Ezekiel 9 commentary

EZEKIEL 9 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Judgment on the Idolaters
1 Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring
near those who are appointed to execute judgment
on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.”
BARNES, "Them that have charge - The angels who have charge to execute God’s
sentence.
Every man - “angels,” not “men.”
CLARKE, "Cause them that have charge over the city - By those six men with
destroying weapons the Chaldeans are represented, who had received commission to
destroy the city; and when the north is mentioned in such cases, Chaldea and the
Chaldean armies are generally intended. There appears to have been six men with a sort
of slaughter-bills, and one man with an inkhorn. These may represent the seven
counsellors of the eastern monarchs, who always saw the king’s face, and knew all the
secrets of the government. One of them was that minister who had the office of reporting
concerning criminals, who carried the book of death and the book of life into the
presence of the king, where the names were entered of criminals who were destined to
suffer, and of those who were either considered as innocent or recommended to mercy;
those of the former in the book of death, those of the latter in the book of life. This
person with the inkhorn might be termed, in our phrase, the recorder.
GILL, "He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice,.... That is, the glory of the
Lord God of Israel, whom the prophet saw in the temple, and who directed him from
place to place, and showed him all the abominations committed there: this loud voice of
the Lord was not so much to excite the attention of the prophet, as to call together the
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ministers of his vengeance; and to show the greatness of his indignation, and the
vehemence of his wrath, which was stirred up by the sins of the people:
saying, cause them that have the charge over the city to draw near; or,
"who were appointed over the city,''
as the Targum; that is, the city of Jerusalem; by whom are meant either the ministering
angels, who had been the guardians of it, but now were to be employed another way; or
the princes of the Chaldean army, who had a charge against the city to destroy it; see
Isa_10:6. The Syriac version is, "draw near, ye avengers of the city"; and the Septuagint
and Arabic versions are "the vengeance of the city draws nigh":
even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand; weapons of war, as
bows and arrows, sword and spear; see Jer_6:22.
HENRY 1-4, “In these verses we have,
I. The summons given to Jerusalem's destroyers to come forth and give their
attendance. He that appeared to the prophet (Eze_8:2), that had brought him to
Jerusalem and had shown the wickedness that was done there, he cried, Cause those
that have charge over the city to draw near (Eze_9:1), or, as it might better be read,
and nearer the original, Those that have charge over the city are drawing near. He had
said (Eze_8:18), I will deal in fury; now, says he to the prophet, thou shalt see who are
to be employed as the instruments of my wrath. Appropinquaverunt visitationes
civitatis - The visitations (or visitors) of the city are at hand. They would not know the
day of their visitations in mercy, and now they are to be visited in wrath. Observe, 1.
how the notice of this is given to the prophet: He cried it in my ears with a loud voice,
which intimates the vehemency of him that spoke; when men are highly provoked, and
threaten in anger, they speak aloud. Those that regard not the counsels God gives them
in a still small voice shall be made to hear the threatenings, to hear and tremble. It
denotes also the prophet's unwillingness to be told this: he was deaf on that ear, but
there is no remedy, their sin will not admit an excuse and therefore their judgment will
not admit a delay: “He cried it in my ears with a loud voice; he made me hear it, and I
heard it with a sad heart.” 2. What this notice is. There are those that have charge over
the city to destroy it, not the Chaldean armies, they are to be indeed employed in this
work, but they are not the visitors, they are only the servants, or tools rather. God's
angels have received a charge now to lay that city waste, which they had long had a
charge to protect and watch over. They are at hand, as destroying angels, as ministers of
wrath, for every man has his destroying weapon in his hand, as the angel that kept the
way of the tree of life with a flaming sword. Note, Those that have by sin made God their
enemy have made the good angels their enemies too. These visitors are called and
caused to draw near. Note, God has ministers of wrath always within call, always at
command, invisible powers, by whom he accomplishes is purposes. The prophet is made
to see this in vision, that he might with the greater assurance in his preaching denounce
these judgments. God told it him with a loud voice, taught it him with a strong hand
(Isa_8:11), that it might make the deeper impression upon him and that he might thus
proclaim it in the people's ears.
II. Their appearance, upon this summons, is recorded. Immediately six men came
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(Eze_9:2), one for each of the principal gates of Jerusalem. Two destroying angels were
sent against Sodom, but six against Jerusalem; for Jerusalem's doom in the judgment
will be thrice as heavy as that of Sodom. There is an angel watching at every gate to
destroy, to bring in judgments from every quarter, and to take heed that none escape.
One angel served to destroy the first-born of Egypt, and the camp of the Assyrians, but
here are six. In the Revelation we find seven that were to pour out the vials of God's
wrath, Rev_16:1. They came with every one a slaughter-weapon in his hand, prepared
for the work to which they were called. The nations of which the king of Babylon's army
was composed, which some reckon to be six, and the commanders of his army (of whom
six are named as principal, Jer_39:3), may be called the slaughter-weapons in the hands
of the angels. The angels are thoroughly furnished for every service. 1. Observe whence
they came - from the way of the higher gate, which lies towards the north (Eze_9:2),
either because the Chaldeans came from the north (Jer_1:14, Out of the north an evil
shall break forth) or because the image of jealousy was set up at the door of the inner
gate that looks towards the north, Eze_8:3, Eze_8:5. At that gate of the temple the
destroying angels entered, to show what it was that opened the door to them. Note, That
way that sin lies judgments may be expected to come. 2. Observe where they placed
themselves: They went in and stood beside the brazen altar, on which sacrifices were
wont to be offered and atonement made. When they acted as destroyers they acted as
sacrificers, not from any personal revenge or ill-will, but with a pure and sincere regard
to the glory of God; for to his justice all they slew were offered up as victims. They stood
by the altar, as it were to protect and vindicate that, and plead its righteous cause, and
avenge the horrid profanation of it. At the altar they were to receive their commission to
destroy, to intimate that the iniquity of Jerusalem, like that of Eli's house, was not to be
purged by sacrifice.
III. The notice taken of one among the destroying angels distinguished in his habit
from the rest, from whom some favour might be expected; it should seem he was not one
of the six, but among them, to see that mercy was mixed with judgment, Eze_9:2. This
man was clothed with linen, as the priests were, and he had a writer's inkhorn hanging
at his side, as anciently attorneys and lawyers' clerks had, which he was to make use of,
as the other six were to make use of their destroying weapons. Here the honours of the
pen exceeded those of the sword, but he was the Lord of angels that made use of the
writer's inkhorn; for it is generally agreed, among the best interpreters, that this man
represented Christ as Mediator saving those that are his from the flaming sword of
divine justice. He is our high priest, clothed with holiness, for that was signified by the
fine linen, Rev_19:8. As prophet he wears the writer's inkhorn. The book of life is the
Lamb's book. The great things of the law and gospel which God has written to us are of
his writing; for it is the Spirit of Christ, in the writers of the scripture, that testifies to us,
and the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Note, It is a matter of great comfort to all
good Christians that, in the midst of the destroyers and the destructions that are abroad,
there is a Mediator, a great high priest, who has an interest in heaven, and whom saints
on earth have an interest in.
IV. The removal of the appearance of the divine glory from over the cherubim. Some
think this was that usual display of the divine glory which was between the cherubim
over the mercy seat, in the most holy place, that took leave of them now, and never
returned; for it is supposed that it was not in the second temple. Others think it was that
display of the divine glory which the prophet now saw over the cherubim in vision; and
this is more probable, because this is called the glory of the God of Israel (Rev_8:4), and
this is it which he had now his eye upon; this was gone to the threshold of the house, as it
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were to call to the servants that attended without the door, to send them on their errand
and give them their instructions. And the removal of this, as well as the former, might be
significant of God's departure from them, and leaving them their house desolate; and
when God goes all good goes, but he goes from none till they first drive him from them.
He went at first no further than the threshold, that he might show how loth he was to
depart, and might give them both time and encouragement to invite his return to them
and his stay with them. Note, God's departures from a people are gradual, but gracious
souls are soon award of the first step he takes towards a remove. Ezekiel immediately
observed that the glory of the god of Israel had gone up from the cherub: and what is a
vision of angels if God be gone?
V. The charge given to the man clothed in linen to secure the pious remnant from the
general desolation. We do not read that this Saviour was summoned and sent for, as the
destroyers were; for he is always ready, appearing in the presence of God for us; and to
him, as the most proper person, the care of those that are marked for salvation is
committed, Eze_9:4. Now observe, 1. The distinguishing character of this remnant that
is to be saved. They are such as sigh and cry, sigh in themselves, as men in pain and
distress, cry to God in prayer, as men in earnest, because of all the abominations that
are committed in Jerusalem. It was not only the idolatries they were guilty of, but all
their other enormities, that were abominations to God. These pious few had witnessed
against those abominations and had done what they could in their places to suppress
them; but, finding all their attempts for the reformation of manners fruitless, they sat
down, and sighted, and cried, wept in secret, and complained to God, because of the
dishonour done to his name by their wickedness and the ruin it was bringing upon their
church and nation. Note, It is not enough that we do not delight in the sins of others,
and that we have not fellowship with them, but we must mourn for them, and lay them
to heart; we must grieve for that which we cannot help, as those that hate sin for its own
sake, and have a tender concern for the souls of others, as David (Psa_119:136), and Lot,
who vexed his righteous soul with the wicked conversation of his neighbours. The
abominations committed in Jerusalem are to be in a special manner lamented, because
they are in a particular manner offensive to God. 2. The distinguishing care taken of
them. Orders are given to find those all out that are of such a pious public spirit: “Go
through the midst of the city in quest of them, and though they are ever so much
dispersed, and ever so closely hid from the fury of their persecutors, yet see that you
discover them, and set a mark upon their foreheads,” (1.) To signify that God owns them
for his, and he will confess them another day. A work of grace in the soul is to God a
mark upon the forehead, which he will acknowledge as his mark, and by which he knows
those that are his. (2.) To give to them who are thus marked an assurance of God's
favour, that they may know it themselves; and the comfort of knowing it will be the most
powerful support and cordial in calamitous times. Why should we perplex ourselves
about this temporal life if we know by the mark that we have eternal life? (3.) To be a
direction to the destroyers whom to pass by, as the blood upon the door-posts was an
indication that that was an Israelite's house, and the first-born there must not be slain.
