THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And the message from the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, lament for the ruler of Tyre, and tell him: Thus says the Lord God: You are the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and adorned with splendor; you have dwelt in the delightful paradise of God. Every precious stone was your covering: sardius, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, onyx, and beryl, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald. Gold was the embellishment of your adornment, and your settings were prepared on the day of your creation. You were a cherub who was anointed and overshadowed, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God; you walked among fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until iniquity was discovered in you.
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Because of your extensive trade, you were filled with unrighteousness and sinned, so I cast you out from the mountain of God and obliterated you, O shining cherub from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your radiance. I cast you down to the ground; I exposed you to shame before kings. Through your many transgressions and dishonest trade, you desecrated your sacred spaces. Therefore, I will bring forth a fire from your midst that will consume you, and I will reduce you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who witness. All who knew you among the nations will be astounded by your demise. You are lost, and you shall be no more forever.
Having identified the king of Tyre and his fall due to pride, let us reflect on his lament for his former glory. He is reminded of what he once was so that he may mourn his lost greatness. You, he says, are the seal of perfection, reminiscent of what John the Evangelist says of the Savior: This is the seal of God from the Father (John 6:27), and regarding men: He has set His seal that God is true (John 3:33). In the Psalms, it is written: The light of Your face shines upon us, O Lord (Ps. 4:7). And elsewhere: Beloved, we are now children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we shall be; but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). Therefore, it is also proclaimed concerning God: Who is like You? (Psalm 34:10). This suggests both a likeness and an inequality, where the most egregious heresy is the belief that acknowledges in Christ merely the likeness of the Father while denying His true nature. We affirm in the Son both likeness and equality. This is why the Jews persecuted Him—not only did He violate the Sabbath, but He also claimed equality with God (John 5:18). Where there exists equality, the same essence and being are present.
The Apostle similarly speaks of likeness: "My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19), indicating that you are to regain the likeness you have forfeited through your own fault. Notably, in the Latin manuscripts, instead of signaculo, the term resignaculum appears; for the literal translator, referencing the LXX (ἀποσφρα'γισμα) used in the translation, interpreted it, through flawed imitation (κακοζη'λως), as resignaculum. Some understand this to mean that the king of Tyre unsealed and lost the seal of God and the image that was impressed as if upon soft wax, transforming the seal into an unsealing, thus losing the divine image by which mankind was created, as stated: Let us make man in our image after Our likeness (Gen. 1:26). It is critical to note that the Image is inherent from the outset, whereas the likeness is bestowed at Christ's baptism. Thus, to the one who was told, You seal of perfection, it is added: full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, or a crown of beauty. Where there is the likeness of God, there also exists the fullness of wisdom and perfect beauty—as if adorned with a diverse crown made of virtues, those which the diligent person enhances through earnest effort, while the negligent sees diminished. This is conveyed in Proverbs by the depiction of a beautiful yet unvirtuous woman: Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a woman without discretion (Proverbs 11:22).