DANIEL BLOCK: NICOT

3. YAHWEH’S RESPONSE TO THE ABOMINATIONS

IN THE TEMPLE (9:1–11)

9:1 Then he called out in my hearing with a loud voice,

“Bring on1 the city’s executioners. Let each one have his weapon
of destruction in his hand.”2 2 Then I noticed3 six men coming
from the direction of the upper gate, which faces4 north, each one
carrying his destructive weapon in his hand. Among them was
another man dressed in linen, with a scribe’s kit at his hips. They
entered and stopped next to the bronze altar.
3 (Now the glory of the God of Israel had risen from above
the cherub,5 over which it had been situated,6 and moved over to
the threshold of the building.)

[Ezek 1-24, p. 301]

He called out to the man dressed in linen, who had the

scribe’s kit at his hips. 4 “Take a tour7 of the city,8 Jerusalem, that
is,” Yahweh9 instructed him. “Mark an X10 on the foreheads of
those11 who moan and groan over all the abominations that are
being perpetrated inside it.” 5 To the rest he said in my hearing,
“Follow him12 through the city and slaughter. Do not let your eyes
show pity, and do not spare. 6 Massacre everyone, old men, and13
young men and maidens, and infants and women. But do not touch
any one who is marked with the X. You shall begin from my
sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of
the building.14 7 Then he said to them, “Desecrate the building,
and fill the courts with the victims. Go on out!” So they went out
and slaughtered15 all over the city.16
8 While they were slaughtering, I was left by myself.17 I fell
down18 on my face and cried out, “Horrors! O Lord Yahweh! Will
you annihilate the entire remnant of Israel by pouring out your
fury on Jerusalem?” 9 Then he answered, “The iniquity of the
house of Israel and [Ezek 1-24, p. 302] Judah has reached its
limit,19 the land has been filled with bloody crimes,20 and the city
is full of injustice,21 for they have said, ‘Yahweh has abandoned
the land; Yahweh does not see.’ 10 But as for me, my eyes will not
show pity, and I will not spare. I will bring their conduct down on
their own heads.”
11 And then the man dressed in linen with the scribe’s kit at
his hips reappeared, bringing back this report: “I have done just
as22 you commanded me.”

• Nature and Design

The editor of Ezekiel’s prophecies has worked hard to integrate

9:1–11 with its literary environment. Links with the preceding
account of the tour of the temple are strong: (1) The waw-
consecutive form of the first word represents a continuation of the
narrative sequence of ch. 8, especially the alternation of “And he
brought me …” and “And he said to me …” (2) The expression
bĕʾoznay (lit. “in my ears”) provides a verbal connection between
8:18 and 9:1, even though the respective roles are altered. (3) The
twofold occurrence of hinnēh (lit. “behold”), in vv. 2 and 11,
reminds the reader that this is still part of Ezekiel’s visionary
experience. (4) The “no-pity” formula with which ch. 8 had closed
is repeated twice, in 9:5 and 10. (5) The elders (zĕqēnı̂ m) before
the temple (9:6) are the same men about whom the prophet had
reported in 8:7–13. (6) The expression wattimmālēʾ hāʾāreṣ
dāmı̂ m, “the land is filled with bloody crimes,” in 9:9 echoes
mālĕʾû ʾet-hāʾāreṣ ḥāmās, “they have filled the land with
violence,” in 8:17. (6) Yahweh’s quotation of the people’s
rationalization (9:9) is an adaptation of the people’s own words in
8:12. By linking the texts this way, the editor of the material has
invited the reader to interpret ch. 9 as an expansion or exposition
of 8:18.
But this chapter also anticipates events still to come. Most
notably, by introducing the glory of Yahweh in v. 3 the editor has
not only set the stage for the departure of the glory (which takes up
most of ch. 10), but has also intentionally coordinated the themes
of divine judgment and divine abandonment. A second link is
provided by the man dressed in linen. To be sure, his role changes
from agent of life (ch. 9), marking all who are to be spared, [Ezek
1-24, p. 303] to agent of death, pouring the coals of divine wrath
upon the city (10:2) but the fact that one person should perform
both tasks highlights the interrelation between these chapters.
Even so, apart from the intrusive reference to the glory in v.
3, ch. 9 forms a tightly knit subunit with its own narrative plot and
style.23 Whereas the previous chapter had been dominated by
visual images, interrupted here and there by verbal comment, ch. 9
is dominated by aural activity: (1) Yahweh’s call for the
executioners (v. 1); (2) Yahweh’s charge to the man in linen (v. 3);
(3) his orders to the six men (vv. 5–7); (3) Ezekiel’s outburst (v.
8b); (4) Yahweh’s explanation (vv. 9–10); (5) the report of the man
in linen (v. 11b). The burden of the chapter is carried by direct
speech.
With respect to genre, while the narration of a vision
obviously continues, the account takes on a quasi-legal flavor, with
the prophet himself playing a quasi-legal role as a witness to the
proceedings that Yahweh has brought against his people. The
relationship between 8:5–18 and 9:1–11 corresponds to the link
between formal indictment and announcement of the sentence in
prophetic oracles of judgment. Contributing to this juridical style is
the employment of legal court vocabulary (qārĕbû, “Bring on,” v.
1; pĕquddôt, “executioners,” v. 1), the care taken by Yahweh to be
absolutely fair in his administration of justice, and the agent’s
report back to the divine judge that the sentence had been carried
out precisely as instructed (v. 11).
 1–2 No sooner has Yahweh avowed not to show any mercy
whatsoever toward his people, no matter how frantically they cry
out to him (8:18), than Ezekiel’s attention is seized by the sound of
a loud voice summoning the executioners to come forward24 and to
arm themselves with the instruments of destruction. Those
summoned are designated the city’s executioners (pĕquddôt hāʿı̂ r).
Because of its breadth of meanings, the verb pāqad has caused
translators a great deal of trouble. The present context requires that
pĕquddôt be understood as a quasi-legal designation for agents
who are charged with the execution of a sentence.25