Note, Those who keep themselves pure in times of common iniquity God will keep safe
in times of common calamity. Those that distinguish themselves shall be distinguished;
those that cry for other men's sins shall not need to cry for their own afflictions, for they
shall be either delivered from them or comforted under them. God will set a mark upon
his mourners, will book their sighs and bottle their tears. The sealing of the servants of
God in their foreheads mentioned in Rev_7:3 was the same token of the care God has of
his own people with this related here; only this was to secure them from being
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destroyed, that from being seduced, which is equivalent.
JAMISON, "Eze_9:1-11. Continuation of the preceeding vision: The sealing of the
faithful.
cried — contrasted with their “cry” for mercy (Eze_8:18) is the “cry” here for
vengeance, showing how vain was the former.
them that have charge — literally, officers; so “officers” (Isa_60:17), having the
city in charge, not to guard, but to punish it. The angels who as “watchers” fulfil God’s
judgments (Dan_4:13, Dan_4:17, Dan_4:23; Dan_10:20, Dan_10:21); the “princes”
(Jer_39:3) of Nebuchadnezzar’s army were under their guidance.
draw near — in the Hebrew intensive, “to draw near quickly.”
K&D 1-3, “The Angels which Smite Jerusalem
At the call of Jehovah, His servants appear to execute the judgment. - Eze_9:1. And He
called in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Come hither, ye watchmen of the city, and
every one his instrument of destruction in his hand. Eze_9:2. And behold six men came
by the way of the upper gage, which is directed toward the north, every one with his
smashing-tool in his hand; and a man in the midst of them, clothed in white linen, and
writing materials by his hip; and they came and stood near the brazen altar. Eze_9:3.
And the glory of the God of Israel rose up from the cherub, upon which it was, to the
threshold of the house, and called to the man clothed in white linen, by whose hip the
writing materials were. - ‫ת‬ ‫דּ‬ ֻ‫ק‬ ְ‫פּ‬ ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ ָ‫ה‬ does not mean the punishments of the city. This
rendering does not suit the context, since it is not the punishments that are introduced,
but the men who execute them; and it is not established by the usage of the language.
‫ה‬ ָ‫דּ‬ ֻ‫ק‬ ְ‫פּ‬ is frequently used, no doubt, in the sense of visitation or chastisement (e.g., Isa_
10:3; Hos_9:7); but it is not met with in the plural in this sense. In the plural it only
occurs in the sense of supervision or protectorate, in which sense it occurs not only in
Jer_52:11 and Eze_44:11, but also (in the singular) in Isa_60:17, and as early as Num_
3:38, where it relates to the presidency of the priests, and very frequently in the
Chronicles. Consequently ‫ת‬ ‫דּ‬ ֻ‫ק‬ ְ‫פּ‬ are those whom God has appointed to watch over the
city, the city-guard (2Ki_11:18), - not earthly, but heavenly watchmen, - who are now to
inflict punishment upon the ungodly, as the authorities appointed by God. ‫בוּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ָֽ‫ק‬ is an
imperative Piel, as in Isa_41:21, and must not be altered into ‫בוּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ִ‫ק‬ (Kal), as Hitzig
proposes. The Piel is used in an intransitive sense, festinanter appropinquavit, as in
Eze_36:8. The persons called come by the way of the upper northern gate of the temple,
to take their stand before Jehovah, whose glory had appeared in the inner court. The
upper gate is the gate leading from the outer court to the inner, or upper court, which
stood on higher ground, - the gate mentioned in Eze_8:3 and Eze_8:5. In the midst of
the six men furnished with smashing-tools there was one clothed in white byssus, with
writing materials at his side. The dress and equipment, as well as the instructions which
he afterwards receives and executes, show him to be the prince or leader of the others.
Kliefoth calls in question the opinion that these seven men are angels; but without any
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reason. Angels appearing in human form are frequently called ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬ֲ‫א‬ or ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫,א‬ according
to their external habitus. But the number seven neither presupposes the dogma of the
seven archangels, nor is copied from the seven Parsic amschaspands. The dress worn by
the high priest, when presenting the sin-offering on the great day of atonement (Lev_
16:4, Lev_16:23), was made of ‫ד‬ ָ‫,בּ‬ i.e., of white material woven from byssus thread (see
the comm. on Exo_28:42). It has been inferred from this, that the figure clothed in
white linen was the angel of Jehovah, who appears as the heavenly high priest, to protect
and care for his own. In support of this, the circumstance may be also adduced, that the
man whom Daniel saw above the water of the Tigris, and whose appearance is described,
in Dan_10:5-6, in the same manner as that of Jehovah in Eze_1:4, Eze_1:26-27, and that
of the risen Christ in Rev_1:13-15, appears clothed in ‫ים‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ַ‫בּ‬ (Dan_10:5; Dan_12:6-7).
(Note: ‫בוּשׁ‬ָ‫ל‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ַ‫בּ‬ is rendered by the lxx, in the passage before us, ἐνδεδυκώς
ποδήρῃ. It is in accordance with this that Christ is described in Rev_1:13 as clothed
with a ποδήρης, and not after Dan_10:5, as Hengstenberg supposes. In Dan_10:5,
the Septuagint has ἐνδεδυμένος βαδδίν or τὰ βαδδίν. In other places, the Sept.
rendering of ‫ד‬ ָ‫בּ‬ is λίνον (thus Lev_16:4, Lev_16:23; Lev_6:3; Exo_28:42, etc.); and
hence the λίνον λαμπρόν of Rev_15:6 answers to the ‫ד‬ ָ‫בּ‬ made of ‫שׁ‬ֵ‫,שׁ‬ βύσσος, and is
really the same as the βύσσινον λαμπρόν of Rev_19:8.)
Nevertheless, we cannot regard this view as established. The shining white talar, which
is evidently meant by the plural ‫ים‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ַ‫,בּ‬ occurring only here and in Daniel (ut. sup.), is not
a dress peculiar to the angel of Jehovah or to Christ. The seven angels, with the vials of
wrath, also appear in garments of shining white linen (ἐνδεδυμένοι λίνον καθαρὸν
λαμπρόν, Rev_15:6); and the shining white colour, as a symbolical representation of
divine holiness and glory (see comm. on Lev_16:4 and Rev_19:8), is the colour generally
chosen for the clothing both of the heavenly spirits and of “just men made perfect”
(Rev_19:8). Moreover, the angel with the writing materials here is described in a totally
different manner from the appearance of Jehovah in Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 10, or that of
Christ in Rev 1; and there is nothing whatever to indicate a being equal with God. Again,
the distinction between him and the other six men leads to no other conclusion, than
that he stood in the same relation to them as the high priest to the Levites, or the
chancellor to the other officials. This position is indicated by the writing materials on his
hips, i.e., in the girdle on his hips, in which scribes in the East are accustomed to carry
their writing materials (vid., Rosenmüller, A. u. N. Morgenland, IV. p. 323). He is
provided with these for the execution of the commission given to him in Eze_9:4. In this
way the description can be very simply explained, without the slightest necessity for our
resorting to Babylonian representations of the god Nebo, i.e., Mercury, as the scribe of
heaven. The seven men take their station by the altar of burnt-offering, because the glory
of God, whose commands they were about to receive, had taken up its position there for
the moment (Kliefoth); not because the apostate priesthood was stationed there
(Hävernick). The glory of Jehovah, however, rose up from the cherub to the threshold of
the house. The meaning of this is not that it removed from the interior of the sanctuary
to the outer threshold of the temple-building (Hävernick), for it was already stationed,
according to Eze_8:16, above the cherub, between the porch and the altar. It went back
from thence to the threshold of the temple-porch, through which one entered the Holy
Place, to give its orders there. The reason for leaving its place above the cherubim (the
singular ‫רוּב‬ ְ‫כּ‬ is used collectively) to do this, was not that “God would have had to turn
6

round in order to address the seven from the throne, since, according to Eze_8:4 and
Eze_8:16, He had gone from the north gate of the outer court into the inner court, and
His servants had followed Him” (Hitzig); for the cherubim moved in all four directions,
and therefore God, even from the throne, could turn without difficulty to every side. God
left His throne, that He might issue His command for the judgment upon Israel from the
threshold of the temple, and show Himself to be the judge who would forsake the throne
which He had assumed in Israel. This command He issues from the temple court,
because the temple was the place whence God attested Himself to His people, both by
mercy and judgment.
CALVIN, “Now the manner of that vengeance which was lately mentioned is
expressed. Hence the Prophet says, God exclaimed, so that his command reached to
the Chaldeans, who were to be executors of his vengeance, and therefore the
imperative mood pleases me better, approach ye therefore. Those who consider the
tense past say “visitations,” nor can they do otherwise, because no sense can be
elicited from the words — to have approached the prefecture of the city. But if we
read the imperative mood, the sense agrees very well, approach ye the prefecture:
the thing is put for the persons, or the name of the men may be understood, and
thus ‫,פקדות‬ phekdoth, may be taken in the genitive case. As to the general meaning,
God commands his servants who held authority over the devoted city, to approach,
or apply themselves, or be ready to fulfill his work, and let each, says he, have his
instrument of destruction: here destruction is taken actively. For God does not mean
that the Chaldeans were armed for their own destruction, but for that of the Jews,
and the ruin of the city. It follows —
COFFMAN, “Verse 1
THE WICKED ISRAELITES SLAIN; THE FAITHFUL SPARED
This chapter continues the great theme of these four chapters by recording the first
stage of the removal of God's presence (Ezekiel 9:3). Keil's divisions of the chapter
are: (1) the supernatural executioners of Jerusalem are summoned (Ezekiel 9:1-3;
(2) mercy is extended to the faithful (Ezekiel 9:4-7); and (3) Ezekiel's intercession
cannot avail (Ezekiel 9:8-11).[1]
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THE EXECUTIONERS SUMMONED
Ezekiel 9:1-3
"Then he cried in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause ye them that have
charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his
hand. And, behold, six men came by way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the
north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst
of them, clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. And they went in and
stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from
the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the
man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side."
