Ezekiel 9:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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.
a man as an individual or a male person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
among
בְּתוֹכָם֙be.to.Kham
H8432
a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
clothed
לָבֻ֣שׁla.Vush
H3847
properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
linen
בַּדִּ֔יםba.Dim
H906
flaxen thread or yarn · noun, common masculine plural absolute
writer’s
הַסֹּפֵ֖רha.so.Fer
H5608
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
inkhorn
וְקֶ֥סֶתve.Ke.set
H7083
properly · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
side
בְּמָתְנָ֑יוbe.ma.te.Nav
H4975
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
in
וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙vai.ya.Vo.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
stood
וַיַּ֣עַמְד֔וּvai.Ya.'am.Du
H5975
to stand · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
beside
אֵ֖צֶל'E.tzel
H681
a side · noun, common both genders singular construct
brasen
הַנְּחֹֽשֶׁתha.ne.Cho.shet
H5178
copper · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
altar
מִזְבַּ֥חmiz.Bach
H4196
an altar · noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Leviticus 16:4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with…
Ezekiel 10:2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of f…
2 Kings 15:35 Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the…
Ezekiel 10:6-7 And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cher…
Revelation 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with…
Exodus 27:1-7 And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof…
Exodus 40:29 And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering…
2 Chronicles 4:1 Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height there…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 9:1-4
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 o…
clothed with linen-- (Dan 10:5; Dan 12:6-7). 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 12:6-7). Therefore the intercessory High Priest in heaven must be meant (Zac 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 Ti1 2:5). Salvation is peculiarly assigned to Him,…
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.
John Gill on Ezekiel 9:2
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, Jeremiah 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 2 King…
The Church Fathers
(Verses 2, 3) And behold, six men were coming from the way of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. And there was one man among them clothed in linen, with a scribe's inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. And the glory of the God (Vulgate: Lord) of Israel went up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the scribe's inkhorn at his side. According to the lines, which we have interpreted alongside Symmachus, LXX, ποδήρη; Theodotius translated the Hebrew word Baddim (); Aquila, the chief, interpreted. Again, when we said, and the writer's inkwell at his kidneys, they put LXX: And a sapphire belt on his kidneys; Theodotius, the scribal pen in his hand; Aquila, μελανοδοχεῖον, that is, the writer's inkwell at his loins; Symmachus had writing tablets at his kidneys. And when we moved, the threshold of the house, the Seventy and Theodotion, the open area, that is, placed the entrance under the sky. As for the vase, which each man held in his hands, only the Seventy interpreted it as an axe. Therefore, in order to atone for the sins of man, who were made on the sixth day of the creation of the world, six men come and descend from the upper gate, or as the Seventy translated, the heights to the North. And each person had an ax in their hands, about which John speaks: For now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Matt. III, Luke III, 9). And in the middle of the six men there was one, that is, the seventh, dressed in the garments of a high priest, made of linen, and he had a scribe's inkwell at his kidneys, with which he would record the sins of all and separate the number of holy individuals from the sinners: or a sapphire belt of the color of a sapphire stone, which is in the ornaments of the high priest. Six men went out and stood next to the brazen altar. There were two altars: one for burning incense, golden inside; and the other in front of the temple, bronze for burnt offerings. They are said to stand ready by the altar to carry out the commands of the one who commands, so that if they see any sins not forgiven there, they may know the judgment of the Lord and subject themselves to his punishment. The glory of the God of…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Armour — Is employed in the English Bible to denote military equipment, both offensive and defensive. (1.) The offensive weapons were different at different periods of history. The “rod of iron” (Ps. 2:9) is…
Inkhorn — The Hebrew word so rendered means simply a round vessel or cup for containing ink, which was generally worn by writers in the girdle (Ezek. 9:2, 3, 11). The word “inkhorn” was used by the…
Writing — The art of writing must have been known in the time of the early Pharaohs. Moses is commanded “to write for a memorial in a book” (Ex. 17:14) a record of the attack of Amalek. Frequent mention is…
Girdles · Used for: Suspending the inkhorn — Used for: Suspending the inkhorn
Inkhorn · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Linen · .For men ma — .For men ma
Scribes · Wore an inkhorn at their girdles — Wore an inkhorn at their girdles
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ezekiel 9:2
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 band; 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.
2. Et ecce sex viri venientes e via portae superioris [195] quae est e regione aquilonis: et cuique [196] instrumentum mallei sui [197] in manu sua: et vir unus in medio ipsorum vestitus lineis, [198] et atramentarium scribae in lumbis ejus: et venerunt, et steterunt e regione altaris aenei.
Now the Prophet writes that God's command was not vain or empty, because the effect appears directly by vision. There…
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…
The prophet did not have to wait long for judgment to come. The Lord summoned his angelic warriors to punish the city, and seven men appeared in response. Six men each carried a deadly weapon, while the seventh was dressed in linen and carried a writer’s case. They stood ready for action in the Temple courtyard, next to the bronze altar where sacrifices were normally offered.
Rashi on Ezekiel 9:2
six men Our Rabbis explained them in Tractate Shabbath (55a) as Anger, Wrath, Fury, Destroyer, Breaker, Annihilator.
his sledgehammer Heb. כְּלִי מַפַּצוֹ, which smashes everything, as in (Ps. 137: 9): “and dash (וְנִפֵּץ) your infants.”
with a scribe’s tablet [Synonymous with] פִּנְקַס. These are wax- covered tablets upon which they engrave with a stylus.
beside the copper altar This was the stone altar erected by Solomon instead of the copper altar that Moses had made in the desert.
