King of Tyre

John’s description of the Enthroned matches in a number of details Ezekiel’s description of the “king of Tyre” in Ezekiel 28. The stones that adorn the king of Tyre are the same stones to which John compares the Lord’s appearance, and the king of Tyre wears a crown like the crowns that are cast down before the throne in heaven.

John’s vision at the beginning of Revelation thus sets up the expectation of a Tyrean theme that comes out at great length in chapters 17-18, where the description of the fall of the city draws on Ezekiel’s prophecy of the fall of Tyre.