"This chapter is closely connected with the preceding, and carries expressly the
threatening of Ezekiel 8:18 into immediate action."[2]
"Cause ye them that have charge over the city ..." (Ezekiel 9:1). These words need to
carry a more ominous import; and Cooke translated this sentence, "Approach, ye
executioners of the city."[3]
"Six men ... and one man ..." (Ezekiel 9:2). It is ridiculous for men to suppose that
there is any reference here to the pagan gods of the seven planets, or to the so-called
Seven Arch-angels (there being only one archangel). "Seven is a perfect number,
associated in Hebrew thought with 'completeness.'"[4] Clearly, the six men were
supernatural beings, probably angels; because, in the New Testament, angels are
always represented as aiding Christ in the execution of judgment. Also, the
appearance of the seventh `man' with an inkhorn, his evident superiority over the
six, and his having charge of marking the faithful, all suggest his identity as the pre-
incarnated Christ. Feinberg noted that, "From his clothing and the nature of his
work, it is to be inferred that the Chief of these six angels was the Angel of the
Lord."[5] Keil disputed this, but he offered no better explanation. Furthermore,
Keil admitted the superior rank of the seventh man; and that fact alone identifies
8

him as a member of the godhead, there being no one else, as far as we know, who is
any higher than the angels.
"These seven are an overwhelming embodiment of the Divine will, in the face of
which humanity is helpless."[6]
No details of the actual destruction of Jerusalem are included here. None are
needed. God decreed it, and it happened! Just exactly how it happened doesn't
really matter.
The supernatural nature of these six made them more powerful and formidable
than all of the greatest armies on earth combined into a single force.
"And stood beside the brazen altar ..." (Ezekiel 9:2). "This was the Solomonic altar
(1 Kings 8:64), which Ahab had removed and placed north of his new-style
Damascus altar (2 Kings 16:14)."[7] Significantly, these heavenly beings, by their
actions, snubbed Ahab's copy of the pagan altar by choosing to stand by the true
altar.
"And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was,
to the threshold of the house ..." (Ezekiel 9:3) The departure of the glory of the Lord
from Israel is part of the theme of these four chapters; and, "Ezekiel traces it in
stages, this being the first."[8] The normal place for God's glory in the temple was
above the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies; and in this first stage of the glory's
leaving, it removed from the Holy of Holies and went to the entrance of the temple.
COKE, “Verse 1-2
Ezekiel 9:1-2. Cause them that have charge, &c.— Those who are the avengers of
the city: the Chaldeans, whom God had appointed to besiege and destroy this city.
Some understand it of the angels, who have the charge of executing God's
9

judgments; and if so, instead of man and men, we should read person and persons.
One of these was in the habit of a scribe, and employed in the work of mercy; unlike
the rest, who were warriors and destroyers. They stood by the brazen altar; to
denote that the men ordained to destruction were offered up as so many sacrifices.
See chap. Ezekiel 39:17.
ELLICOTT, “ (1) He cried also . . . with a loud voice.—The pronoun refers to the
same Being as throughout the previous chapter. His nature is sufficiently shown by
the prophet’s address to Him in Ezekiel 9:8 : “Ah, Lord God!” The “loud voice” was
to give emphasis to what is said; it is the natural expression of the fierceness of the
Divine indignation and wrath.
Them that have charge over the city.—Not earthly officers, but those to whom God
has especially entrusted the execution of His will concerning Jerusalem. The word
is, no doubt, used often enough of human officers, but such sense is necessarily
excluded here by the whole circumstances of the vision. Nor does the phrase “every
man” at all indicate that they were human beings, the same expression being
constantly used of angels (as in Genesis 18:1-2; Joshua 5:13; Judges 13:11; Daniel
8:16, &c), and the representation here being plainly that of angelic executioners of
God’s wrath. They appear only in the light of the administrators of vengeance, the
description of them being that each had “his destroying weapon in his hand.” This is
repeated in the following verse.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 9:1 He 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.
Ver. 1. He cried also.] God, to whom vengeance belongeth, calleth aloud and with a
courage, as we say, to the executioners of his wrath, to come and fall on.
Cause them that have charge over the city.] Proefecti urbis - i.e., the angels, here
called the visitations or visitors of Jerusalem, the prefects of the city.
10

Every man with his destroying weapon.] Called [Ezekiel 9:2] a maul, or battle axe,
telum dissipatorium.
POOLE, “Verse 1
EZEKIEL CHAPTER 9
The prophet in the vision seeth a mark set upon some, Ezekiel 9:1-4, and the
destruction of all the rest, Ezekiel 9:5-7. God rejecteth his intercession, Ezekiel
9:8-11.
He cried; the man whom he had seen upon the throne, Christ, who is Lord and
Sovereign. Or, the glory of God, or the God of glory, or an angel by order from God.
In mine ears; either a Hebraism, he cried so that I distinctly heard; or rather to
intimate that Ezekiel only heard what was spoken; the elders who were now with
him hearing nothing of what was spoken.
Cause them to draw near; Approach, ye visitations, i.e. ye sore, wasting,
unparalleled judgments; so the concrete in the superlative degree is sometimes
expressed in the abstract, as it is here: or, these judgments are already near at hand.
It may point, at the chief commanders in the Babylonish army,
them that have charge; not those that were now officers under Zedekiah, and
commissioned by him, but those whom God hath appointed to destroy the city;
angels, say some; the Chaldean commanders, think others.
With his destroying weapon; each of these had a weapon proper for that kind of
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destruction which he was to effect; and so, some to slay with sword, another with the
pestilence, another with famine; each had his proper work herein, and it is called his
destruction. In his hand, denoting both readiness unto, expedition in, and strength
for the work.
PARKER, “In the ninth chapter there is a vivid and instructive figure—"Cause
them that have charge over the city" ( Ezekiel 9:1). By these: we should naturally
understand the magistrates, the Judges , or the: constabulary. Yet no such reference
is intended by the command, There is no allusion to earthly officers. Those who had
charge: over the cities were spirits, angels, chosen ones of God. No doubt the same
word is used of human officers, but such officers are utterly excluded by all that
gives speciality to the vision of Ezekiel. We might suppose from the words "every
man" that human officers were intended, but we have had experience to the
contrary. The representation here, therefore, is evidently that angelic executioners
were awaiting the order to carry out the wrath of God. Are they not all ministering
spirits? Are we not in charge of guardian angels? A noble yet most solemn thought
is it that every city has its band of watchers, and that every man has near him the
angel of the Lord, bringing blessing or inflicting judgment, or training the life in all
the: mystery of progress. We cannot understand these things, but we should be
infinitely poorer if we excluded them from our thought and confidence and
imagination. How little we see! We know not that the whole air is full of spirits, and
that every breath we draw is a special gift of God, watched over as if we were the
solitary trustees of Heaven"s richest benefactions. Anything that impoverishes our
lives, that takes out of them such solemnising and uplifting thoughts as these, is
verily a foe to our best education. At the same time we must watch against the
superstitious degradation of these thoughts, lest we fall into the patronage of
wizardry and enchantment, witchcraft and incantation: we have nothing to do with
any attempt to incarnate these spiritual watchers, we must accept their ministry as
an assured fact, and, asking no questions, must believe that if we are pure, docile,
and obedient, God will not withhold the communication of his secret from us.
What was meant by the six men coming from the way of the higher gate, what was
meant by the one man clothed with linen carrying a writer"s inkhorn by his side, we
need not inquire: it is enough for us to know that God has agents other than
ourselves, scribes that do not write with our ink, registrars that are following the
course of human life, and are writing in the books that are on high. An awful
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passage is this:—
"And 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. And 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: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and
women" ( Ezekiel 9:4-6).
This is not the God with whose lovingkindness we have been familiar! So should we
say in our ignorance, and yet we owe the very lovingkindness of God to the fact that
such anger is possible: apart from the exercise of such indignation the
lovingkindness would be simply sentiment; but seeing that the wrath of God can be
so terrible, we find in his lovingkindness a counterpart of that dire extremity. A
singular suggestion is that that the eye of the executioner might spare where God"s
own eye had failed to shed a tear: it would seem as if the executioners would be
more pitiful than their Lord: were this so it could only be because they could descry
only a partial aspect of the awful case. He who could see all had no hesitation in
giving the commandment for an utter extermination of the rebels. Ezekiel himself
broke down when the fearful vision passed before him. Whilst the slaughter was
proceeding, he fell upon his "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?"
This was very human, but this was profoundly sentimental. Ezekiel saw little more
than the merely physical suffering of the people; he could not grasp the full majesty
of eternal law. The Lord gave the reason in words which cover the whole of the sad
occasion:—
"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. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare,
neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head" ( Ezekiel
9:9-10).
Observe, it was their way. Notice in particular that this is not an arbitrary act on the
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part of God. This is a Lord of measurement, of proportion, who adapts means to
ends, who does not act indiscriminately and ruthlessly; a God who holds in his
hands the balances of righteousness and judgment, and who gives to every man
according to his deeds. The Lord himself is always careful to maintain this fact.
Whatever we have seen of the terribleness of divine judgment has been matched by
the terribleness of human sin. We may not see it; we may look upon the divine
judgment as an exaggeration; but surely those who have studied the divine way are
prepared to believe that God does nothing in excess, that in reality, if we could see
things as he sees them, it would be almost impossible for judgment to be coordinate
with sin. So terrible a thing is iniquity I so fearful a reality is a stain upon the robe
of ineffable holiness! We cannot tell how awful a thing this is. We must take it on the
authority of revelation that sin is the abominable thing which God hates, that it is an
insult, a wound, a shame, a degradation which can never be explained in words. Hell
itself can hardly enlarge its borders so as to take in all the tremendous issues of sin.
PETT, “In the ninth chapter there is a vivid and instructive figure—"Cause them
that have charge over the city" ( Ezekiel 9:1). By these: we should naturally
understand the magistrates, the Judges , or the: constabulary. Yet no such reference
is intended by the command, There is no allusion to earthly officers. Those who had
charge: over the cities were spirits, angels, chosen ones of God. No doubt the same
word is used of human officers, but such officers are utterly excluded by all that
gives speciality to the vision of Ezekiel. We might suppose from the words "every
man" that human officers were intended, but we have had experience to the
contrary. The representation here, therefore, is evidently that angelic executioners
were awaiting the order to carry out the wrath of God. Are they not all ministering
spirits? Are we not in charge of guardian angels? A noble yet most solemn thought
is it that every city has its band of watchers, and that every man has near him the
angel of the Lord, bringing blessing or inflicting judgment, or training the life in all
the: mystery of progress. We cannot understand these things, but we should be
infinitely poorer if we excluded them from our thought and confidence and
imagination. How little we see! We know not that the whole air is full of spirits, and
that every breath we draw is a special gift of God, watched over as if we were the
solitary trustees of Heaven"s richest benefactions. Anything that impoverishes our
lives, that takes out of them such solemnising and uplifting thoughts as these, is
verily a foe to our best education. At the same time we must watch against the
superstitious degradation of these thoughts, lest we fall into the patronage of
wizardry and enchantment, witchcraft and incantation: we have nothing to do with
any attempt to incarnate these spiritual watchers, we must accept their ministry as
14

an assured fact, and, asking no questions, must believe that if we are pure, docile,
and obedient, God will not withhold the communication of his secret from us.
What was meant by the six men coming from the way of the higher gate, what was
meant by the one man clothed with linen carrying a writer"s inkhorn by his side, we
need not inquire: it is enough for us to know that God has agents other than
ourselves, scribes that do not write with our ink, registrars that are following the
course of human life, and are writing in the books that are on high. An awful
passage is this:—
"And 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. And 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: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and
women" ( Ezekiel 9:4-6).
This is not the God with whose lovingkindness we have been familiar! So should we
say in our ignorance, and yet we owe the very lovingkindness of God to the fact that
such anger is possible: apart from the exercise of such indignation the
lovingkindness would be simply sentiment; but seeing that the wrath of God can be
so terrible, we find in his lovingkindness a counterpart of that dire extremity. A
singular suggestion is that that the eye of the executioner might spare where God"s
own eye had failed to shed a tear: it would seem as if the executioners would be
more pitiful than their Lord: were this so it could only be because they could descry
only a partial aspect of the awful case. He who could see all had no hesitation in
giving the commandment for an utter extermination of the rebels. Ezekiel himself
broke down when the fearful vision passed before him. Whilst the slaughter was
proceeding, he fell upon his "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?"
This was very human, but this was profoundly sentimental. Ezekiel saw little more
than the merely physical suffering of the people; he could not grasp the full majesty
of eternal law. The Lord gave the reason in words which cover the whole of the sad
occasion:—
15

"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. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare,
neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head" ( Ezekiel
9:9-10).
Observe, it was their way. Notice in particular that this is not an arbitrary act on the
part of God. This is a Lord of measurement, of proportion, who adapts means to
ends, who does not act indiscriminately and ruthlessly; a God who holds in his
hands the balances of righteousness and judgment, and who gives to every man
according to his deeds. The Lord himself is always careful to maintain this fact.
Whatever we have seen of the terribleness of divine judgment has been matched by
the terribleness of human sin. We may not see it; we may look upon the divine
judgment as an exaggeration; but surely those who have studied the divine way are
prepared to believe that God does nothing in excess, that in reality, if we could see
things as he sees them, it would be almost impossible for judgment to be coordinate
with sin. So terrible a thing is iniquity I so fearful a reality is a stain upon the robe
of ineffable holiness! We cannot tell how awful a thing this is. We must take it on the
authority of revelation that sin is the abominable thing which God hates, that it is an
insult, a wound, a shame, a degradation which can never be explained in words. Hell
itself can hardly enlarge its borders so as to take in all the tremendous issues of sin.
PULPIT, “He cried, etc. The voice comes, as before, from the human form, seen as a
theophany, in the midst of the Divine glory. Cause them that have charge over the
city. The noun is an abstract plural, commonly rendered "visitation" (Isaiah 10:3;
Jeremiah 11:23, and elsewhere). Here, however, it clearly stands for persons (just as
we use "the watch" for "the watchmen"), and is so used in Isaiah 60:17; 2 Kings
11:18 (comp. Ezekiel 44:11). The persons addressed are called "men," but they are
clearly thought of as superhuman; like the angels who came to Sodom (Genesis
19:1); like the angel with the drawn sword in 2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Chronicles 21:16.
His destroying weapon. The word clearly implies something different from a sword,
but corresponds in its vagueness to the Hebrew. In 1 Chronicles 21:2 the Hebrew for
"slaughter weapon" implies an instrument for crashing into fragments, probably an
axe or mace. A cognate word in Jeremiah 51:20 is translated "battle axe," and the
LXX. gives that meaning here, as also does the margin of the Revised Version.
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BI 1-2, “One man among them was clothed with linen.
Christ the Commander of the angels
1. Elect Jews under the law were saved by the mediatorial work of Christ incarnate,
as we are under the Gospel. Christ frequently appeared as man, intimating thereby
His future incarnation, and that that nature must concur to the making up of His
mediatorship: He did not mediate for them as God, for us as man; but He mediated
then as man promised, now He mediates as man manifested.
2. The Lord Christ is the chief commander of all angelical and human forces. He was
in the midst of these six military angels that were to bring in the Chaldean forces at
the several gates of the city; He was their General.
3. When judgments are abroad, and the godly are in danger, Christ mediates and
intercedes for them.
4. Christ hath a special care of His in times of trouble; He appears with an inkhorn
to write down what is said and done against them, to make known the mind of God
to them, to seal and discriminate them from others.
5. Those who are upon great and public designs should begin with God, and consult
with Him. These seven here go in and stand by the altar, inquire of God what His
pleasure is. So have the worthies of God done (Ezr_8:21).
6. Those who are employed by the Lord must be careful that they countenance no
corruptions in worship. Neither Christ nor the angels would come at the false altar,
which Ahaz had caused to be set up; but they go to God’s altar, the brazen altar; by
this they stood, not the other.
7. In times of judgment, as God discountenances false worship, so He discovers and
countenances His own way of worship. (W. Greenhill, M. A.)
With a writer’s inkhorn.—
The man with the inkhorn
(to young men):—This man with the inkhorn may stand for a class—the whole class of
writers and literary men. I would start from the position that the powers of literature
belong of right to Jesus Christ, and that literature is included among those things of
which Paul said to the Christian man: “All are yours, for ye are Christ’s, and Christ is
God’s.”
I. The close relation that exists between Christianity and literature.
1. One fact that meets us on the very threshold is this, that, humanly speaking, the
Bible itself is a literary product. Had there been no such thing as literature there
never could have been a Bible; for no one would have been able either to write or to
read. As our Lord Jesus glorified the human body by His inhabitation of it in the
Incarnation, so we may say literature is transfigured and glorified by this special
inhabitation of the Divine Spirit in the books of the Old and New Testaments.
2. But, passing beyond the pages of the Bible, we see again how Christ-loving men
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have used the powers of literature for the advancement of God’s kingdom in the
world. In the early days of the Church, Christianity owed very much to the literary
gifts of men like Origen and Chrysostom, Tertullian and Augustine. And when we see
the great days of the Reformation dawning upon Europe, there is no doubt that we
must associate that marvellous spiritual revival with the previous Revival of Letters.
Luther was indebted for his knowledge of Greek to those Greek scholars who, after
the Fall of Constantinople, came flocking to the West, and who spread abroad that
interest in the Greek language and literature which by and by sent men back once
more to the neglected pages of the Greek New Testament. And so we see Luther
sitting all alone through the midnight hours in his high tower of the Wartburg Castle,
in the very heart of the great Thuringian Forest. Before him lies his open Bible, and
from the closest study of its pages he is seeking to apprehend the very mind of his
Lord. When I was in the Wartburg some years ago I was shown the place on the wall
which was struck by the famous inkhorn that Luther flung at the Devil. Luther did
discomfit the devil with an inkhorn; but it was by that translation of the Bible which
came from his pen, and which is still one of the masterpieces of German literature,
and by those other writings which shook the hearts of men like a mighty trumpet
blast, and destroyed, in most European lauds, the awful domination of Rome.
3. But, when we speak of literature, we have to go beyond the Bible, and beyond all
purely religious writings. We have to think of that great world of books which
includes history and science, philosophy, poetry, and fiction. And may we not say
that the best books in those various departments, whether written by Christian men
or not, are all of them full of facts and principles that really illustrate and corroborate
the teaching of the Bible?
II. Some friendly counsels which are suggested by this subject.
1. First, let me put the old apostolic injunction which Paul addressed to a young
friend, “Give attendance to reading.” All around us there is a great and growing
devotion to athletic interests, which threatens in many cases to swallow up all
interests of a higher kind. Now, bodily exercise is profitable, without doubt; but it
cannot be profitable to exercise the body until we have no time or strength left for
the cultivation of the mind. You must read diligently, eagerly, carefully, if you would
enlarge and enrich and strengthen your mind. And let me exhort you here to begin to
form a little library of your own as early as possible. Do not be content with
borrowing books, but have your favourite authors around you in your own room. “A
young man,” says one, “may lodge in a very small room. But what do you mean by a
small room? When I go into a young man’s room, and see on the wall a shelf of
books; when I take down Shakespeare, or Dante, or Tennyson, or Carlyle, I do not
know the size of that room. The walls are nothing, for that man holds the ends of the
earth. For every taste like literature, or art, or science, or philosophy, is a window in
the smallest room, and through the windows a man can see anything, right on to the
throne of God.”
2. Next, I would say, take heed what you read. The world is full of bad books, as well
as of good books, for the man with the inkhorn, in not a few cases, has sold himself
to the service of the Devil. Beware of bad books! If a book fills your mind with evil
thoughts, or leaves a bad taste in your mouth, cast it from you at once. Why should a
man feed his soul on filth and garbage, when he is free to walk through the garden of
the Lord, plucking all manner of pleasant fruits? And, apart from what is positively
bad, do not spend too much time on what is scrappy or ephemeral. There are
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diversities of gifts, and diversities of taste. Provided you confine yourself to what is
wholesome, whatever interests you most will be likely to profit you most. But do not
forget that the Bible must come first.
3. Let me remind you that, as Christian young men, you should consecrate to Christ
all the knowledge that you gain, and should use it as far as possible for the benefit of
others. Remember, after all, that life is more than literature, and that Christianity is
greater even than the Bible. Mohammedanism is the religion of a book, for above
Mohammed himself stands the Koran. But Christianity is not the religion of a book:
it is the religion of a life. Jesus Christ Himself is the Alpha and Omega of it, and it is
love to Jesus, loyalty to Jesus, the service of Jesus, that are the true marks of a
Christian. (J. G. Lambert, B. D.)
The writer’s inkhorn
No one ever had such Divine dreams as Ezekiel. In a vision this prophet had seen
wrathful angels, destroying angels, each with a sword, but in my text he sees a merciful
angel with an inkhorn. The receptacle for the ink in olden time was made out of the horn
of a cow, or a ram, or a roebuck, as now it is made out of metal or glass, and therefore
was called the inkhorn, as now we say inkstand. We have all spoken of the power of the
sword, of the power of wealth, of the power of office, of the power of social influence, but
today I speak of the power for good or evil in the inkstand. It is a fortress, an armoury, a
gateway, a ransom, or a demolition. “You mistake,” says someone, “it is the pen that has
the power.” No, my friend; what is the influence of a dry pen? Pass it up and down a
sheet of paper, and it leaves no mark. It expresses no opinion. It gives no warning. It
spreads no intelligence. It is the liquid which the pen dips out of the inkstand that does
the work. Here and there a celebrated pen, with which a Magna Charta or a Declaration
of Independence, or a treaty was signed, has been kept in literary museum or national
archives, but for the most part the pens have disappeared, while the liquid which the
pens took from the inkstand remains in scrolls which, if put together, would be large
enough to enwrap the round world.
1. First, I mention that which is purely domestic. The inkstand is in every household.
It awaits the opportunity to express affection or condolence or advice. Father uses it;
mother uses it; the sons and daughters use it. It tells the home news; it announces
the marriage, the birth, the departure, the accident, the last sickness, the death. That
home inkstand, what a mission it has already executed, and what other missions will
it yet fulfil! May it stand off from all insincerity and all querulousness. Oh, ye who
have with recent years set up homes of your own! out of the new home inkstand
write often to the old folks, if they be still living. A letter means more to them than to
us, who are amid the activities of life, and to whom postal correspondence is more
than we can manage. As the merciful angel of my text appeared before the brazen
altar with the inkhorn at his side in Ezekiel’s vision, so let the angel of filial kindness
appear at the altars of the old homestead.
2. Furthermore, the inkstand of the business man has its mission. Between now and
the hour of your demise, O commercial man, O professional man, there will not be a
day when you cannot dip from the inkhorn a message that will influence temporal
and eternal destiny. There is a rash young man running into wild speculation, and
with as much ink as you can put on the pen at one time you may save him from the
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Niagara rapids of a ruined life. On the next street there is a young man started in
business, who through lack of patronage, or mistake in purchase of goods, or want of
adaptation, is on the brink of collapse. One line of ink from your pen will save him
from being an underling all his life, and start him on a career that will win him a
fortune which will enable him to become an endower of libraries, an opener of art
galleries, and builder of churches.
3. Furthermore, great are the responsibilities of the author’s inkhorn. When a bad
book is printed you do well to blame the publisher, but most of all blame the author.
The malaria rose from his inkstand. The poison that caused the moral or spiritual
death dropped in the fluid from the tip of his pen. But blessed be God for the
author’s inkhorn in ten thousand studies which are dedicated to pure intelligence,
highest inspiration, and grandest purpose. They are the inkstands out of which will
be dipped the redemption of the world. The destroying angels with their swords seen
in Ezekiel’s vision will be finally overcome by the merciful angel with the writer’s
inkhorn. Among the most important are the editorial and reportorial inkstands. You
have all seen what is called indelible ink, which is a weak solution of silver nitrate,
and that ink you cannot rub out or wash out. Put it there, and it stays. Well, the
liquid of the editorial and reportorial inkstands is an indelible ink. It puts upon the
souls of the passing generations characters of light or darkness that time cannot
wash out and eternity cannot efface. Be careful how you use it. While you recognise
the distinguished ones who have dipped into the inkstand of the world’s
evangelisation, do not forget that there are hundreds of thousands of unknown men
and women who are engaged in inconspicuous ways doing the same thing! How
many anxious mothers writing to the boys in town! How many sisters writing
encouragement to brothers far away! How many bruised and disappointed and
wronged souls of earth would be glad to get a letter from you! Stir up that
consolatory inkhorn. All Christendom has been waiting for great revivals of religion
to start from the pulpits and prayer meetings. I now suggest that the greatest revival
of all time may start from a concerted and organised movement through the
inkhorns of all Christendom, each writer dipping from the inkhorn nearest him a
letter of Gospel invitation, Gospel hope, Gospel warning, Gospel instruction. The
other angels spoken of in my text were destroying angels, and each had what the
Bible calls a “slaughter weapon” in his hand. It was a lance, or a battle axe, or a
sword. God hasten the time when the last lance shall be shivered, and the last battle
axe dulled, and the last sword sheathed, never again to leave the scabbard, and the
angel of the text, who Matthew Henry says was the Lord Jesus Christ, shall from the
full inkhorn of His mercy give a saving call to all nations. That day may be far off, but
it is hopeful to think of its coming. Is it not time that the boasted invention of new
and more explosive and more widely devastating weapons of death be stopped
forever, and the Gospel have a chance, and the question be not asked, How many
shots can be fired in a minute? but how many souls may be ransomed in a day? Hail,
Thou Mighty Rider of the white horse in the final triumph! Sweep down and sweep
by, Thou Angel of the New Covenant, with the inkhorn of the world’s evangelisation!
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
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2 And I saw six men coming from the direction of
the upper gate, which faces north, each with a
deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man
clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side.
They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
BARNES, "Six men - angels of wrath - figurative of destruction. They come from the
north, the quarter from which invading armies entered the holy land. These “six” angels,
with the “one among them,” a superior over the six, make up the number “seven,” a
number symbolic of God’s covenant with His people.
The higher gate - The north gate of the court of the priests. The temple rose by
platforms; as there was a north gate to the outer and also to the inner court, the latter
was probably distinguished as the “higher gate.” It was built by Jotham 2Ki_15:35.
Clothed with linen - The priestly garment Exo_28:6, Exo_28:8; Lev_16:4. This
“One Man” (Compare Dan_10:5; Rev_1:13) was the “angel of the covenant,” the great
high priest, superior to those by whom He was surrounded, receiving direct
communication from the Lord, taking the coals of vengeance from between the
cherubim Eze_10:2, but coming with mercy to the contrite as well as with vengeance to
the impenitent; these are attributes of Jesus Christ Joh_5:30; Luk_2:34; Mat_9:13;
Joh_6:39.
A writer’s inkhorn - Usually a flat case about nine inches long, by an inch and a
quarter broad, and half an inch thick, the hollow of which serves to contain the reed
pens and penknife. At one end is the ink-vessel which is twice as heavy as the shaft. The
latter is passed through the girdle and prevented from slipping through by the projecting
ink-vessel. The whole is usually of polished metal, brass, copper or silver. The man with
the inkhorn has to write in the Book of Life the names of those who shall be marked. The
metaphor is from the custom of registering the names of the Israelites in public rolls.
Compare Exo_32:33; Psa_69:28; Isa_4:3; Phi_4:3; Rev_3:5.
CLARKE, "Stood beside the brazen altar - To signify that the people against
whom they had their commission were, for their crimes, to be sacrificed to the demands
of Divine justice.
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GILL, "And, behold, six men,.... Either angels the form of men; or the generals of
Nebuchadnezzar's army, as Kimchi interprets it; whose names are, Nergalsharezer,
Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, Jer_39:3; these six
executioners of God's vengeance are, in the Talmud (n), called
"wrath, anger, fury, destruction, breach, and consumption:''
came from the way of the higher gate, Kimchi observes, from the Rabbins, that
this is the eastern gate called the higher or upper gate, because it was above the court of
the Israelites. Maimonides (o) says, the upper gate is the gate Nicanor; and why is it
called the upper gate? because it was above the court of the women; see 2Ki_15:35;
which lieth toward the north: where were the image of jealousy, and the women
weeping for Tammuz, and other idolatrous practices were committed; which were the
cause of the coming of these destroyers: moreover, the Chaldean army with its generals
came out of the north; for Babylon lay north or northeast of Jerusalem; and so this gate,
as Kimchi says, was northeast; and he adds, and Babylon was northeast of the land of
Israel; see Jer_1:13;
and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; as ordered, Eze_9:1, a different
word is here used; it signifies a hammer, with which rocks are broken in pieces, as the
above mentioned Jewish writer observes. The Septuagint render it an axe or hatchet:
and one man among them; not one of the six, but who made a seventh. The Jews say
this was Gabriel (p); but this was not a created angel, as they; nor the Holy Spirit as
Cocceius; but the Son of God, in a human form; he was among the six, at the head of
them, as their leader and commander; he was but one, they six; one Saviour, and six
destroyers:
was clothed with linen; not in the habit of a warrior, but of a priest; who, as such,
had made atonement for the sins of his people, and intercession for them; and this may
also denote the purity of his human nature, and his unspotted righteousness, the fine
linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints: and
with a writer's inkhorn by his side; or "at his loins" (q); nor a slaughter weapon, as
the rest; but a writer's inkhorn; hence Kimchi takes him to be the king of Babylon's
scribe; but a greater is here meant; even he who took down the names of God's elect in
the book of life; and who takes an account, and keeps a book of the words, and even
thoughts, of his people and also of their sighs, groans, and tears; see Mal_3:16; but now
his business was to mark his people, and distinguish them from others, in a providential
way; and keep and preserve them from the general ruin and destruction that was coming
upon Jerusalem: or, "a girdle on his lions", as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions
render it; and so was prepared and fit for business; which sense of the word is approved
of by Castel (r); and he asks, what has an inkhorn to do at a man's loins? but it should be
observed, that it was the custom of the eastern people to carry inkhorns at their sides,
and particularly in their girdles, as the Turks do now; who not only fix their knives and
22

poniards in them, as Dr. Shaw (s) relates; but the "hojias", that is, the writers and
secretaries, hang their inkhorns in them; and by whom it is observed, that that part of
these inkhorns which passes between the girdle and the tunic, and holds their pens, is
long and flat; but the vessel for the ink, which rests upon the girdle, is square, with a lid
to clasp over it:
and they went in; to the temple, all seven:
and stood beside the brasen altar; the altar of burnt offering, so called to
distinguish it from the altar of incense, which was of gold; here they stood not to offer
sacrifice, but waiting for their orders, to take vengeance for the sins committed in the
temple, and at this altar; near to which stood the image of jealousy, Eze_8:5.
JAMISON, "clothed with linen — (Dan_10:5; Dan_12:6, Dan_12:7). His clothing
marked his office as distinct from that of the six officers of vengeance; “linen”
characterized the high priest (Lev_16:4); emblematic of purity. The same garment is
assigned to the angel of the Lord (for whom Michael is but another name) by the
contemporary prophet Daniel (Dan_10:5; Dan_12:6, Dan_12:7). Therefore the
intercessory High Priest in heaven must be meant (Zec_1:12). The six with Him are His
subordinates; therefore He is said to be “among them,” literally, “in the midst of them,”
as their recognized Lord (Heb_1:6). He appears as a “man,” implying His incarnation;
as “one” (compare 1Ti_2:5). Salvation is peculiarly assigned to Him, and so He bears the
“inkhorn” in order to “mark” His elect (Eze_9:4; compare Exo_12:7; Rev_7:3; Rev_9:4;
Rev_13:16, Rev_13:17; Rev_20:4), and to write their names in His book of life (Rev_
13:8). As Oriental scribes suspend their inkhorn at their side in the present day, and as a
“scribe of the host is found in Assyrian inscriptions accompanying the host” to number
the heads of the slain, so He stands ready for the work before Him. “The higher gate”
was probably where now the gate of Damascus is. The six with Him make up the sacred
and perfect number, seven (Zec_3:9; Rev_5:6). The executors of judgment on the
wicked, in Scripture teaching, are good, not bad, angels; the bad have permitted to them
the trial of the pious (Job_1:12; 2Co_12:7). The judgment is executed by Him (Eze_10:2,
Eze_10:7; Joh_5:22, Joh_5:27) through the six (Mat_13:41; Mat_25:31); so beautifully
does the Old Testament harmonize with the New Testament. The seven come “from the
way of the north”; for it was there the idolatries were seen, and from the same quarter
must proceed the judgment (Babylon lying northeast of Judea). So Mat_24:28.
stood — the attitude of waiting reverently for Jehovah’s commands.
brazen altar — the altar of burnt offerings, not the altar of incense, which was of
gold. They “stood” there to imply reverent obedience; for there God gave His answers to
prayer [Calvin]; also as being about to slay victims to God’s justice, they stand where
sacrifices are usually slain [Grotius], (Eze_39:17; Isa_34:6; Jer_12:3; Jer_46:10).
CALVIN, “Now the Prophet writes that God’s command was not vain or empty,
because the effect appears directly by vision. Therefore six men offered themselves.
Why again he names six, rather than more or fewer, I have not found out. For some
cite the thirty-ninth chapter of Jeremiah, where eight leaders are referred to who
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were in Nebuchadnezzar’s army, and had the chief authority; but first they vary in
number, then they twist themselves in many ways. But I am not so anxiously
curious, nor does it seem to me of any consequence, unless perhaps God wished to
show his servant that a little band was sufficient, and that there was no need of a
large army: or by six men he confusedly designated the whole army. It is certain
indeed that Nebuchadnezzar came surrounded with a large force to destroy the city;
but in the meantime God wished to destroy that pride and contumacy of the people,
since he only shows to his servant six men who could destroy the whole city. He says
therefore, that he came by the gate, or by way of a lofty gate, or higher one, which
was towards the north, because Babylon lay towards that region with respect to
Jerusalem. It appears therefore that the Chaldeans were here pointed out, to whom
the way was direct through that gate, since it ascended from the north over against
Jerusalem. He says, each man had an instrument of destruction, or of pounding.
This word is derived from ‫,נפף‬ nephetz, which is to destroy and rub to pieces:
therefore it can be taken as well for the mallet as for the act itself. There is no doubt
that the Prophet meant that God’s command should not be without immediate
effect: because as soon as he cried out, six men were directly at hand for obeying
him, which he afterwards expresses more clearly when he says that they stood near
the altar For it was a sign of their readiness to obey God’s commands when they
placed themselves before the altar. But this passage is worthy of notice, because it
shows us how anxiously we ought to give heed to God’s threats, which are for the
most part directed against us. In order that we may learn to rouse ourselves from
our torpor, here as in a glass the conjunction of God’s vengeance with his threats is
proposed to us. For as soon as he had spoken, we see that there were six men armed
and drawn up for destroying the city. But God wished to show his Prophet this
vision, because his business was with a hard and stupid people, as we have already
seen. God’s voice was as it were their final doom: just as if a trumpet resounded,
and announced that there was no hope of pardon unless the enemy gave himself up
directly. So therefore God exclaimed with a loud voice, but this was no empty cause
of fright, because he directly joined the execution of it, when six men appeared
before the altar. But he calls the altar which Solomon had built of square stones
brazen: even the brazen altar was not sufficient, but it looks to its first origin.
Now he says that there was among them, one man clothed with a linen garment (1
Kings 8:64.) He is not placed among the multitude, as one among the others, but he
is separated, because his signification is distinct. This man then doubtless sustained
the character of an angel, and it is sufficiently customary in Scripture that angels,
when they take a visible form, should be called men: not because they are really
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men, but because God endues them with such forms as he sees fit. Some, whose
opinion I do not altogether reject, restrict this to Christ. But because the Prophet
adds no remarkable traits, I had rather receive it generally of any angel. He says
therefore, that there was among the Chaldeans, who were prepared to execute
God’s vengeance, one man clad in a linen garment A distinct mark is sometimes
given to angels which separates them from men. The linen garment was then a
remarkable ornament. And the sacrificing Papists, as if they were apes, have
imitated that custom in their garments called surplices. But since priests were
accustomed to be clad in linen robes, here the angel was represented to the Prophet
in this garb. Now let us go on, because in the next verse it will be evident why
mention was made of that angel.
COFFMAN, “Verse 4
"And Jehovah said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of
Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of men that sigh and that cry over all
the abominations that are done in the midst thereof, And to the others he said in my
hearing, Go ye through the city after him, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither
have ye pity; slay utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little
children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark: and
begin at my sanctuary. Then they began with the old men that were before the
house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go
ye forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city."
MERCY EXTENDED TO THE FAITHFUL
"A mark upon the foreheads of men ..." (Ezekiel 9:4). This of course was an act of
Divine mercy. Although God would indeed destroy the apostate idolaters, he would
by no means destroy his faithful worshippers. This placing of a mark upon the ones
to be redeemed appears again in Revelation 7:3 and Revelation 14:1, indicating that
all of the saved in our own generation indeed bear the "mark of God" in their
forehead. As this appears to be the very same thing as the "sealing of God's
servants" in Revelation 7:3, which is clearly a reference to the gift of the Holy Spirit,
we are entitled to conclude that it is no literal mark of any kind, but a certain
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characteristic of the human spirit, that would be recognized instantly by
supernatural beings. We do not believe that either in this vision or in the current
dispensation can it be shown that God brands his people with any kind of a literal
mark, such as a rancher would use to brand his cattle.
As Cook noted, "There are eschatological predictions in this chapter."[9] And one
of the clearest of these is that the Great Judgment of the last day will be individually
and not by races, nations, or groups of any kind. Note too that there are only two
classes, the saved and the lost. Another startling fact is that absolutely none shall be
spared except those who have received the mark of redemption. This was the way it
was in the days of the flood; and that is the way it will be in the final judgment.
"That sigh and cry over all the abominations ..." (Ezekiel 9:4). The truly righteous
are always those who grieve over the sins and wickedness of their contemporaries.
We are not impressed at all with some who try to find some reference to the Cross,
or the "sign of the Cross" in this passage. This notion is based upon the fact that the
word here translated "mark" is in Hebrew the name of tau, the last letter of the
Hebrew alphabet; and it is claimed that the early way of making that letter was with
a cross; but as Plumptre noted, "There could have been no anticipation of Christian
symbols, either in the mind of Ezekiel, or in the minds of his hearers."[10]
"And begin at my sanctuary ..." (Ezekiel 9:6). The very place where one should have
been able to find a few faithful believers in God was the holy temple; but here God
commanded that the slaughter should begin there. There is indeed a great
responsibility upon those persons who know God's word and are responsible for
teaching others. An apostle indicated that this principle shall be operative in all of
the judgments of God. "For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of
God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the
gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17).
"They began at the old men that were before the house ..." (Ezekiel 9:6) Dummelow
identified these as "the sun worshipping priests."[11] "Apparently the directive to
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begin at the sanctuary was intended to imply that there was the seat of the worst
sins."[12] This should certainly be a warning to religious leaders of all generations.
"And he said unto them, Defile the house ..." (Ezekiel 9:7). This was accomplished
by their filling the courts with dead bodies. "If to touch a corpse and then to
worship without being sprinkled with the water of separation was to defile the
tabernacle of the Lord (Numbers 19:13), how much more would the blood of corpses
do so."[13]
Speaking of the defilement of the temple, Eichrodt noted that, "Such a stupendous
act of judgment left no room for any doubt that the complete liquidation of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem would be carried out in full."[14]
ELLICOTT, “(2) One man among them was clothed with linen.—He was among
them, but not of them. There were six with weapons, and this one without a weapon
formed the seventh, thus making up the mystical number so often used in Scripture.
