Ezekiel 28:13

This king had been in Eden, the garden of God, or Ezekiel was comparing him to someone who had been there. Some authorities believe Ezekiel had Adam in view, but the comparison with Adam quickly breaks down in the passage. Much less likely are the views that the tower of Babel or the Flood is in view or that the prophet was thinking of an ideal man. Eden, the garden of God, is probably a figurative way of describing the blessing that this ruler had enjoyed at God’s hand (cf. 31:9; Genesis 13:10). If we take the statement literally, this must refer to someone who was in the Garden of Eden, probably Satan. The description of this ruler covered with precious gems and gold indicates the extent of his wealth. The suggestion that Israel’s high priest is in view here because he bore such precious stones on his shoulders and breastpiece is farfetched. There are no other connections with the high priest in this passage. God had prepared this king for this privileged destiny from the time that He had created him (cf. Exodus 9:16; Romans 9:17).

"The concept of the Garden of Eden presents one of the major difficulties in interpreting this section as Tyre’s literal human king. A possible solution may be found in understanding ancient Near Eastern temples. These ancient temples normally encompassed a large enclosure with a garden, not just a building (cf. van Dijk, p. 117). If the term for ’God’ in this phrase is understood as ’god,’ then perhaps ’Eden, a garden of a god,’ was an expression used metaphorically to describe the splendor of the temple complex of Melkart, the ’king of the city’ (which was the meaning of the god’s name), with whom Tyre’s human king was seeking identity. Though this interpretation is a hypothesis (as are all others), normal cultural hermeneutics may aid in the explanation of the text and should not be ignored. It is readily admitted that this phrase ’you were in Eden, the garden of God’ is the most difficult obstacle to the interpretation of the king of Tyre as the literal king of the city. The above, however, is certainly a plausible understanding of the phrase." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 883. His reference is to H. J. van Dijk, Ezekiel’s Prophecy on Tyre.]