Bible Strands
Ezekiel 28:9
Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the ruler of Tyre, immediately after declaring that his body will be brought down to the Pit to die a violent death in the heart of the seas.
The words — The Hebrew אֱלֹהִים ('E.lo.Him) translates literally to "a god," while אָדָם ('a.Dam) means "a human being," forming the direct lexical contrast in the speaker's rebuke.
The thread — The text's assertion of human mortality against self-exaltation appears in Ezekiel 28:2, where the ruler's proud heart is addressed; Psalm 82:7, which states that earthly judges will die like mortals; and Isaiah 31:3, which identifies the Egyptians and their horses as men and flesh rather than God and spirit.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to accept that no earthly authority can sustain a claim to divinity, since the text explicitly states that the wounded will be only a man in the hands of those who slay him.
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
Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 28:2 “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.
- Psalms 82:7 But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.”
- Isaiah 31:3 But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.
- Daniel 4:31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.
- Daniel 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
- Acts 12:22 And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!”