You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created: At first the king of Tyre’s life and conduct was “truly good” (Contemporary English Version) or “perfect” (Good News Translation, King James Version / New King James Version, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). You were blameless in your ways describes his relation to God and may be rendered “You were faithful to God” or “You always obeyed God.” New Century Version has “Your life was right and good.” For created see the comments on verse 13.

Till iniquity was found in you: After a good early life, the king “started doing wicked things” (Contemporary English Version). The iniquity probably involved using the laws to oppress people (see the comments on 18.8). Some details of his wickedness are given in verses 16-18.

A model for this verse is:

• You lived a perfect life from the time I created you, but then you began to do evil.

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 .