Four Men Who Made Themselves Gods and Fell

Another interpretation: "See, I have made you a god." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Because Pharaoh made himself a god, let it be made known that he is nothing at all in the world; behold, I am making you a god over him. And from where do we know that Pharaoh made himself a god? As it is said, "Because he said, My river is my own, and I have made myself" (Ezekiel 29:3), meaning, I am the one who created myself. This is one of four men who made themselves into divinities and brought harm upon their own souls, three from the nations of the world and one from Israel. They are these: Hiram, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, and Joash. From where do we know about Hiram? As it is said, "Say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because your heart is haughty and you have said, I am a god." And because he made himself a god he harmed his own soul, as it is said, "You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor; I have cast you to the ground" (Ezekiel 28:17). From where do we know about Nebuchadnezzar? As it is said, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life, "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit." What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do to him? He exiled him while he was still in his kingdom, and fed him grass like an animal, as it is said, "They shall make you eat grass like oxen" (Daniel 4:22); and beast and creature saw him in the likeness of a beast and creature and bit him, as it is said, "And the destruction of the beasts shall terrify them" (Habakkuk 2:17), for he became food for every beast and creature. From where do we know about Joash? As it is said, "And after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king" (II Chronicles 24:17), for they made him a god, and he accepted it, as it is said, "Then the king listened to them." And he harmed his own soul, as it is said, "And they executed judgments upon Joash" (II Chronicles 24:24). Pharaoh made himself a god and harmed his own soul, as it is said, "Behold, I am against Pharaoh" [Hophra], meaning, that he received his recompense from the Holy One, blessed be He.