Ezekiel 28:15-16 – Your widespread trade

The text:
You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.   (Ezekiel 28:15-16)

Alternative translation for ‘widespread trade’.

• The word ‘widespread’, is the translation of the Hebrew word ‘rob’.
  According to the OLB:
  – a noun
  – to be translated as: multitude, abundant, numerous.

• The word ‘trade’, is the translation of the Hebrew ‘rakullah’.
  According to the information in the OLB ‘rakkulah’ is
  – a noun
  – to be translated as: merchandise, trade.
  – derived from the word ‘rakal’ as a passive particle.The printed Strong’s Concordance translates ‘rakkulah’ as:
  – trade (as peddled)
  – to peddle is to be translated as: sell, deal in, hawk, sell from house to house.

Satan’s ‘trade’ is therefore not to be understood as if he had a kind of shop, or trading company in heaven, but he went ‘selling’ from ‘door to door’.
He started to ‘peddle’, ‘hawk’ in heaven.

Satan fell into sin and violence through his widespread peddle, his abundant hawking.

Interpretation of ‘abundant peddle / abundant hawking’.

According to the OLB the Hebrew for peddle, ‘rakkulah’, is derived from the word ‘rakal’.

According to the information in the OLB ‘rakal’ is:

• a vowel, to be translated as:
  – going ahead
  – ‘rakal’ used as a particle: merchant / trader (This is the case in the text concerned.)

The printed Strong’s Concordance translates ‘rakal’ as:

• to travel for trading – i.e. travelling in order to sell.

It is interesting that two words are derived from ‘rakal’:

• ‘rakkulah’, as explained above
• ‘rakiyl’

According to the OLB ‘rakiyl’ is a noun:

• someone who busies himself going around spreading scandals
• to be translated as: slander, slanderer, libeller, traitor.

The printed Strong’s Concordance translates ‘rakiyl’ as:

• a scandal-monger (as travelling about)
• literally something like: peripatetic scandalous chatterbox.

Summary:

The following nouns are derived from the verb ‘rakal’: going one’s own way, itinerant selling.

• ‘rakullah’: selling from door-to-door, peddling, hawking (translated in the text as: ‘trade’
• ‘rakiyl’: libeler, slanderer

Conclusion:

It can be concluded from this that peddle, or hawking, was accompanied, not only by the appraisal of proprietary merchandise, but also by negative talk about the merchandise of the competitor and about the competitor himself.

This is confirmed in the text:

By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries.   (Ezekiel 28:18)

Interpretation of the text:

At a given moment the guardian angel with splendid appearance and a high position in the heavenly hierarchy, who was very near the throne of God, became proud and cast aspersions on God.  He went around in heaven praising himself in front of the angels in heaven as ‘better’, thus desecrating heaven.

God removed this superb angel, who fell into sin, from heaven:

Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth …   (Ezekiel 28:17)

Satan found an audience with a third of the angels in heaven, as a result of which they were also banned from heaven.

He fell into sin through his ‘widespread trade’, through his ‘abundant hawking’ and became the adversary of God.

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Ezekiel 28:15 – 16 – Your widespread trade