Ezekiel 9:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 9:8
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?
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + paragogic he
face
פָּנַ֜יpa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
cried
וָאֶזְעַ֗קva.'ez.'Ak
H2199
to shriek (from anguish or danger) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
said
וָֽאֹמַר֙va.'o.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
Ah
אֲהָהּ֙'a.Hah
H162
Oh! · interjection
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֔הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
destroy
הֲמַשְׁחִ֣יתha.mash.Chit
H7843
to decay · interrogative particle + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
residue
שְׁאֵרִ֣יתshe.'e.Rit
H7611
a remainder or residual (surviving · noun, common feminine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
out
בְּשָׁפְכְּךָ֥be.sha.fe.ke.Kha
H8210
to spill forth (blood · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
fury
חֲמָתְךָ֖cha.ma.te.Kha
H2534
heat · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽםye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
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
Ezekiel 11:13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, a…
Numbers 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Numbers 16:45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
Joshua 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel,…
1 Chronicles 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretch…
Ezekiel 4:14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of…
Genesis 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Numbers 16:4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 9:5–end
In these verses we have,
I. A command given to the destroyers to do execution according to their commission. They stood by the brazen altar, waiting for orders; and orders are here given them to cut off and destroy all that were either guilty of, or accessory to, the abominations of Jerusalem, and that did not sigh and cry for them. Note, When God has gathered his wheat into his garner nothing remains but to burn up the chaff, Mat 3:12.
1. They are ordered to destroy all, (1.) Without exception. They must go through the city, and smite; they must slay utterly, slay to destruction, give them their death's wound. They must make no distinction of age or sex, but cut off old and young; neither t…
I was left--literally "there was left I." So universal seemed the slaughter that Ezekiel thought himself the only one left [CALVIN]. He was the only one left of the priests "in the sanctuary."
fell upon my face--to intercede for his countrymen (so Num 16:22).
all the residue--a plea drawn from God's covenant promise to save the elect remnant.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 9:8
Wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel, On thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? - These destroyers had slain the seventy elders, the twenty-five adorers of the sun, and the women that mourned for Tammuz; and on seeing this slaughter the prophet fell on his face, and began to make intercession.
John Gill on Ezekiel 9:8
And it came to pass, while they were slaying them,.... That were in the city:
and I was left; in the temple; and the only one that was left there, the rest were slain; for there were none marked in the temple, only in the city, Ezekiel 9:4;
that I fell upon my face; as a supplicant, with great humility:
and cried, and said; being greatly distressed with this awful providence:
ah, Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel; the ten tribes had been carried captive before; there only remained the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and these were now threatened with an utter destruction:
in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? shown in the destruction of men, both in the ci…
The Church Fathers
You see, even if it is the wicked who perish, nevertheless the souls of good people are likely to show compassion when they see people being punished; and you will find each of the good people and the inspired writers making earnest supplication for them.
It is, after all, the practice of the prophets and the just to grieve not only for themselves but for the rest of humanity. If you are inclined to check that, you will find them all giving evidence of this compassion—for example, you can listen to Isaiah's words, "Don't put yourself out to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people"; or Jeremiah, … "Who will pour water on my head and provide a fountain of tears for my eyes?" or Ezekiel, "Alas, Lord, will you destroy what remains of Israel?"
And when the slaughter was complete, I remained: and I fell upon my face, and crying out I said: Alas, Lord God, wilt thou then destroy all the remnant of Israel, pouring out thy fury upon Jerusalem? For when all those who did not have the seal were slain, the prophet fell down on his face, thinking that no one except himself had remained among the dead. And because this seemed to be contrary to the commandment that the Lord had given, that the men with sealed foreheads should not be slain, it was therefore removed from the Vulgate edition. But we, following the Hebrew truth, have established, I remained. And it should be noted that He did not say alone: as if He had said, it seemed to be contrary; but I remained, so that it is understood with the others who had marked foreheads. But in order to know distinctly what is said here, I remained, in the book of Kings, when Elijah speaks to God: Your altars have been demolished, and I alone have been left, and they seek to take my life (1 Kings 19:14); He said alone, because He did not know that others had remained. Some think that, from the person of the Lord in whose likeness Ezekiel preceded, this can be understood of the people of the Jews: when all turned aside, they became useless together (Psalm XIII). And the Prophet testifies: Save me, O Lord: for the holy one has failed (Psalm II, 1). For only the Lord has been found who did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth (1 Peter II). But what he inflicted, pouring out your fury upon Jerusalem, the word of outpouring shows the magnitude of the punishments, as we read elsewhere: Scorn has been poured out upon the princes (Psalm CVI, 40). And again: My steps have almost slipped (Psalm 73:2). And in a good way. The love of God has been poured out into our hearts (Romans 5:5). And: Grace has been poured upon your lips (Psalm 45:3). And on the contrary: Pour out your fury upon the nations that do not know you, and upon the kingdoms that do not invoke your name (Jeremiah 10; Psalm 79:6). And: Draw out your spear and stop those who pursue me (Psalm 35:3).
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 9:8
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?
8. Et factum est eum percuterent relictus fui ego: et cecidi super faciem meam, et clamavi, et dixi Aha [204] Dominator Iehovah, an delebis tu quidquid residunm est Israelis? [205] fundendo iracundiam tuam super Ierusalem.
The Prophet does not so carefully preserve the historical order in the context of the words. For he says, the Chaldeans had returned He afterwards adds, while they were striking the city that he fell upon his face. But we know this to be suf…
Intercession of the Prophet, and the Answer of the Lord
Eze 9:8. And it came to pass when they smote and I remained, I fell upon my face, and carried, and said: Alas! Lord Jehovah, wilt Thou destroy all the remnant of Israel, by pouring out Thy wrath upon Jerusalem? Eze 9:9. And He said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is immeasurably great, and the land is full of blood-guiltiness, and the city full of perversion; for they say Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah seeth not. Eze 9:10. So also shall my eye not look with pity, and I will not spare; I will give their way upon their head. Eze 9:11. And, behold, the man clothed in white linen, who had the writing materi…