Ezekiel 28:6-10

28:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Because you think you are godlike, ¹ 

28:7 I am about to bring foreigners ²  against you, the most terrifying of nations.

They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, ³ 

and they will defile your splendor.

28:8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die violently ⁴  in the heart of the seas.

28:9 Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you –

though you are a man and not a god –

when you are in the power of those who wound you?

28:10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised ⁵  by the hand of foreigners;

for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

[28:6]  ¹ tn Heb “because of your making your heart like the heart of gods.”

[28:7]  ² sn This is probably a reference to the Babylonians.

[28:7]  ³ tn Heb “they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom.”

[28:8]  ³ tn Heb “you will die the death of the slain.”

[28:10]  ⁴ sn The Phoenicians practiced circumcision, so the language here must be figurative, indicating that they would be treated in a disgraceful manner. Uncircumcised peoples were viewed as inferior, unclean, and perhaps even sub-human. See 31:18 and 32:17-32, as well as the discussion in D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:99.