The cherub in Eden is a figure mentioned in . Many translations, including the New International Version, identify the cherub with the King of Tyre, specifically Ithobaal III (reigned 591–573 BC) who according to the list of kings of Tyre of Josephus was reigning contemporary with Ezekiel at the time of the first fall of Jerusalem.The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, John F. Walvoord, Walter L. Baker, Roy B. Zuck - 1985. Ezekiel had prophesied against the whole city; he was now singling out the city's leader for a special word from God. This ruler then was Ethbaal III, who ruled from 591-590 bc to 573-572 bc The underlying sin of Tyre's king was his ...Ezekiel p. 249 Brandon Fredenburg - 2002 EZEKIEL 28 Indictment and Sentence against Tyre's Ruler (28:1-10) This oracle indicts (w. 2-5) and sentences (w. ... All that was true of the city-state has been concentrated into the description of the ruler of Tyre, Ethbaal III. Other translations, including the New Revised Standard Version, see the cherub as the king's guardian.
Background Ezekiel has cited Eden in two extensive passages and one of these (28:11-19) portrayed the king of Tyre in terms of the cherub in Eden. The city is famed for the temple complex of Melkart with its renowned garden enclosure. Tertullian Tertullian in Against Marcion 2:10 linked the reference to the fall of Satan, which has been followed by many Christians since.The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 1283 John F. Walvoord, Walter L. Baker, Roy B. Zuck - 1985 "This "king" had appeared in the Garden of Eden (v. 13), had been a guardian cherub (v. 14a), had possessed free access ... A postulation is that Ezekiel was describing Satan who was the true "king" of Tyre, the one motivating." Its theological interpretation has been subject to much theorizing. One recognized that the prophet depicted such cherub within a state of primordial perfection, which was terminated by sin and consequent exile from the "mountain of God". Another theory posited that Eden was a simile for the portrayal of the splendor of a given geographical area, which in this case is Tyre and that its human king represented Satan, who was a snake in the garden in Genesis 3.
See also ʿAṯtar Ezekiel 28
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