Many translations, including the New International Version, identify the cherub with the King of Tyre, specifically Ithobaal III (reigned 591–573 BC) who according to the list of kings of Tyre of Josephus was reigning contemporary with Ezekiel at the time of the first fall of Jerusalem.
[1][2] Other translations, including the New Revised Standard Version, see the cherub as the king's guardian.
[3] The city is famed for the temple complex of Melkart with its renowned garden enclosure.
One recognized that the prophet depicted such cherub within a primordial perfection, which was terminated by sin and consequent exile from the "mountain of God".
[3] A theory also posited that Eden was a simile for the portrayal of the splendor of a given geographical area, which in this case is Tyre and that its human king represented Satan, who was an angel in the garden in Genesis 3.