Ezekiel 28:8
in Ezekiel 28They will bring you down to the Pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain, in the heart of the seas.
KJV
They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
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This verse in Ezekiel 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThey shall bring thee down to the pit,.... Or, "to corruption" (k); to the grave, the pit of corruption and destruction; so antichrist shall go into perdition, into the bottomless pit from whence he came, Rev 17:8, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas; that die in a sea fight, whose carcasses are thrown overboard, and devoured by fishes. (k) לשחת "ad corruptionem".
This site's exposition
you regard your heart as the heart of a god
on Ezekiel 28:6-10
The sentence matches the crime clause for clause: strangers will draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom. The pit and the deaths of the uncircumcised name the shame, burial without the covenant sign. The strangers are Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon (26:7) and, in the older commentators' reading, Alexander after him.
This site's exposition
bring you down to the Pit
The Pit, Hebrew shachat, is the grave pictured as a place below, where Ezekiel sends the proud nations again in chapters 31 and 32. The heart of the seas answers the boast of verse 2. His throne and his grave share one address.
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 Awakening1 voice
He shall die the deaths of those that are slain in the midst of the seas, that have no honour done them at their death, but their dead bodies are immediately thrown overboard, without any ceremony or mark of distinction, to be a feast for the fish. Tyre is likely to be destroyed in the midst of the sea ( ch. xxvii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the pit--that is, the bottom of the sea; the image being that of one conquered in a sea-fight. the deaths--plural, as various kinds of deaths are meant (Jer 16:4). of them . . . slain--literally, "pierced through." Such deaths as those pierced with many wounds die.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לַשַּׁ֖חַת | lashachat | to the pit | H7845 → | 23 times |
| יֽוֹרִד֑וּךָ | yoridukha | they will bring down you | H3381 → | 381 times |
| וָמַ֛תָּה | vamatah | and you will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| מְמוֹתֵ֥י | memotei | [the] death<s> of | H4463 → | |
| חָלָ֖ל | chalal | [the] slain | H2491 → | 94 times |
| בְּלֵ֥ב | belev | in [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יַמִּֽים׃ | yamim | [the] seas | H3220 → | 396 times |
לַשַּׁ֖חַתto the pit
lashachatH7845 →23 times
יֽוֹרִד֑וּךָthey will bring down you
yoridukhaH3381 →381 times
וָמַ֛תָּהand you will die
vamatahH4191 →839 times
מְמוֹתֵ֥י[the] death<s> of
memoteiH4463 →
חָלָ֖ל[the] slain
chalalH2491 →94 times
בְּלֵ֥בin [the] heart of
belevH3820 →595 times
יַמִּֽים׃[the] seas
yamimH3220 →396 times
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
Psalms 30:9“What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
it leads to
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Psalms 115:17–18
It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.
- Isaiah 38:18
For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
- Psalms 118:17
I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
- Psalms 88:10–12
Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
- Psalms 6:5
Through
Proverbs 28:17A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
it leads to
- Genesis 9:6
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- Exodus 21:14
But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.
- Genesis 9:6
Through
Job 33:28He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and I will live to see the light.’
it leads to
- Job 33:24
to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’
- Job 33:24
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.