Ezekiel 28:3

Behold; thou art wiser than Daniel,.... That is, in his own opinion; or it is ironically said.

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel.

Thou art wiser, in thy own thoughts of thyself, than Daniel, who was then famous for his wisdom, which was imparted to him from Heaven, 2:20,48. That they can hide from thee; that any sort of men can conceal, that thine adversaries shall contrive against thee to thy danger or hurt: all this ironically said.

Ezekiel 28:3 Behold, thou [art] wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:Ver. 3. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel.] That oracular man, who was πανσοφος, as one saith of Homer, καιπανταανθρωπειαεπισταμενος, the most wise and knowing man alive. His name was now up at Babylon; and Ezekiel, his contemporary, commendeth him; so doth the Baptist, Christ; and Peter, Paul. Though there had been a breach between them, there was no envy. But such another braggart as this in the text was Richardus de Sancto Victore, a monk of Paris, who said that himself was a better divine than any prophet or apostle of them all. But how much better, saith Gregory, is humble ignorance than proud knowledge! Paraei, Hist. Sac. Medul. Moral., 17:

(3) Wiser than Daniel.—This is ironically spoken. Daniel was so famed for his wisdom in the great Chaldæan Empire (Daniel 1:20; Daniel 2:48; Daniel 4:18; Daniel 5:11-12; Daniel 6:3, &c.) that the report must have already reached Tyre. He had been twenty years in Nebuchadnezzar’s court when Jerusalem fell, and the siege of Tyre was five years later.

Verse 3. Thou art wiser than Daniel] Daniel was at this time living, and was reputable for his great wisdom. This is said ironically. See Ezekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 26:1.

3. wiser than Daniel] Cf. on ch. Ezekiel 14:14. The language appears ironical. It does not follow from the allusion that the story of Daniel was known in Tyre. no secret … hide] Or, no secret is hidden. In Ezekiel 31:8 the word seems to mean “be equal to,” “come up to.” This sense would require a personal subject, which might be got if the term “no secret,” lit. no closed, could be taken as Numbers 24:3; Numbers 24:5 closed of eyes, i.e. inspired. The versions differ widely from one another. Ezekiel 28:4 seq. The wisdom of the prince, who is but the incarnation of the spirit of the city, displayed itself in his commercial enterprise, in his skill in arts and manufactures, for which the Tyrians were famous, and thus he amassed such riches and surrounded himself with such splendour that he deemed himself God (Ezekiel 28:6). Already Homer calls the Sidonians poludaidaloi (Il. 23. 743). Ezekiel 28:7 seq. His chastisement because of his self-deification. As Nebuchadnezzar affected to set himself in the sides of the North but was brought down to the sides of the pit, the prince of Tyre shall die an ignominious death. The “terrible” i.e. most terrible of the nations are the Chaldeans, cf. the prophet’s contemporary Habakkuk 1:6-10. See ch. Ezekiel 7:21; Ezekiel 7:24, Ezekiel 30:11, Ezekiel 31:12, Ezekiel 32:12. the beauty of thy wisdom] The beauty is not regarded as the product of his wisdom, but rather as the expression of it, that in which it clothes itself. Cf. Ezekiel 28:12. defile thy brightness] profane, cf. Ezekiel 28:17. The term “profane” is used on account of the prince’s assumption of divinity.

3. Wiser than Daniel — Is this an acknowledgment that Eth-baal, “prince” or “king” of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2; Ezekiel 28:12), was wiser than Daniel, the wisest and best Hebrew (compare Ezekiel 14:14), or