Ezekiel 28:10
You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”
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You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord GOD.’”
You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”
Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Your death will be the death of those who are without circumcision, by the hands of men from strange lands: for I have said it, says the Lord.
The deaths of the uncircumcised thou diest, By the hand of strangers, for I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'
Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised, by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord Jehovah.
Original Hebrew
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Study notes
Whole chapterOn Ezekiel 25:1–32.32
This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.
One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.
On Ezekiel 26:1–28.19
The message against Tyre, Israel’s northwestern neighbor, is more detailed than the short messages before it. It consists of three similar sections (Ezekiel 26:2–21; 27:1–36; and 28:1–19). Each section conveys the same idea: Tyre would meet a terrible end and cease to exist (Ezekiel 27:36).
On Ezekiel 28:1–19
This section is the third message against Tyre (see study note on Ezekiel 26:1–28:19). It speaks directly to the ruler of Tyre, called the prince of Tyre. It condemns him for his pride.
The prince represents the city itself. What happens to him also happens to Tyre. In his pride, he claimed to be a god. He said that he sat on a divine throne and ruled over the powerful seas. But this was not true. He was only a man.
This chapter and Isaiah 14, which speaks about the king of Babylon, are sometimes understood as describing a heavenly battle between God and Satan, who is called “the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24). However, this interpretation overlooks the historical setting of these passages.
Tyre and Babylon were real cities. Their kings were real men. They had great power, but they were also very proud. The king of Tyre claimed to be a god, but his claim was empty.
Political powers that oppose God and his people may serve as agents of Satan in his struggle against God. Yet these rulers will fall. Their defeat points forward to God’s final victory over all the powers of evil. Every authority that sets itself against the living God will be destroyed.
On this verse
will die the death of the uncircumcised: In the Old Testament, circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant (his special agreement) with Abraham and his descendants (compare Genesis 17:10–14). To be uncircumcised meant to stand outside that covenant relationship.
This warning means the prince of Tyre would die without any share in God’s covenant promises. He would die as one who did not belong to the people of the covenant.
On this section Ezekiel 25:1–32:32
Messages of judgement about other nations come in the middle of the book of Ezekiel. These messages were about Ammon, Moab, Edom and the Philistines. They were also about Egypt, Tyre and Sidon.
These messages divide the book of Ezekiel into two sections. Ezekiel’s prophecies in the first section announced that Jerusalem would be completely destroyed. Ezekiel’s prophecies in the second section were after Jerusalem had been destroyed. Ezekiel spoke the messages of judgement about other nations to the Jews in Babylon. These messages taught the Jews several lessons about God, judgement and other nations.
One lesson was that the southern kingdom wasn’t the only nation God brought judgement against. God judged the governments and people of other nations based on how they treated others. Ammon and Moab were punished for being happy when trouble came to the southern kingdom. Edom and the Philistines were punished for hating Judah and treating the southern kingdom badly. Tyre was punished for its practices of dishonest trade.
Another lesson was that no nation’s government or army would rescue Jerusalem from God’s judgement. The leaders of the southern kingdom had a treaty with Egypt. They trusted Egypt to save them. But Egypt would also be destroyed by Babylon.
Another lesson was that God used nations and kings as his tools. Nebuchadnezzar wanted the Babylonian government to be powerful and wealthy. So he fought wars to take control of many other nations. At the same time, God used these events for his own purposes. He used them to put an end to certain nations for evil things they had done.
This taught another lesson. God has authority over all human rulers. Yet some of the human rulers of these nations didn’t recognise that this was true. God told a story about this. He compared Egypt to a cedar tree that was strong, tall and beautiful. The tree was also very proud and evil. God had the Babylonians cut the tree down. God said that trees shouldn’t grow so high that they become proud. This meant that rulers must be humble and remember that they aren’t gods.
The king of Tyre had claimed that he was a god. Rulers must remember that they are human beings who will die like all other humans. Only God is the Lord and King.
Tyndale Open Study Notes (adapted by Mission Mutual) and Biblica Study Notes, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.