Ezekiel 28:12-15

The context

Ezekiel 28 contains a pair of oracles against the ruler of Tyre, the second of which takes up a lament form. The city's wealth and its ruler's pride are the occasion. Verses 12 to 15 describe the figure in Eden imagery, and the passage then turns to the violence and trade that brought him down.

What it establishes

The oracle indicts a human ruler for pride by casting him in the imagery of Eden and of a guardian figure, and it dates his ruin to iniquity found in him. It uses mythic material to make a historical point about Tyre.

What it does not establish

It does not identify the figure as Satan. The oracle addresses the king of Tyre, and the identification with Satan is a later reading developed in patristic and poetic tradition. Nor does the passage give a doctrine of evil's origin; it is a taunt over a proud ruler.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Your all-powerful God created the devil and evil - simply to set up "the fall." He did this KNOWING that most souls would ultimately suffer eternal punishment. You call this a good God? I call it evil.
• Your all-powerful God created the devil and evil - simply to set up "the fall." He did this KNOWING that most souls would ultimately suffer eternal punishment. You call this a good God? I call it evil.

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.