[Ezek 1-24, p. 304]

The instruments with which the executioners are to do their

work are identified by means of two unique expressions. The
significance of kĕlı̂ mašḥēt, “instrument of destruction,” in v. 1 is
clear. mašḥēt is a hapax, but a closely related cognate, mašḥı̂ t,
“destruction,” has appeared in 5:16, and reappears in 9:6, 21:36
(Eng. 21:31), and 25:15.26 In v. 2 the weapons are referred to as
kĕlı̂ mappāṣ, “instrument of shattering.” mappāṣ is also a hapax
form, but it derives from a common verb nāpaṣ, “to shatter.” A
close cognate, mappēṣ, denotes a war club in Jer. 51:20, a context
in which both verbs, hišḥı̂ t and nāpaṣ, occur. But the instrument
envisioned by Ezekiel is probably not a sword, even though the
verb associated with it, nkh (Hiphil), “to strike,” is commonly
associated with this weapon.
The ambiguity of pĕquddôt leaves the prophet and the reader
wondering who or what will respond to Yahweh’s appeal. Will
they be plague forces, angelic beings, or human agents?27 The
answer to the question is not long in coming: six men emerge from
the upper gate. The nearer definition of the gate as “the one which
faces north” suggests an identification with the one named in 8:14.
However, this may also be the gate of the outer court, the one
Jotham had built (2 K. 15:35), or “the upper gate of Benjamin that
was by the house of Yahweh,” where Jeremiah had been beaten
and put in stocks (Jer. 20:2).28
Nothing more is said of these men, except that they were
carrying the weapons that had been called for. But in their midst is
a seventh figure, a man dressed in linen and equipped with a
scribe’s case. Linen was the fabric used for the dress of priests
(Exod. 28:29–42) and angelic beings (Dan. 10:5; 12:6–7), two
classes of beings directly involved in divine service. Whether this
person is a priestly or angelic figure cannot be determined, though
his [Ezek 1-24, p. 305] role in the following events (10:1–8)
seems to argue for the latter.29 It is obvious from this person’s
equipment that his position in Jerusalem differed from that of the
other six men. On his hips he carried a scribe’s kit (qeset
hassōpēr). qeset is a loanword from Egyp. gsty, which designated a
palette with a slot for the pen and hollowed out containers for ink,
usually two, for red and black ink, respectively.30 These seven men
proceed into the court and stop in front of the bronze altar. Its
location is not specified, but this must have been the altar
originally built by Solomon (1 K. 8:16; 2 Chr. 4:1), which Ahaz
had relocated to the northeast corner of the temple to make room
for his own pagan altar (2 K. 16:14).
3 At this point Ezekiel’s attention shifts from the men in the
court to the sight of the divine glory lifting up from the cherub.
The reader is familiar with the full expression, the glory of the God
of Israel, from 8:4, which functions as a stylistic variant of “the
glory of Yahweh.”31 However, the word cherub occurs here for the
first time in the book. Even though the plural form is common
elsewhere, the present singular need not be considered erroneous.32
Not only does it agree with the suffix on the following ʿālāyw; the
next chapter repeatedly employs singular forms (10:2, 4, 7, 9, 11).
The present singular [Ezek 1-24, p. 306] may be intentional, to
distinguish this figure from the kĕrûbı̂ m that will play such an
important role in ch. 10. Although the derivation of kĕrûb remains
a mystery, in part because the root is unattested in other West
Semitic languages, some connection with Akk. kurı̄bu, a genus of
divine or semidivine beings, seems likely.33 But Ezekiel’s use of
hakkĕrûb, “the cherub,” is best understood in the light of authentic
Israelite tradition. According to Exod. 25:18–22 and 37:7–9, two
sculpted golden cherubim facing each other from opposite ends
formed an integral part of the special cover of the ark of the
covenant (hakkappōret).34 From his position between these
cherubim inside the holy of holies, Yahweh used to speak to Moses
(Exod. 25:22; Num. 7:89). Indeed, Yahweh was perceived as
enthroned above the creatures.35 When Solomon built the temple,
inside the holy of holies he placed two gigantic fifteen-foot
cherubim, whose wings filled the room, and beneath them the ark
was assigned its permanent resting place.36
Being of priestly descent, Ezekiel was undoubtedly familiar
with the images of the cherubim in the temple. Apparently this
vision offered him an opportunity that was impossible in real life a
look into the inner sanctum of the divine palace, the holy of holies.
There he observes the glory of Yahweh rise from its throne, above
the ark of the covenant, and move to the threshold of the temple.
For Ezekiel the movement of the divine glory would have had
ominous significance. It signaled Yahweh’s suspension of rule and
raised the possibility of his departure from the city. The people’s
accusation/rationalization that Yahweh has abandoned them is
about to be fulfilled, and when that happens there will be no hope.
By inserting this observation here the author has intentionally
correlated Yahweh’s departure with the judgment of Jerusalem.
The narrative of the executioners resumes in v. 3b with
Yahweh issuing a charge to his agents of judgment, the speaker
being named for the first time. There has not been any question of
his identity prior to this, but by inserting the tetragrammaton at this
point the author has emphasized that the sentence which is about to
be imposed on the people of Jerusalem comes from the deity who
resides and reigns from the temple.
[Ezek 1-24, p. 307]

