" - "For I will send pestilence into her and blood into her streets": there will be civil strife, brother against brother, and each will shed the blood of his fellow. And corresponding to "and they shall know that I am Hashem when I execute judgments in her" - "and the slain shall fall judged in her midst by the sword against her from all around": He will bring enemies against her from all around. "V'niflal", says Malbim, is related to "v'natan biflilim" ("and he shall pay as the judges determine"), an expression of judgment, for a momentous matter is referred to as "biflilim." Here, judgment will be executed by the sword, and the slain falling within her will be a measured, lawful punishment for the murders committed among them.
The Consolation: Haftarah of Parashat Va'era
וְלֹא־יִהְיֶה עוֹד לְבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל סִלּוֹן מַמְאִיר וְקוֹץ מַכְאִב מִכֹּל סְבִיבֹתָם הַשָּׁאטִים אוֹתָם וְיָדְעוּ כִּי אֲנִי אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - And there shall no longer be a festering brier or a painful thorn for the House of Israel from among all their neighbors who despise them, and they shall know that I am the Lord Hashem.
From here to the end of the chapter are the verses of the Haftarah for Parashat Va'era. Rashi explains: since he prophesied here concerning Ammon, Moav, the Philistines, Edom, Tyre, and Tzidon - all the neighbors of the Land of Israel - and all of them will be destroyed, there will therefore no longer be a "festering brier or a painful thorn" surrounding us. "Silon" is a type of brier or thornbush, and "mam'ir" means painful. "Who despise them" - those who scorn them. They will no longer suffer damage, grief, or disturbance from the nations around them. And the Malbim adds: the ultimate purpose of their downfall is so that the House of Israel will no longer face a festering brier from all around them; Tzidon too, who were evil neighbors and oppressed us, will receive their punishment, and through this they will know that I am Hashem Who champions their cause.
כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה בְּקַבְּצִי אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מִן־הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר נָפֹצוּ בָם וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי בָם לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם וְיָשְׁבוּ עַל־אַדְמָתָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לְעַבְדִּי לְיַעֲקֹב׃ - Thus said the Lord Hashem: When I gather the House of Israel from the nations among whom they were scattered, and I am sanctified through them in the sight of the nations, they will dwell upon their land that I gave to My servant, to Yaakov.
And if you should ask: but at present Israel is in exile and scattered among the nations, and they are not neighbors of Tzidon at all! To this, the verse immediately responds: "When I gather the House of Israel from the nations." When will this occur? When I gather them, when Cyrus permits them to return to the Land of Israel. Then, "and I am sanctified through them in the sight of the nations," and "they will dwell upon their land that I gave to My servant, to Yaakov" - just as Yaakov was given an unbounded heritage, "and you shall spread out west, east, north, and south," so too will I give to them.
וְיָשְׁבוּ עָלֶיהָ לָבֶטַח וּבָנוּ בָתִּים וְנָטְעוּ כְרָמִים וְיָשְׁבוּ לָבֶטַח בַּעֲשׂוֹתִי שְׁפָטִים בְּכֹל הַשָּׁאטִים אֹתָם מִסְּבִיבוֹתָם וְיָדְעוּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם׃ - And they will dwell upon it securely, build houses, and plant vineyards; they will dwell securely when I execute judgments upon all those around them who despise them, and they will know that I am Hashem their God.
"And they will dwell upon it securely" - for at the beginning of the Return to Zion they still faced oppressors and enemies, as we have already learned in Ezra and Nechemiah. Afterward, they will build houses and dwell securely, and their population in the Land of Israel will multiply, whereas initially fewer than fifty thousand returned. Ultimately, He will execute judgments upon all who despise them, upon all those who harassed them, and through this "they will know that I am Hashem their God" - Who watches over them with individual Divine Providence. For wherever it states "their God," it signifies a direct and unique Divine Providence specifically over them.
In summary:
The entire chapter is one great lesson in the reprehensibility of haughtiness. Chiram, king of Tyre, had merited privileges that few others ever attained - a partnership in the building of the Beit HaMikdash, extraordinary longevity, and according to some Midrashim, even entering Gan Eden alive - yet he lost all of this due to arrogance. From inflated self-worth he reached the point of declaring, "I am a god," constructed for himself seven heavens in the heart of the seas, and ultimately it was exposed that all his wealth came not from divine wisdom, but from commerce tainted by deceit and injustice; his very essence was proven to be "a man, and not a god." "And they shall desecrate your splendor" - the very fact that he was slain and disgraced proves there was nothing divine about him. From there, the prophet moves to Tzidon, through whom the Name of Heaven will likewise be honored and sanctified through the execution of judgment, concluding with comfort: once all the thorns and briers surrounding Israel are removed, Hashem will gather His people, settle them securely upon their land, and make known to all that He is Hashem their God, Who watches over them with individual Divine Providence.