For Son of man, see Ezek 28.2.

Raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him: For lamentation see 19.1. Contemporary English Version and New Century Version render raise a lamentation over as “sing a funeral song for.” However, the next few verses do not sound like a traditional funeral song, so some translations prefer a more general expression, such as “grieve for” (Good News Translation) or “weep for” (New Living Translation [1996]), which is acceptable. Like the previous prophecy, this one is also addressed to the king of Tyre (see Ezek 28.2).

Thus says the Lord GOD: See Ezek 28.2.

You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty: These three lines describe the king of Tyre as a person of outstanding quality. The signet of perfection means he was a “model” (New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Jerusalem Bible) or “example” (Good News Translation, New Century Version) of what is excellent. The Hebrew word for perfection should not be translated in the sense of sinless or ultimately good. A good model for the signet of perfection is “the example of everything that is good.” Full of wisdom refers to the king’s intellectual capacity, and perfect in beauty refers to his bodily appearance—in both areas he was the equal of the best people. These two phrases may be rendered “you were very wise and very beautiful.” Contemporary English Version has “intelligent, and good-looking.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .