What is the meaning of Ezekiel 28:23?

I will send a plague against her

God Himself initiates this judgment.

• Similar divine plagues fell on Egypt (Exodus 9:14) and on rebellious Israel (Numbers 16:46-50), underscoring that disease can be a direct tool in His righteous hand.

• The “her” points to the city-state of Tyre’s sister city, Sidon (Ezekiel 28:21-22), reminding us that no nation is beyond God’s reach (Isaiah 14:26-27).

---

and shed blood in her streets

Judgment moves from sickness to violent conflict.

• Streets once busy with commerce (Ezekiel 27:3) will run with blood, echoing God’s warning to Nineveh (Nahum 3:3).

• This fulfills Genesis 9:6—when blood is shed, God requires an accounting.

---

the slain will fall within her

The devastation is local and personal.

• Victims are not merely soldiers at the gate; citizens fall inside their own walls, as in Jerusalem’s siege (Lamentations 2:21).

• Psalm 55:11 pictures violence within a city as evidence of deep corruption—exactly what God exposes here.

---

while the sword is against her on every side

Total encirclement leaves no escape.

• Babylon’s strategy against Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-4) illustrates this phrase.

• Divine sovereignty over invading armies is clear in Isaiah 10:5—Assyria was “the rod of My anger.”

---

Then they will know that I am the LORD

The goal is recognition of Yahweh’s unique authority.

• Every judgment carries a redemptive purpose: to reveal God’s glory (Exodus 7:5; Ezekiel 6:7).

• Even pagan nations are invited to acknowledge Him, foreshadowing Philippians 2:10-11 when every knee will bow.

---

summary

Ezekiel 28:23 describes God’s multi-layered judgment on Sidon—plague, civil bloodshed, internal collapse, and surrounding warfare—all orchestrated so that the city, and those watching, will unmistakably recognize the LORD’s supreme and holy rule.