Bible Strands
Ezekiel 9:2
And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a weapon of slaughter in his hand. With them was another man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel sees six men approaching from the Upper Gate facing north, each holding a weapon of slaughter, alongside a linen-clad man carrying a writing kit. They enter the sanctuary and stand beside the bronze altar immediately after the Lord’s loud command for the city’s executioners to draw near.
The words — וְ/הִנֵּ֣ה (ve./hi.Neh) literally renders as "and/there!" to mark the sudden appearance of the vision’s agents. אֲנָשִׁים ('a.na.Shim) means "men," specifying the human-like figures deployed for the coming judgment.
The thread — The linen garment worn by the scribe parallels the sacred linen tunic prescribed for the high priest in Leviticus 16:4 and reappears when the Lord addresses the same figure in Ezekiel 10:2. The vision’s emphasis on precise sanctuary judgment stands against the unaddressed high places and continued pagan sacrifice recorded in 2 Kings 15:35.
Why it lands — The text records that divine judgment follows a strict sequence: arrival at a designated gate, positioning at the altar, and the presence of a recorder before any action begins. It requires the reader to note that God’s verdict is executed through documented, orderly procedure rather than unchecked force.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 16:4 He is to wear the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments. He must tie a linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are holy garments, and he must bathe himself with water before he wears them.
- Ezekiel 10:2 And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.
- 2 Kings 15:35 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD.
- Ezekiel 10:6 When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
- Revelation 15:6 And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests.
- Exodus 27:1 “You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
- Exodus 40:29 He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded him.
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
- 2 Chronicles 27:3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD, and he worked extensively on the wall at the hill of Ophel.
- Jeremiah 1:15 For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.