Daily Tanach – Chapter 28: Judgment on the Prince of Tyre, the King of Tyre, and Prophecy About Zidon, Followed by Israel’s Future Restoration (Wednesday, 17th Shevat)

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Chapter 28: Judgment on the Prince of Tyre, the King of Tyre, and Prophecy About Zidon, Followed by Israel’s Future Restoration

  1. The Pride and Fall of the Prince of Tyre (Verses 1–10)
  • G‑d instructs Yechezkel to speak to the prince of Tyre, rebuking him for his arrogance. The prince claimed, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of God,” because of his wealth, prosperity, and strategic position “in the heart of the seas.” Though he imagined himself divine, G‑d reminds him that he is a mortal man.
  • His supposed wisdom—through which he amassed silver and gold—only increased his arrogance. Therefore, G‑d will bring foreign nations, powerful and ruthless, to destroy him. They will defile his beauty and bring him down to the Pit. When he faces his killers, he will no longer boast of divinity; he will die like any uncircumcised mortal slain by foreigners, for G‑d has spoken.
  1. Lamentation Over the King of Tyre (Verses 11–19)
  • Yechezkel is then told to raise a lament over the king of Tyre, portraying him in exalted symbolic imagery.
  • He is described as once being “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” adorned with precious stones “in Eden, the garden of God.” He is compared to a magnificent guardian-cherub set upon the holy mountain of G‑d, walking among “stones of fire.”
  • From the day of his creation, he was flawless—until sin and corruption infiltrated him.
    Because of his vast commercial power, violence filled his midst. His arrogance due to his beauty corrupted his wisdom. Therefore, G‑d casts him down from the divine mountain and exposes him before kings. Ultimately, a fire will emerge from within him, reducing him to ashes before all nations. His end will astonish the world, and he will cease to exist forever.
  1. Prophecy Against Zidon (Verses 20–24)
  • G‑d commands Yechezkel to prophesy against Zidon, declaring that He is against her and will be sanctified through the judgments that fall upon her. Plague and bloodshed will strike her streets, and attackers will surround her from every side.
  • When G‑d executes these judgments, Zidon will know that He is the Lord.
    Furthermore, G‑d promises that Zidon—and hostile nations like her—will no longer be “a pricking briar or painful thorn” to the house of Israel, who suffered harassment from surrounding peoples.
  1. The Future Restoration of Israel (Verses 25–26)
  • G‑d concludes with a message of hope. When He gathers the house of Israel from the nations among whom they were scattered, He will be sanctified through them before the nations. The people will dwell securely in the land promised to Yaakov, building houses and planting vineyards.
  • Israel will live in safety when G‑d judges all the nations who plundered them. Through this restoration, they will know that He is the Lord, their G‑d.

About The Author

Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein is a 6th generation descendent of the famous Chief Rabbi of Izhmir, Rav Yehoshua Avraham Krispin, who authored a number of Sefarim, and was a colleague of Rav Chaim Falagi, and father in-law of the Pesach Hadvir. He currently lives with his wife Shayna, and twelve children K”H, in Tzfas, Israel. Rabbi Goldstein received Semicha from Rabbi Schneur Zalman Labkowski of the Tomchei Temimim headquarters in 2005 and served as a chaplain in the Lotar/Kalatz and K9 unit of the IDF from years 2005-2008. He is also a certified Shochet, and has performed Hashgacha work in slaughterhouses. Rabbi Goldstein is the director of Shulchanaruchharav.com, the world’s leading web-based Halacha database, and is the director of the Home Study Semicha Program, a self-study web-based Semicha program. He is a prolific author of over 50 Sefarim studied by a wide range of readers throughout the world, which is used regularly in Semicha programs around the globe. He is a world renowned Posek, answering questions to a web-based market, and serves as a local Posek, Rav, and Lecturer, in the Tzemach Tzedek community Shul in Tzefas, Israel. His many classes can be heard both from his website, Vimeo and YouTube channel. Students can join live to classes given in the Tzemach Tzedek Shul, through the “בית חבד צפת Chabad Tsfat” YouTube channel.