What does Ezechiel Chapter 9 say, and which statements belong to its speaker?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Armed men and a writer gather. Thau marks mourners of abominations. Slaughter and intercession precede a mission report.

Chapter breakdown

Ezechiel 9 hears a loud cry announcing the city's visitation and destroying weapons. Six men come from the upper north-facing gate, and one man in their midst wears linen with a writer's inkhorn. They stand by the brazen altar. The Lord's glory rises from the cherub to the house's threshold and calls the linen-clad man. The account does not resolve this into seven men or five executioners, call the linen white, or locate the cherub above an ark.

The man must go through Jerusalem and mark Thau on foreheads of men sighing and mourning over its abominations. The edition explains Tau as the last Hebrew letter and a sign, noting translations that leave the mark unspecified and St Jerome and others' conclusion that its ancient form was a cross. Baptismal consecration, apocalyptic sealing and medieval reception are not in this annotation. Others must follow and strike without pity, killing old and young, maidens, children and women, but not those with Thau. They begin with ancient men before the sanctuary and fill courts and city with slain.

After slaughter Ezechiel remains, falls on his face and asks whether all Israel's remnant will be destroyed. The reply names exceeding iniquity, blood-filled land, perverse city and the claim that the Lord has forsaken earth and does not see. Unsparing recompense follows. The linen-clad man reports that he has done as commanded; the text does not describe a return to a throne or establish a general rule about when prophetic intercession is impossible.

The story inside

Opening: Armed men and a writer gather. Development: Thau marks mourners of abominations. Conclusion: Slaughter and intercession precede a mission report.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Armed men and a writer gather.
2
Thau marks mourners of abominations.
3
Slaughter and intercession precede a mission report.

Test your recall

Which images and requests does the speaker use, and what does the chapter leave unresolved?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 91969–91977
9:1. And he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying: The visitations of the city are at hand, and every one hath a destroying weapon in his hand. 9:2. And behold six men came from the way of the upper gate, which looketh to the north: and each one had his weapon of destruction in his hand: and there was one man in the midst of them clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn at his reins: and they went in, and stood by the brazen altar.
Lines 91979–91993
9:3. And the glory of the Lord of Israel went up from the cherub, upon which he was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man that was clothed with linen, and had a writer’s inkhorn at his loins. 9:4. And the Lord said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem: and mark Thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst thereof. Mark Thau.... Thau, or Tau, is the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and signifies a sign, or a mark; which is the reason why some translators render this place set a mark, or mark a mark without specifying what this mark was. But St. Jerome, and other interpreters, conclude it was the form of the letter Thau, which in the ancient Hebrew character, was the form of a cross.
Lines 91995–92005
9:5. And to the others he said in my hearing: Go ye after him through the city, and strike: let not your eyes spare, nor be ye moved with pity. 9:6. Utterly destroy old and young, maidens, children and women: but upon whomsoever you shall see Thau, kill him not, and begin ye at my sanctuary. So they began at the ancient men who were before the house. 9:7. And he said to them: Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew them that were in the city.
Lines 92007–92015
9:8. And the slaughter being ended I was left; and I fell upon my face, and crying, I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, wilt thou then destroy all the remnant of Israel, by pouring out thy fury upon Jerusalem? 9:9. And he said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel, and of Juda, is exceeding great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is filled with perverseness: for they have said: The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.
Lines 92017–92022
9:10. Therefore neither shall my eye spare, nor will I have pity: I will requite their way upon their head. 9:11. And behold the man that was clothed with linen, that had the inkhorn at his back, returned the word, saying: I have done as thou hast commanded me.