Ezechiel 28:12
And say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- et dices ei : Hæc dicit Dominus Deus : Tu signaculum similitudinis, plenus sapientia, et perfectus decore.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, λάβε θρῆνον ἐπὶ τὸν ἄρχοντα Τύρου καὶ εἰπὸν αὐτῷ Τάδε λέγει κύριος Κύριος Σὺ ἀποσφράγισμα ὁμοιώσεως καὶ στέφανος κάλλους
- Hebrew (WLC)
- בֶּן אָדָ֕ם שָׂ֥א קִינָ֖ה עַל מֶ֣לֶךְ צ֑וֹר וְאָמַ֣רְתָּ לּ֗וֹ כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה אַתָּה֙ חוֹתֵ֣ם תָּכְנִ֔ית מָלֵ֥א חָכְמָ֖ה וּכְלִ֥יל יֹֽפִי
Haydock's commentary
Resemblance. The king of Tyre, by his dignity and his natural perfections, bore in himself a certain resemblance to God, by reason of which he might be called the seal of resemblance, &c. But what is here said to him is commonly understood of Lucifer, the king over all the children of pride. (Challoner)
A seal is perfect when it represents things exactly. The prophet speaks ironically, to repress the king's vanity.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Origen Origen De Principiis, Chapter V
4. But that we may not appear to build our assertions on subjects of such importance and difficulty on the ground of inference alone, or to require the assent of our hearers to what is only conjectural, let us see whether we can obtain any declarations from holy Scripture, by the authority of which these positions may be more credibly maintained. And, firstly, we shall adduce what holy Scripture contains regarding wicked powers; we shall next continue our investigation with regard to the others, as the Lord shall be pleased to enlighten us, that in matters of such difficulty we may ascertain what is nearest to the truth, or what ought to be our opinions agreeably to the standard of religion. …
St Gregory Nazianzen In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office
90. For I own that I am too weak for this warfare, and therefore turned my back, hiding my face in the rout, and sat solitary, because I was filled with bitterness and sought to be silent, understanding that it is an evil time, that the beloved had kicked, that we were become backsliding children, who are the luxuriant vine, the true vine, all fruitful, all beautiful, springing up splendidly with showers from on high. For the diadem of beauty, the signet of glory, the crown of magnificence has been changed for me into shame; and if anyone, in face of these things, is daring and courageous, he has my blessing on his daring and courage.
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X, Chapter VIII. Of the fall of the devil and the angels
And so we are clearly shown that out of that number of them some of the leaders fell, by the lamentations of Ezekiel and Isaiah, in which we know that the prince of Tyre or that Lucifer who rose in the morning is lamented with a doleful plaint: and of him the Lord speaks as follows to Ezekiel: “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the prince of Tyre, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God: every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, the topaz and the jasper, the chrysolyte and the onyx and the beryl, the sapphire and the carbuncle and the emerald: gold the work of thy beauty, and thy pipes were prepared in the day that thou wast created. …