Ezekiel 28:17
in Ezekiel 28Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezekiel 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
you were blameless in your ways
on Ezekiel 28:15-17
Thou wast perfect in thy ways, till iniquity was found in thee marks the turn, a fall from an original perfection. The cause is trade turned to violence, and pride in beauty. The sentence answers in kind, cast as profane out of the mountain of God, cast to the ground.
This site's exposition
I made you a spectacle before kings
Readers who see Satan behind the king link this verse with 1 Timothy 3:6, where conceit brings the condemnation of the devil. Keil keeps the verse on the king of Tyre and the splendor of his court. Other rulers watch and learn.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 11 seqq.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, onyx, and beryl, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald. Gold was the workmanship of your settings and your engravings; on the day that you were created they were prepared.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He really became a fool in glorying. Those make a bad bargain for themselves that part with their wisdom for the gratifying of their gaiety, and, to please a vain humour, lose a real excellency. (2.) What the ruin was that this iniquity brought him to. [1.] He was thrown out of his dignity and dislodged from his palace, which he took to be his paradise and temple (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
All God's judgments upon sinners take rise from themselves; they are devoured by a fire of their own kindling. [4.] He was hereby made a terrible example of divine vengeance. Thus he is reduced in the sight of all those that behold him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,....
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גָּבַ֤הּ | gavah | it was haughty | H1361 → | 34 times |
| לִבְּךָ֙ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| בְּיָפְיֶ֔ךָ | beyafeyekha | in beauty your | H3308 → | 19 times |
| שִׁחַ֥תָּ | shichata | you perverted | H7843 → | 146 times |
| חָכְמָתְךָ֖ | chakhematekha | wisdom your | H2451 → | 153 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִפְעָתֶ֑ךָ | yifatekha | splendor your | H3314 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הִשְׁלַכְתִּ֗יךָ | hishlakhtikha | I threw you | H7993 → | 125 times |
| לִפְנֵ֧י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מְלָכִ֛ים | melakhim | kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| נְתַתִּ֖יךָ | netatikha | I put you | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְרַ֥אֲוָה | leraavah | to look | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בָֽךְ׃ | vakh | on you |
גָּבַ֤הּit was haughty
gavahH1361 →34 times
לִבְּךָ֙heart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
בְּיָפְיֶ֔ךָin beauty your
beyafeyekhaH3308 →19 times
שִׁחַ֥תָּyou perverted
shichataH7843 →146 times
חָכְמָתְךָ֖wisdom your
chakhematekhaH2451 →153 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יִפְעָתֶ֑ךָsplendor your
yifatekhaH3314 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֶ֣רֶץ[the] ground
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
הִשְׁלַכְתִּ֗יךָI threw you
hishlakhtikhaH7993 →125 times
לִפְנֵ֧י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
מְלָכִ֛יםkings
melakhimH4428 →2525 times
נְתַתִּ֖יךָI put you
netatikhaH5414 →2011 times
לְרַ֥אֲוָהto look
leraavahH7200 →1300 times
בָֽךְ׃on you
vakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 4:6But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- Proverbs 3:34
He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.
- 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Psalms 138:6
Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- Proverbs 18:12
Through
Proverbs 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
- Isaiah 2:11–12
The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
- Proverbs 11:2
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.