Ezekiel 9

Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, close to my ears. He said, "Bring near the men who are put in charge of punishing this city. Have each one come with his deadly weapon in his hand."

1He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

NoteThis scene continues without a break from the vision that began in chapter 8: Ezekiel, living among the exiles in Babylon, is being shown in vision what is going on in and around the temple in Jerusalem. The Hebrew behind "the men who are put in charge" is a single word meaning "appointed ones" or "overseers" of the city; it can suggest either officials set over the city or the punishments appointed for it, and here it clearly means executioners.

2Then I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, the one that faces north. Each man had a weapon for killing in his hand. With them was another man dressed in linen, with a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

2And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

NoteThe upper gate was one of the gateways of the temple enclosure. North was the direction from which invading armies came down on Jerusalem. Linen was the fabric worn by priests on duty in the temple, and by figures in visions. The "writing kit" (the King James "inkhorn") was a scribe's palette: a case tucked into the belt holding reed pens and cakes of dried ink. The bronze altar stood out in the open courtyard in front of the temple building; it was where animal sacrifices were burnt.

3The glory of the God of Israel rose up from above the cherubim, where it had been resting, and moved to the doorway of the temple. And he called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side.

3And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;

NoteCherubim were winged creatures, not babies with wings; gold figures of them stood over the ark in the innermost room of the temple, and God was spoken of as enthroned above them. "The glory" translates a Hebrew word used for the visible blaze of God's presence, which Ezekiel describes at length in chapters 1 and 10. The doorway or threshold is the entrance of the temple building itself, so the glory has moved out of the innermost room to the door.

4The LORD said to him, "Go through the city, right through the middle of Jerusalem. Put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the disgusting things being done inside it."

4And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

NoteThe "mark" is literally a *taw*, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which in the older script was written as an X or a cross shape. A mark on the forehead or hand was a familiar way of showing that a person belonged to someone. The "disgusting things" translate a word used for practices regarded as religiously repulsive, above all idol worship, chapter 8 describes what Ezekiel had been shown going on in the temple.

5And while I listened, he said to the others, "Go through the city after him and strike them down. Do not look on anyone with pity. Do not spare anyone.

5And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

Note"Do not look on anyone with pity" renders a Hebrew idiom, literally "let not your eye spare": the eye stands for the pity a person feels at the sight of a victim.

6Kill them all: old men, young men, young women, little children, and women. But do not go near anyone who has the mark. Begin at my temple." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

Note"Begin at my temple" is literally "begin from my sanctuary", the holiest part of the complex, the place a reader would expect to be the safest. The elders (King James "ancient men") were the leading men of the city, who held authority in legal and civic matters; chapter 8 showed seventy of them burning incense to images inside the temple.

7Then he said to them, "Make the temple unclean. Fill its courtyards with the bodies of the dead. Now go out." So they went out and killed people throughout the city.

7And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

NoteContact with a dead body made a person or a place ritually unclean, and corpses were the most serious possible pollution of a sanctuary; ordering the courts filled with the dead is ordering the building put out of use for worship. The courtyards are the walled open enclosures around the temple building, where worshipers gathered.

8While they were killing, I was left there alone. I fell facedown on the ground and cried out, "Oh, Lord GOD! When you pour out your anger on Jerusalem, are you going to destroy everyone who is left of Israel?"

8And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

Note"I was left" is brief in Hebrew and can be read either as "I alone was left alive" among those in the vision or as "I was left there" while the killing went on. Falling face down on the ground was the ordinary posture for making an urgent appeal to a king or to God. "Lord GOD" stands for two Hebrew words: *adonai*, meaning master or lord, and the personal name of God, which English Bibles represent by capital letters instead of spelling it out.

9Then he said to me, "The guilt of the people of Israel and Judah is very great indeed. The land is full of murder, and the city is full of twisted dealing. For they say, 'The LORD has left the land. The LORD does not see.'

9Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.

Note"Full of murder" is literally "full of blood," the standard expression for bloodshed and violent death. The word rendered "twisted dealing" has to do with bending or perverting things out of true, especially the bending of legal cases against the poor. "The LORD has left the land, the LORD does not see" repeats a saying already quoted in chapter 8:12.

10So I too will not look on them with pity, and I will not spare them. I will bring back on their own heads what they have done."

10And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

Note"I will bring back on their own heads what they have done" is legal language: the consequences of an act were spoken of as falling on the head of the person who committed it, the way guilt for a crime was said to rest on the criminal's head.

11Then the man dressed in linen, the one with the writing kit at his side, came back and reported, "I have done what you commanded me."

11And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.