Ezekiel 9
[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.
[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.
<<SIX MEN>>: Eisemann (Artscroll Commentary: "Yechezkel") explains
the Sages (in Midrashim) as explaining that: Or these were actually angles
of destruction or they were men representing the higher forces of devastation.<<THE
WAY OF THE HIGHER GATE>> The north-east side of the Temple.
[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;
<<FROM THE CHERUB>>: There were actually two cherubim (angelic
childlike figures) placed over the Ark. One tradition says that these were
taken to Babylon with the exiles; another tradition says they were buried
somewhere on the Temple Mount or near it. Eisemann quotes traditions that
say that at times of favor the two cherubs became joined and could be counted
as one. At a higher level the very act of God punishing us carries within
it the foundation for reconciliation and unity.
[Ezekiel 9:4] 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.
"A MARK": In Hebrew "tav" signifying the last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.
In the Old Hebrew script ("Canaanite") a "tav" usually looked like an "X".
"Tav" represents the English sound "t" or "th".
[Ezekiel 9:5] 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:
[Ezekiel 9:6] SLAY UTTERLY OLD AND YOUNG, BOTH MAIDS, AND LITTLE CHILDREN,
AND WOMEN: BUT COME NOT NEAR ANY MAN UPON WHOM IS THE MARK; AND BEGIN AT
MY SANCTUARY. THEN THEY BEGAN AT THE ANCIENT MEN WHICH WERE BEFORE THE HOUSE.
[Ezekiel 9:7] 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.
[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?
<<AND I WAS LEFT>>: Hebrew: "Ve-Ne-Ashar" written in an unusual
(full) "Canaanite" way. This usage is supportive of the interpretations of
Orjan Svensson. Orjan has interpreted several runic stones in his home district
of Sweden as having been written in an Old Hebrew dialect in some cases and
in an Aramaic-Old Hebrew dialect in others.
[Ezekiel 9:9] THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, THE INIQUITY OF
THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH IS EXCEEDING GREAT, AND THE LAND IS FULL OF
BLOOD, AND THE CITY FULL OF PERVERSENESS: FOR THEY SAY, THE LORD HATH FORSAKEN
THE EARTH, AND THE LORD SEETH NOT.
<<THE INIQUITY OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH>>: "Judah"
and the Lost Ten Tribes?<<THE LAND IS FULL OF BLOOD>>: There
were too many murderers going unpunished. In principle the Bible stands for
the death penalty for murder BUT liberal room for exceptions should exist.
The Bible does exact from us the need to have strict law enforcement and
to put away wrong doers who corrupt others.
<<WHOSO SHEDDETH MAN'S BLOOD, BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED: FOR IN THE IMAGE OF GOD MADE HE MAN.
<< AND YOU, BE YE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY; BRING FORTH ABUNDANTLY IN THE EARTH, AND MULTIPLY THEREIN>> [Genesis 9:6].
[Ezekiel 9:10] AND AS FOR ME ALSO, MINE EYE SHALL
NOT SPARE, NEITHER WILL I HAVE PITY, BUT I WILL RECOMPENSE THEIR WAY UPON
THEIR HEAD.
[Ezekiel 9:11] AND, BEHOLD, THE MAN CLOTHED WITH LINEN, WHICH HAD THE INKHORN
BY HIS SIDE, REPORTED THE MATTER, SAYING, I HAVE DONE AS THOU HAST COMMANDED
ME.
EZEKIEL INDEX
chapter ten
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