He was “clothed in linen,” the ordinary priestly garment, and the special garment of
the high priest at the ceremonies on the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16); yet
also used by others, and on other occasions, simply as a garment of purity and of
distinction (comp. Daniel 10:5), so that there is no need here to suppose a priestly
character attached to this one. He carried in his girdle the “inkhorn,” i.e., the little
case, containing pens, knife, and ink, commonly worn by the Oriental scribe. There
is no occasion to understand this person either, on the one hand, as a representation
of the Babylonian god Nebo, “the scribe of heaven,” nor, on the other, as is done by
many commentators, of our Lord. There is nothing mentioned which can give him
any special identification. He is simply a necessity of the vision, an angelic
messenger, to mark out those whose faithfulness to God amid the surrounding evil
exempts them from the common doom (comp. Revelation 7:3). This party are seen
coming “from the way of the higher gate.” The courts of the Temple were built in
stages, the innermost the highest. This, then, was the gate of the inner court, and
was on the north, both as the place where the prophet had been shown the
idolatries, and as the quarter from which the Chaldæan destruction was poured out
upon the nation. They took their station “beside the brazen altar,” as the central
point at once of the true worship of Israel and of the present profanation of that
worship.
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TRAPP, “Ezekiel 9:2 And, 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.
Ver. 2. And, behold, six men came.] Ad hunc Dei clamorem vel clangorem; the
angels came, the Chaldees came, at the call of this Lord of hosts, who hath all
creatures at his beck and check.
By the way of the higher gate.] Called also the new gate, [Jeremiah 26:10] built by
Jotham. [2 Chronicles 27:3]
Toward the north.] Where stood the idol of jealousy, and whereby Nebuchadnezzar
entered.
“ Per quod quis peccat, per idem punitur et ipse. ”
One man among them.] This was a created angel, say some; [Ezekiel 10:2] Christ,
the angel of the covenant, say others, with more likelihood of truth.
Clothed with linen.] As high priest of his people, and in addition an offering for
them, and that without spot. [Hebrews 9:14]
And a writer’s inkhorn by his side.] An ensign of his prophetic office, say some, as
his linen clothing was of his priestly; and of his kingly, that he was among, or in the
midst of, the six slaughtermen, as their captain and commander.
They went in and stood beside the brazen altar.] Where they might receive further
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instructions from God. So in the Revelation, those angels that were to pour out the
vials of divine vengeance, are said to come out of the temple.
POOLE, “ So soon as command was given out, these ministers of God’s just
displeasure appear ready to execute.
Six; that was the precise number, neither more nor fewer.
Men. In appearance and vision they were men, and the prophet calls them as he saw
them; whether angels in the shape of men, or whether really men, needs not much
inquiry; they came without delay.
From the way of the higher gate; either because, being more inward, it is higher
than the outward, as in all buildings upon ascents, where you go up by steps from
the outward parts towards the inmost building; or because it was built more lofty
than the other, enlarged likely by Jotham, 2 Chronicles 27:3.
Toward the north; insinuating whence their destruction should come; from Babylon
came that whirlwind, Ezekiel 1:4, which was to overthrow Jerusalem. And this
north gate was the weakest, both by their sins there committed, and by its situation,
which invited Antiochus and Titus to pitch their tents on that side when they
besieged it, and on this side the Chaldeans did first enter.
A slaughter weapon: see Ezekiel 9:1.
One man; not companion, but as one of great authority over them, who are as
officers waiting on him on every side.
Linen; a garment proper to the priesthood, whether ordinary priest or high priest,
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Exodus 28:42,43 Le 6:10: in this habit appeared the angel, Daniel 10:5 12:6,7; and a
very fit resemblance of Christ, who is the only Saviour of his elect, whose names he
knows as if written by him.
They went in; all the seven, both the six executioners, and the single man clothed in
linen, went into the inner court, where they stand waiting till the word be given for
execution.
Stood beside the brazen altar; either showing that they were ready to offer up many
sacrifices to the just revenge of God; or to show their value, zeal, and constancy to
God’s appointment, for they are not where Ahaz’s altar was in the middle of the
court, but near the brazen altar of God’s own direction.
WHEDON, “ 2. Six men… every man a slaughter weapon in his hand — These were
symbolic of the divine executioners. In what form they appeared, other than that
they looked like men, is not stated. Did they to the prophet’s eyes appear as the
temple butchers, or as angels (Ezekiel 40:3; Ezekiel 43:6), or as Assyrians? The
latter actually were the future destroyers of Jerusalem. In any case they were
symbolic representatives of supernaturally directed powers. As six was the usual
symbol of the world and its satanic acts, and as a marked distinction is made
between these and the seventh, it may be that these represented worldly heathen
forces overruled and controlled by the heavenly.
From the way of the… gate — Which was the higher or upper gate is not made
certain in the context. One thing is positive, however, that the agents of punishment
came out of one of the northern gates; either entering the temple through the north
gate of the outer court or coming out of the holy place from the northern gate of the
sanctuary, thus passing through the very doors which had so recently opened for the
abominable idol worshipers (chap. 8). The fact that in Ezekiel’s temple the
innermost gate was the highest (Jeremiah 36:10), together with the appropriateness
of God’s agents of justice coming from his own holy place, makes it most probable
that these ministers of Jehovah first appeared coming from the temple sanctuary.
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One… clothed with linen — This man completes the sacred symbolic number of
perfection. God’s ministers of justice are seven. No more are needed. This number
suggests also the fact that these agents are engaged in holy work. To punish is as
divine as to forgive. This seventh man is the divine scribe, who knows the names of
all God’s people (Ezekiel 9:4). He is the priestly mediator between God’s justice and
human sin. He is the divine executive and evidently chief of the seven (Ezekiel 9:3).
Orelli and many others do not hesitate to see in him the “Angel of the Covenant”
(Zechariah 1:11; Joshua 5:14; Genesis 17:1). White linen garments are always the
symbol of purity. (Compare Daniel 10:5; Daniel 12:6; Leviticus 16:4; Revelation
15:6.)
Stood beside the brazen altar — This was in the inner court. (Compare Ezekiel
43:13-17.) Coming from the holy of holies, these mysterious messengers of Jehovah
pause at the altar for further commands.
PETT, “Verse 2
‘And behold six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies towards the
north, every one with his weapon for destruction in his hand, and one man in the
midst of them, clothed in linen, with a writer’s kit hanging by his side (‘on his
loins’). And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.’
Seven heavenly ‘men’ now entered the temple area, six equipped for destruction and
one for mercy (compare Revelation 8:2; Revelation 8:6). In all Near Eastern nations
seven was the number of divine perfection and completeness. These men were thus
seen as complete for the divine task in hand. The fact that they came from a
northerly direction was probably either to indicate the direction from which
judgment was coming, or to confirm that they came from the heavenly dwelling
place of God (see on Ezekiel 1:4). They entered by the way where the women were
weeping for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14), and the image of jealousy had its place (Ezekiel
8:5). They saw enough to stir their righteous anger.
They entered in a group with the man with the writing kit in the middle. He was
31

clothed in linen. This regularly denotes a heavenly personality (Daniel 10:5; Daniel
12:6-7; Revelation 15:6). The remainder were probably dressed as warriors, and the
weapon held ready in the hand was always an indication of judgment. But we must
not see the man with the writing kit as being of a different temper than the others,
for he is the one who will throw the coals of judgment over Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:2).
He merely has a different function. All are one in their actions. The group reminds
us that in the midst of God’s judgments there is always mercy for those who
respond to Him.
The word for ‘writing kit’ is found only here and may well be an Egyptian loan
word (qeset from Egyptian gsti). Such a writing kit was usually made from animal
horn or wood. It would have a palette with a long groove for the rush pens and
circular hollows for two kinds of ink, usually black and red. It was a kit that would
be carried by professional scribes.
‘And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.’ This bronze altar was the old
altar from Solomon’s temple which had been replaced with a stone altar by Ahaz,
which he patterned on a Syrian altar (2 Kings 16:14), the old bronze altar being
removed and put to the north of the stone altar for the king to ‘enquire by’ (2 Kings
9:15). But this was the altar recognised by Yahweh. This is another indication of
how the temple had been defiled. God had not overlooked the replacing of His altar
with a foreign altar. From the true altar His mercy and judgment would reach out.
The action is very significant. On that bronze altar had been offered sacrifices for
Israel for many generations. There atonement had been made. It had also been a
place of sanctuary when there was nowhere else to go. Men could flee to the altar (1
Kings 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28). But now the right of sanctuary was lost. The sacrifices
had ceased. God was deserting His temple and His altar. It was no longer a holy
place.
PULPIT, “Behold, six men, etc. The man clothed with linen brings the number up to
the sacred number seven, as in Zechariah 4:10; Revelation 1:16,Revelation 1:20;
Revelation 15:6. He is over them rather than among them, and answers to the scribe
who appears so frequently in Assyrian sculptures, as the secretary who counts the
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prisoners that have been taken in battle. They come from the north, the region from
which the vision of Ezekiel 1:4 had come, in which, in the nearer vision of Ezekiel
8:4, the prophet had seen the same glorious presence. They appear, i.e; as issuing
from the Divine presence to do their work of judgment. Possibly. as in Jeremiah
1:1-19; there may be an allusive reference to the fact that the Chaldeans, as the
actual instruments of their judgment, came from the same region. The gate in
question was built by Jotham (2 Kings 15:35). The captain of the band is arrayed in
the "white linen" of the hosts of heaven and of the priests on earth ( ποδήρης in the
LXX.; comp. Le Jeremiah 6:10; Jeremiah 16:4; Ezekiel 44:17; Daniel 10:5; Daniel
12:6). A writer's inkhorn. Through all the changes of Eastern life this has been the
outward sign of the scribe's office. Here it is obviously connected with the oft-
recurring thought of the books of life and death in the chancery of heaven (Exodus
32:32; Psalms 69:28; Psalms 139:16; Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 41:1; Philippians 4:3). It was
to be the work of this scribe (Jeremiah 1:4) to mark such as were for death to death,
such as were for life to life. The LXX; misunderstanding the Hebrew, or following a
different text, gives, not "a writer's inkhorn," but "a girdle of sapphire." With all
the precision of one who knew every inch of the temple courts, the priest-prophet
sees the visitants take their station beside the brazen altar, probably, as they came
from the north, on the north side of it.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from
above the cherubim, where it had been, and
moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the
Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had
the writing kit at his side
BARNES, "Cherub - The singular is put collectively for the “cherubim,” which were
upon the mercy-seat of the ark in the holy of holies, the proper seat of the glory of the
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Lord in the midst of Israel. God is represented as “arising” from between the cherubim
to scatter His enemies Num_10:35.
