Ezekiel 28:15-17

28:15 You were blameless in your behavior ¹  from the day you were created,

until sin was discovered in you.

28:16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, ²  and you sinned;

so I defiled you and banished you ³  from the mountain of God –

the guardian cherub expelled you ⁴  from the midst of the stones of fire.

28:17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor.

I threw you down to the ground;

I placed you before kings, that they might see you.

[28:15]  ¹ tn Heb “ways.”

[28:16]  ² tn Heb “they filled your midst with violence.”

[28:16]  ³ tn Heb “I defiled you.” The presence of the preposition “from” following the verb indicates that a verb of motion is implied as well. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

[28:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I expelled you, O guardian cherub.” The Hebrew text takes the verb as first person and understands “guardian cherub” as a vocative, in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the verb. However, if the emendation in verse 14a is accepted (see the note above), then one may follow the LXX here as well and emend the verb to a third person perfect. In this case the subject of the verb is the guardian cherub. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.