The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 2 — Section 116

connection with the Divine, might be warranted in claiming, through its head, some- thing like supernatural strength and absolute perpetuity of being." 3. Pride of wisdom, « Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee." Three facts concerning the wisdom of the Prince of Tyre are here brouaht 0 to li"ht, (1) He laid claim to pre-eminent wisdom. He looked upon himself as being \riser than Daniel. It is implied that the extraordinary wisdom of Daniel was at this time generally and widely ~nown and acknowledged. "The prophet presumes it to be acknowledged that Darnel stands on the highest stage of wisdom attainable by man." "When be made known unto Nebuchadnezzar the dream which that monarch bad forgotten, be did that of which the wise men of Cbaldea bad declared, "It is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh" (Dan, ii. 11). Hence, as Hengstenberg remarks, for the Prince of Tyre" to declare himself wiser than Daniel, is at once to transcend the stage of man, and make himself equal with God." (2) This wisdom had special reference to the discovery of secrets. The proud prince boasted that no secret could be bidden from him (ver. 3). The comparison with Daniel is still maintained. "The secret" of the forgotten dream of Nebuchadnezzar was revealed unto Daniel in a "vision of the night" (Dan. ii, 19), and then communicated by him to the troubled king. And on a subsequent occasion that king said to him," I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee" (Dan. iv. 9). But the Prince of Tyre boasted that his wisdom transcended even this; and from bis proud boast we infer that bis wisdom was not genuine. True wisdom humbles its possessor. Where it really is, as knowledge increases reverence also increases. (3) The aim of ibis wisdom was the increase of their material riches. "By thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches," etc. (vers. 4, 5), However great this wisdom might have been, however varied its manifestations, its great aim was the secular prosperity of the state. It did not look beyond the material and temporal to the spiritual and eternal It was bounded by time and that little portion of this world over which the Prince of Tyre reigned. What a contrast it presents in this respect from the wisdom which is commended in the sacred Scriptures I 4. Pride of richea. (Vera. 4, 5.) In our survey of eh. xxvi. and xxvii. we noticed the abounding com- mercial prosperity of Tyre. Its merchants lived as princes. Its wealth was exceeding great. And as its king contemplated these immense riches his heart exulted in the sense of his own wisdom, importance, and power. " Thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches." In all self was supreme. In bis treasures, in his wisdom, ~n hie might, in the security of bis situation, be recognizes no person or power greater than himself. Verily he regarded himself as a god. II. THE pmnsIIMENT OF PRIDE BY Go». (Vera. 6-10.) Since" pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall," the Prince of Tyre must soon meet with a severe check to bis unbridled arrogance. The prophet proclaims his doom. Notice: 1. The natwre of this punishment. (1) The abasement of his glory. "They 1,hall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness" (ver. 7). We have seen that the great end for which the Prince of Tyre employed his wisdom was the promotion of their mercantile success, and the consequent increase of their riches. So that the beauty of hi!I wisdom was the commercial prosperity of the state, which he viewed as its choicest result. Their affluence and success, their luxury and splendour, would be diminished, and their glorying in these things would be abased. (2) The slaughter of his life. "They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou ebalt die the deaths of them that a.re slain in the heart of the seas." The plural is used here--" deaths," because "the king, the central personage, the animating breath of the whole people, as the king is called in Lam. iv. 20, dies as it were many deaths-lies in each of hie slain subjects" (Hengstenberg). Here is death in dishonour: "The deaths of them that are slain in the heart of the soa.s." " For kings to be slain by foreigners is dishonourable; when slain, not to be buried as kings is a greater diBhonour; to be cast out, and drowned as common men, is II height of dishonour." Here is death in sin: "Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised liy the liand of strangers." The uncircumcised denotes the heathen world in contra- clislinction to the covenant people of God. 'l'he death of the uncircumcised is the cs act opposite of "ihe death of the righteous " (Numb. xxiii. 10). 2. The Author of this  on. xxvin. 1-26.J 'tHE :8001{ OF 'tl1E PROPHET EZEKIEL, 119