4 The most important role in the execution of the sentence is

assigned to the scribe with the writing kit. He is to scour the city
for signs of repentance. The translation moan and groan attempts
to preserve the rhyme and assonance of hāʾănāšı̂ m hanneʾĕnāḥı̂ m
wĕhanneʾĕnāqı̂ m.37 neʾĕnāḥ will resurface in 21:11–12 (Eng. 6–7),
where the moaning will be a symptom of a broken heart and
intense grief over impending doom.38 In 24:17 neʾĕnāq describes
the grief that Ezekiel expresses over the death of his wife. Here the
scribe is to search for individuals who will display a similar
emotion over all the abominations (tôʿēbôt) being perpetrated in
Jerusalem people who will look upon these evils from God’s
perspective, recognizing the incongruity between prevailing
practices and the standards of the covenant Lord.
Those who exhibit this response are to be marked with a tāw
on the forehead. Taw is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In
the archaic cursive script it had the shape of an X or a cross, a form
that remained essentially unchanged from the early stages of the
evolution of the alphabet until the adoption of the square Aramaic
script. It is preserved to this day in Western scripts as T.39 This
taw, placed on the foreheads, the most visible part of the body, was
to serve as a distinguishing mark to separate the righteous from the
wicked. Like the blood on the doorposts of the Israelites’ houses
on the night of the Passover (Exod. 12) and the scarlet cord in
Rahab’s window (Josh. 2:18–21; 6:22–25), it was a sign (cf. LXX
τος σημεῖον) of hope.40 However, since in ancient custom the taw
also served as a mark of ownership, the possibility that this mark
represented Yahweh’s signature, his claim on those who were
citizens of the true kingdom of God, deserves consideration.41
5–6 Ezekiel overhears Yahweh deliver instructions to the
executioners: they are to follow the scribe through the city and
slaughter everyone whom he does not mark. The order highlights
the thoroughness with which they are to conduct their campaign.
First, the “no pity” formula forbids them [Ezek 1-24, p. 308] from
showing any mercy.42 Second, they are to “slay to the point of
destruction/annihilation” (taharĕgû lĕmašḥı̂ t). Third, old men
(zāqēn), youths (bāḥûr), maidens (bĕtûlâ), infants (ṭap), and
women (nāšı̂ m) are singled out as prime targets.43 The omissions
from this catalogue are as significant as the entries. Strong men
(haggibbōrı̂ m) or men of war (ʾanšê milḥāmâ) are not named,
presumably because they would already have borne the brunt of
the slaughter in battle. Instead Yahweh singles out the defenseless,
the frail, and the innocent, those who seek refuge behind a city’s
walls in times of crisis.
Yahweh instructs the executioners to begin their massacre at
my sanctuary (miqdāšı̂ ). The issue here is not that people would
retreat to the temple as a last refuge,44 but that the temple,
Yahweh’s own residence, is the place where Israelite apostasy and
defiance are most visibly expressed (8:5–18). Consequently, the
temple itself must suffer from the violence of the executioners. The
holy place is to be desecrated and defiled by being filled with
corpses.45 The same sentence Yahweh had previously pronounced
upon the pagan cultic installations (6:4–5, 13) he now directs at his
own residence. Not only had the abominations already defiled the
entire temple complex; with the departure of the glory the sanctity
of the “house of Yahweh” is to be neutralized, a process sensitively
reflected in the switch from miqdāšı̂ , “my sanctuary,” in v. 6c, to
habbayit, “the building,” in vv. 6d–7a.
The executioners respond immediately; even before Yahweh
has finished giving his orders, they begin attacking the old men
(hāʾănāšı̂ m hazzĕqēnı̂ m) in front of the temple. But who are these
men? Three candidates exist: the senior citizens referred to in v.
