Not the "origin story"
Traditionally, post-biblical readers have understood Ezekiel 28 to refer to Satan’s heavenly rebellion against God. Yet, the prophet does not describe the devil. Instead, Ezekiel 28 refers to the king of Tyre, and “Satan” appears nowhere in the passage!
Who is he?
In Ezekiel 28, God addresses an individual, saying, “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and of perfect beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…".
Despite his high standing, the addressee exhibited “unrighteousness” (עול; evel) and “sinned” (חטא; hata); therefore, God says, “I banished you, guardian cherub…. ". Many read this passage as a reference to the serpent “in Eden”. However, immediately before the above verses, God tells Ezekiel to “raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre (מלך צור; melekh tsor)” (28:12). The prophet addresses an earthly king, not a primordial rebel in heaven.
Where did that idea come from?
Those who see the figure of Ezekiel 28 as Satan might respond, “But when was the king of Tyre ever ‘in Eden, the garden God’?
Soon after speaking of Tyre’s king being “in Eden” (בעדן; b’eden), Ezekiel asks the king of Egypt, “‘Whom are you like in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 31:18). Of course, Pharaoh was never literally among the trees of Eden. Ezekiel places foreign kings “in Eden” metaphorically to ridicule their self-perceived glory; comparing these monarchs with entities in Eden is prophetic hyperbole that highlights the inadequacy of earthly rulers before God.
Hebrew tells the deeper story
There are more words in Hebrew that compared together show what the prophet truly meant. The only way that Ezekiel’s lament makes linguistic, contextual, or theological sense is if it refers to the king of Tyre in the prophet’s present, not to Satan in the prehistoric past. Ezekiel 28 is not a story of Satan, but rather an example of God’s sovereignty over all the peoples of the earth.
