Bible Strands
Ezekiel 28:14
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to the king of Tyre, recounting a former exalted position before pronouncing judgment. The oracle addresses a created figure placed in a sacred realm prior to the emergence of corruption.
The words — מִמְשַׁח (mi.Shach) denotes an anointing or expansion, while סוֹכֵךְ (so.Khekh) means one who covers. Together they identify the figure as a guardian cherub appointed by divine command.
The thread — The anointing language parallels the consecration of the tabernacle and its furnishings in Exodus 30:26 and Exodus 40:9. The motif of a fallen exalted being echoes the oracle against the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14:12.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that status and placement derive from divine ordination, not inherent merit. It requires the reader to confront how appointed privilege becomes liable to judgment when corruption is discovered.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Cross-references
- Exodus 30:26 Use this oil to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony,
- Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
- Exodus 40:9 Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it along with all its furnishings, and it shall be holy.
- Ezekiel 20:40 For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.
- Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- Exodus 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
- Exodus 25:17 And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
- Psalms 75:5 Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”
- Revelation 18:16 saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
- Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.