You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”
The prince of Tyre had told the world he was a god, seated in the seat of God in the heart of the seas. Verse 10 is God's reply. He will die like the most godless of men, killed by foreigners. Nothing seals the sentence but God's own word.
A boast answered in kind
The punishment fits the crime. The prince claimed the place of God, so God sends him a death that shows what he really is. And "the death of the uncircumcised" names the company he dies in.
William KellyIf he aimed to pass himself off as God, he would feel what it is to be a man in weakness, when the sword of the dreaded foreigner stained his splendour... He would die the deaths of the uncircumcised, of men farthest from God.
Two things in the sentence need explaining: who carries it out, and why he is called uncircumcised. One writer answers both.
Numerical Bible NotesGod needed to use no obvious divine power against him; the power of men was enough... He was uncircumcised and had never learned the lesson of self-judgment, so he would die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners, and the Lord seals this as the doom He has pronounced on him.
An old lie in a new mouth
The prince's claim was not new. One writer traces it back to the first temptation in Eden.
Numerical Bible NotesShocking as all this is, it is still, in the end, the natural growth of what happened in the Garden of Eden itself. There the evil one's temptation was plainly, "You will be like God." No doubt that was meant as a moral likeness — "knowing good and evil." Still, it was a place seized, not given by God, and it led naturally to seizing still more, and more openly.
A man, and nothing more
The first ten verses of the chapter keep the prince on a human scale. That is the point of the judgment: foreigners kill him, and he dies.
J. N. DarbyVerses 1-10 show us the prince of this world's glory as a man. He lifts himself up and tries to present himself as a god, having gained riches and glory by his wisdom.
Verse 10 leaves him exactly there: a dead man.
The power standing behind the throne
Verse 10 closes the account of the prince; the next section turns to the king. Writers connect the two, and they read the second figure as the real power at work in the first.
A J PollockThis is worth noting, because it shows the link between the Prince of Tyre and the King of Tyre (Satan). The Prince of Tyre was plainly a man. God's judgment on him was that he would die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners.
That makes this dead prince a preview. What he claimed, another man will claim on a far larger scale.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe was the high point of the pride and wealth of Tyre; the fearful pride of the city came to a head in him. His heart was so lifted up that he claimed to be a god and to hold the very seat of God... He is a foreshadowing of the final Antichrist, the man of sin. Behind the wicked prince and king stands another power: Satan.
"For I have spoken"
God names no army and gives no date. The whole weight of the threat rests on who is speaking — and the ruins of Tyre became the evidence.
H H SnellWhat appalling facts we have noticed so far in the history of some of the greatest cities the world ever had! How truly the word of Jehovah has been fulfilled! It is well for those who believe God's testimony enough to tremble at His word!
Summary
- Claim. The prince said he sat in the seat of God. His own words are the charge, and the sentence answers them word for word.
- Root. The claim was not new — it grew out of the Eden promise that the creature could be as God, a place "seized, not given by God."
- Exposure. He wanted to be God. Instead he feels "what it is to be a man in weakness," dying the death of "men farthest from God."
- Shadow. Verses 1-10 judge "the prince of this world's glory as a man." What follows points past him to Satan, and this prince foreshadows the Antichrist still to come.
- Certainty. The threat rests on three words — "I have spoken" — and the ruins of Tyre show "how truly the word of Jehovah has been fulfilled."