CLARKE, "And he called to the man - The person here who called was that who
sat on the chariot of the Divine glory. See Eze_1:26.
GILL, "And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub,
whereupon he was,.... That is, the glorious God of Israel; or the glorious Shechinah,
and divine Majesty, which dwelt between the cherubim over the mercy seat in the most
holy place, removed from thence, as a token of his being about to depart from the
temple, which in a short time would be destroyed. The Targum is,
"the glory of the God of Israel departed in the cherub on which he dwelt, in the house of
the holy of holies;''
the cherubim removed with him, and were his chariot in which he rode; see Eze_10:18;
to the threshold of the house; of the holy of holies, as Jarchi interprets it; and so
was nearer to the brasen altar, where the seven men stood, to give them their orders; of
which an account follows:
and he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn
by his side; he, being the principal person, is called first; and his business being to
preserve the Lord's people shows that this was the first care of God.
JAMISON, "glory of ... God — which had heretofore, as a bright cloud, rested on
the mercy seat between the cherubim in the holy of holies (2Sa_6:2; Psa_80:1); its
departure was the presage of the temple being given up to ruin; its going from the inner
sanctuary to the threshold without, towards the officers standing at the altar outside,
was in order to give them the commission of vengeance.
CALVIN, “Now the Prophet shows why the angel was added to the Chaldeans,
namely, to put a bridle on them, lest they should rage promiscuously and without
selection against the elect and the reprobate. This is a remarkable passage, because
from it we learn, first, that God effectually threatens the impious, so that he may
have attendants always at hand to obey him; then, that even unbelievers make war
under the direction of God, and are governed by his rod, and do nothing except at
his will. Nor are the Chaldeans said to have come to the temple in vain, and to have
placed themselves before the altar of God. This is not related to their praise, as if
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they obeyed God spontaneously, or as if they had purposed to themselves to carry
out his commands, but the secret providence of God is here treated. Although,
therefore, the Chaldeans gave the rein to their self-will, and did not think
themselves divinely governed; yet God here pronounces that they were under his
hand just as if God had them as hired soldiers: as Satan is said to have joined
himself to the sons of God: this was not a voluntary obedience, but because his
machinations could not attack the holy Job, unless by God’s command. (Job 1:6.)
God’s sons appear in a very different way, since they offer a free obedience, and
desire him only to reign. But how great soever is the difference between the sons of
God and Satan, and all the reprobate, yet it is equally true that Satan and the
wicked obey God. This, therefore, we must learn in the second place. But, thirdly,
we are taught that God never rashly executes his vengeance without sparing his
elect. For this reason in the slaughter of Jerusalem he has an angel, who opposes a
shield, as it were, to the Chaldeans, lest their cruelty should injure them beyond
God’s pleasure, as we shall by and bye see. Therefore I said that the place was
remarkable, because when God puts forth the signs of his wrath, the sky is, as it
were, overclouded, and the faithful no less than the unbelieving are frightened, nay
terrified with fear. For as to outward condition, there was no difference between
them. Because therefore the sons of God are subject to that terror which obscures
all sense of God’s favor in adversity, so this doctrine must be held diligently,
namely, when God gives the rein to furious men, so that they dissipate, overthrow,
and destroy all things, then the angels are always united, who restrain their
intemperance with a hidden bridle, since otherwise they would never be moderate.
He says, therefore, that the glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub to
the threshold He takes the glory of God for God himself, as we may readily collect
from the next verse; for he says that Jehovah had spoken. But this speech agrees
very well, because God cannot be comprehended by us, unless as far as he
accommodates himself to our standard. Because therefore God is incomprehensible
in himself, nor did he appear to his Prophet as he really is, (since not angels even
bear the immense magnitude of his glory, much less a mortal man,) but he knew
how far it was expedient to discover himself, therefore the Prophet here takes his
glory for himself; that is, the vision, which was a sign or symbol of the presence of
God. But he says that it ascended from the cherub Here also is a change of number,
because God is said everywhere to sit between the cherubim. (2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings
19:15; Isaiah 37:16.) But here only one cherub is put, but this figure of speech is well
understood, as it is so common, for God resided between the cherubim: it is said that
he went thence to the threshold of the temple This was a prelude to departure, as we
35

shall afterwards see. And this testimony was needful to the Jews, because they
thought that God was bounded by the visible temple. Hence the Prophet shows that
God was not fixed to a place, so as to be compelled to remain there. This is the
reason why it is said that he came from his seat to the threshold of the temple Now,
he adds, that he cried out to the man clad in the linen garment, and whose inkhorn
was by his side, though others translate it writing-tablets: but as he afterwards says,
write on their foreheads, it is very probable that the ink was in his girdle, that he
might mark the elect of God, that the Chaldeans should not touch them. Again he
calls the angel a man, but on account of the form which he put on, as I said before. I
cannot proceed further.
COKE, “Ezekiel 9:3. And the glory, &c.— Meaning the glory which Ezekiel saw in
the preceding chapter; that is to say, not only the chariot of glory, with the wheels
and the cherubim, but also the Man sitting in the chariot; for it is the Man who
speaks in this and the following verses, and who in the fourth verse is called
Jehovah, or the Lord: It is observable, that cherub is here used in the singular for
the whole divine apparatus: Houbigant renders it, From the cherubim whereupon
he sat. In 1 Chronicles 28:18 the chariot of the cherubims is spoken of. This glory of
God is mentioned here and in other places as going to and standing over the
threshold of the house, in order, as it seems most probable, to denote that God was
now about to depart from his temple. See on chap. Ezekiel 11:23.
He called— He who sat on the throne, chap. Ezekiel 1:26. See chap. Ezekiel 10:2.:
"He spake." Or, we may render it, "And Jehovah called to the man clothed with
linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side, and said unto him, &c."
ELLICOTT, “(3) The glory . . . to the threshold.—In Ezekiel 8:4 the prophet had
seen the same vision as he has described in Ezekiel 1 standing at the entrance of the
court of the priests, and there it still remained. The word cherub is here used
collectively. Now that special glory above the cherubim, which represented the
Divine Being Himself, was gone from its place to the threshold of the house, but is
returned again in Ezekiel 10:1. At the same time, there is also suggested the idea
that the ordinary presence of God between the cherubim in the Holy of Holies
within the Temple has left its place, and come out to the door of the house. The two
ideas are indeed distinct, and yet by no means incapable of being blended in the
imagery of a vision. The significance of the former is that the command for
36

judgment proceeds from the very Temple itself to which the Pharisaic Jews looked
as the pledge of their safety; while the other would mean that the Lord had already
begun to forsake His Temple. Both thoughts are true, and both are emphasised in
the course of the vision.
TRAPP, “Ezekiel 9:3 And 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;
Ver. 3. And the glory of the God of Israel,] i.e., The Son of God appearing upon the
glorious chariot, [Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 3:23] and being "the brightness of his
Father’s glory, the express image of his person." [Hebrews 1:3]
Was gone up from the cherub,] i.e., From those four cherubims upon which the
glory of the Lord did then appear to the prophet. [Ezekiel 8:4] He was gone from his
ark, to show that the refractory Jews were now discovenanted; and from his mercy
seat, to show that he would show them no more mercy. Many moves God makes in
this and the two following chapters to show his loathness utterly to move; and still,
as he goeth out, some judgment cometh in. Here he removeth from the cherubims in
the oracle to the threshold; and upon that removal see what followeth; [Ezekiel
9:3-7] so for the rest see Ezekiel 10:1-2; Ezekiel 10:4; Ezekiel 10:18-19; Ezekiel
11:8-10; Ezekiel 11:22-23; and when God was quite gone from the city, then
followed the fatal calamity in the ruin thereof. But that he went away by degrees,
and not soon and at once, was an argument of his very great love and longsuffering.
He left them step by step, as it were, and pled loath to depart; but that there was no
remedy. Tied he is not to any place, as these fond Jews thought he was to their
visible temple, which now he is about therefore to abandon, and to make their very
sanctuary a slaughterhouse.
POOLE, “ The glory; either a glorious brightness, such as some times appeared
above the cherubims in the most, holy place, or the glorious God of Israel, who is the
Lord that speaks, Ezekiel 9:4, or that glory which the prophet saw, Ezekiel 1:28 3:23
8:4, which see, and which brought him into the temple.
37

Gone up; withdrawn in part, departing from the place he had so long dwelt in. The
cherub, or cherubims; for it is here singular instead of plural.
Whereupon he was either wont to sit and appear, or else on which he was when he
appeared unto Ezekiel, as Ezekiel 8:4.
The threshold of the house; of the holy of holies, or of the temple, towards the
brazen altar; in token either of his sudden departure from the Jews because of their
sins; or that he might come nearer to those seven, to give them orders about wasting
the city.
He called with a plain and loud voice, declaring his purpose to proceed to judge and
execute his righteous judgment; but yet first providing for the safety of the good.
WHEDON, “ 3. From the cherub — LXX., cherubim. For a full explanation of these
symbolic forms and the differences between Ezekiel’s cherubim and those of
Genesis see notes on chap. 10. These strange creatures came out of the same forests
with the lions and cats and bulls and dragons of English heraldry. They are closely
related to the allegorical forms, so reverenced in Egypt, by which it was sought to
explain the mystery of life and the character and attributes of the deities. An
Egyptian text of the Mosaic period reads: “The god of this world is in the light over
the heaven. His symbols are upon the earth and to them reverence is paid every
day” (Ani Papyrus). Professor James Strong (Biblical World, April, 1893) says the
cherubim of the tabernacle were “imaginative embodiments of the four leading
attributes of Deity in the physical world according to the unscientific, but really
profound and correct, notions of the Hebrews; namely, intelligence, power,
constancy, and rapidity. Accordingly they are… bearers of Jehovah’s throne; and
they correspond essentially to what we term cardinal ‘laws of nature,’ that is, forces
acting for a definite purpose, uniformly and instantaneously. In this light the
location of the two upon the lid of the sacred ark is pre-eminently fitting as the
custodians of the divine law, nature thus corroborating revelation.”
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Ezekiel 9 commentary

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Ezekiel 9 commentary