Ezekiel 9:1-11 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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Ezekiel 9. The Pitiless Slaughter of the Sinners. The doom has been abundantly justified; now it comes, and in bloody form. In obedience to a ringing summons, seven angels come forth to execute it six armed with deadly weapons, the seventh arrayed in priestly linen and with an inkhorn hanging at his side, ready to put the sign of the cross (the mark in Ezekiel 9:4 is the letter taw, which in the old alphabet was a cross) upon the brows of the few who were to be spared in the coming destruction, because they sighed and cried over the sin of Jerusalem. At this point comes the ominous reminder that Yahweh is gradually departing from the guilty city: already His glory has left the holy place where the cherubim were and moved to the threshold of the Temple. Then there rings out the awful command to the destroying angels, uttered by Yahweh Himself, to slay without mercy all old and young, man and maid who had not the mark upon their brow; and the deadly work was to begin at the holy Temple itself, the scene of their sin (Ezekiel 9:8) the Temple in which they trusted (Jeremiah 7:4), and which, since Isaiah's time, they had deemed inviolable.

The veil is mercifully drawn over the horrible carnage. Ezekiel, alone and appalled, gives vent to his tumultuous feelings in a passionate prayer that the remnant may be spared, but the inexorable answer comes that for the moral guilt of the land, the pitiless punishment must go on: and the awful threat is confirmed by the return of the angel with the inkhorn, who reports with terrible simplicity, I have done as thou hast bidden. The ghastly details are left to the imagination.

Related Commentaries of Ezekiel 9:1

Ezekiel 9:1-11

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.

2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lietha 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.

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;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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