Ezekiel 28:4
in Ezekiel 28By your wisdom and understanding you have gained your wealth and amassed gold and silver for your treasuries.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
by thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures;
KJV
With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
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This verse in Ezekiel 28
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
wiser than Daniel
on Ezekiel 28:3-5
The taunt names Daniel, a contemporary famous in Babylon for wisdom, and sets the prince's shrewdness beside him only to mock it. Verses 4 and 5 trace the same wisdom into commerce. Clarke and Gill note the play, wisdom that could price every cargo and still miscount its own soul.
This site's exposition
amassed gold and silver for your treasuries
Chapter 27 lists the ports that fed this wealth, from Tarshish in the far west to Sheba and Dedan in Arabia. Wisdom and understanding here mean practical skill in trade. The gold and silver in the treasuries of Tyre were the profit of the whole Mediterranean trade.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 28, Verse 1 onwards) 'The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord God: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas,' yet you are a man, and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god. Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that is hidden from you.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Since pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, he must bell him of that destruction, of that fall, which was now hastening on as the just punishment of his presumption in setting up himself a rival with God. "Because thou hast pretended to be a god (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
With thy wisdom and with thy understanding thou hast gotten thee riches,.... Through skill in navigation and trade, for which the Tyrians and their princes were famous, they acquired great wealth: so antichrist, by carnal policy, and hellish subtlety, has amassed vast treasures together; the sale of pardons and indulgences has brought immense riches into the pope's coffers: and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures; in great quantities; see Rev 18:3.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּחָכְמָֽתְךָ֙ | bechakhematekha | by wisdom your | H2451 → | 153 times |
| וּבִתְבוּנָ֣תְךָ֔ | uvitvunatekha | and by understanding your | H8394 → | |
| עָשִׂ֥יתָ | ʾasita | you have acquired | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְּךָ֖ | lekha | for yourself | ||
| חָ֑יִל | chayil | wealth | H2428 → | 246 times |
| וַתַּ֛עַשׂ | vataas | and you have acquired | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| זָהָ֥ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וָכֶ֖סֶף | vakhesef | and silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| בְּאוֹצְרוֹתֶֽיךָ׃ | beotzroteikha | in treasuries your | H214 → |
בְּחָכְמָֽתְךָ֙by wisdom your
bechakhematekhaH2451 →153 times
וּבִתְבוּנָ֣תְךָ֔and by understanding your
uvitvunatekhaH8394 →
עָשִׂ֥יתָyou have acquired
ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times
לְּךָ֖for yourself
lekha
חָ֑יִלwealth
chayilH2428 →246 times
וַתַּ֛עַשׂand you have acquired
vataasH6213 →2628 times
זָהָ֥בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
וָכֶ֖סֶףand silver
vakhesefH3701 →403 times
בְּאוֹצְרוֹתֶֽיךָ׃in treasuries your
beotzroteikhaH214 →
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
Proverbs 18:11A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:15
The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
- Psalms 52:5–7
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
- Ecclesiastes 7:12
For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
- Proverbs 10:15
Through
Habakkuk 1:16Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:17
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- Ezekiel 28:3
Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you!
- Habakkuk 1:11
Then they sweep by like the wind and pass on through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”
- Daniel 4:30
the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Deuteronomy 8:17
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.