Verse 3
Thou art wiser than Daniel - Daniel was at this time living, and was reputable for his great wisdom. This is said ironically. See [Eze 14:14]; [Eze 26:1].
Verse 5
By thy great wisdom - He attributed every thing to himself; he did not acknowledge a Divine providence. As he got all by himself, so he believed he could keep all by himself, and had no need of any foreign help.
Verse 7
I will bring strangers upon thee - The Chaldeans.
Verse 9
Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee - Wilt thou continue thy pride and arrogance when the sword is sheathed in thee, and still imagine that thou art self-sufficient and independent?
Verse 10
The deaths of the uncircumcised - Two deaths, temporal and eternal. Ithobaal was taken and killed by Nebuchadnezzar.
Verse 12
Thou sealest up - This has been translated, "Thou drawest thy own likeness." "Thou formest a portrait of thyself; and hast represented thyself the perfection of wisdom and beauty." I believe this to be the meaning of the place.
Verse 13
Thou hast been in Eden - This also is a strong irony. Thou art like Adam, when in his innocence and excellence he was in the garden of Eden!
Every precious stone was thy covering - For a description of these stones see the note on [Exo 28:17].
Verse 14
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth - The irony is continued; and here he is likened to the Cherub that guarded the gates of Paradise, and kept the way of the tree of life; or to one of the cherubs whose wings, spread out, covered the mercy-seat.
Thou mast upon the holy mountain of God - The irony is still continued; and now he is compared to Hoses, and afterwards to one of the chief angels, who has walked up and down among the stones of fire; that is, thy floors have been paved with precious stones, that shone and sparkled like fire.
Lucan, describing the splendor of the apartments of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, speaks in nearly a similar language: -
Nec summis crustata domus, sectisque nitebat
Marmoribus, stabatque sibi non segnis achates,
Purpureusque lapis, totusque effusus in aula
Calcabatur onyx;
Pharsal. lib. x.
Rich as some fane by slavish zealots reared,
For the proud banquet stood the hall prepared:
Thick golden plates the latent beams infold,
And the high roof was fretted o'er with gold.
Of solid marble all the walls were made,
And onyx e'en the meaner floor inlaid;
While porphyry and agate round the court
In massy columns rose, a proud support.
Of solid ebony each post was wrought,
From swarthy Meroe profusely brought.
With ivory was the entrance crusted o'er,
And polished tortoise hid each shining door;
While on the cloudy spots enchased was seen
The trusty emerald's never-fading green.
Within the royal beds and couches shone,
Beamy and bright with many a costly stone,
The glowing purple rich.
Rowe.
Verse 15
Thou wast perfect in thy ways - The irony seems still to be kept up. Thou hast been like the angels, like Moses, like the cherubs, like Adam, like God, till thy iniquity was found out.