6a, the seventy civic officials involved in the abominations in the
dark room (8:11), and the twenty-five sun-worshipers prostrating
themselves at the front of the temple (8:16). The [Ezek 1-24, p.
309] appositional expression hāʾănāšı̂ m hazzĕqēnı̂ m is probably
intended as a general designation for all participants in the cultic
abominations in Yahweh’s own temple.46
We are not told whether the scribe discovered any persons in
the city who grieved over its sinful condition. In v. 11 he simply
announces that he has carried out the divine order of searching for
candidates for the taw.47 In the account the possibility of
exemption from the judgment for the righteous is totally
subordinated to the thoroughness with which the punishment is
inflicted on the wicked. The vision emphasizes that all who are
guilty will be slain. There is no more hope! Ezekiel’s sudden
verbal outburst and his imploring gesture of prostration in v. 8
demonstrate that this was how he interpreted the vision.
8 Recognizing his isolation (I was left by myself), he asks
Yahweh whether he intends to carry out this genocidal massacre
until no one is left. His use of the expression remnant of Israel
(šĕʾērı̂ t yiśrāʾēl) acknowledges that the population of Judah and
Jerusalem represents all that is left of Israel. Through a series of
disasters at the hands of foreign invaders the once great nation has
been brought to the verge of extinction: the loss of Galilee and the
Transjordan and the deportation of its population in 733 B.C. (2 K.
15:29); the fall of Samaria and with it the end of the northern
kingdom in 722 (2 K. 17:1–6); the conquest of Judah by
Nebuchadrezzar and the deportation of the upper classes to
Babylon (2 K. 24). All that remained was a rump state centered in
Jerusalem, and now Ezekiel fears that this outpouring of divine
wrath will signal the end of the nation.48
9–11 Yahweh’s answer to Ezekiel’s question appears
affirmative. He justifies his fury by citing four causes of
provocation: (1) the extent49 and intensity of the people’s iniquity
(ʿāwōn); (2) the violence/bloodshed (dāmı̂ m) that fills the land; (3)
the injustice that fills the city; (4) the charge or rationalization that
Yahweh has abandoned his land and no longer looks on his people.
On the surface, the last charge, expressed in the form of a
quotation, appears simply to repeat the people’s rationalization in
8:12. However, reversing the parallel lines achieves a subtle but
significant shift in emphasis.50 [Ezek 1-24, p. 310] Furthermore,
whereas the previous statement had cited Yahweh’s oblivion and
departure as a justification for all kinds of cultic abominations,
here they rationalize moral and ethical crimes. In response to this
evil, Yahweh reiterates the irrevocability of his decision with the
“no pity” formula and his determination to bring the people’s
conduct down on their own heads.51 Closure is brought to the
scene by the return of the scribe, who announces that he has
carried out his commission in full.
The primary focus of this phase of the vision is clearly on the
punishment of the wicked.52 The command to the scribe to mark
those who moan and groan over the abominations in Jerusalem
serves as a foil to highlight several features of the imminent
outpouring of divine wrath. First, it affirms the justice of God and
his desire to spare the righteous the due punishment of the wicked.
Second, the fact that the destruction begins with the defenseless
highlights the totality of Jerusalemite depravity. As in the Great
Flood (Gen. 6–9), the judgment must be thorough; the slate must
be wiped clean. Third, those who are marked for exemption are not
merely the innocent or those who desist from evil, but those who
are actively righteous they moan and groan over the sins of the
city. Fourth, since the righteous are marked, the fate of the wicked
is sealed. For them there is no hope of escape.53

EXCURSUS: THE AFTERLIFE OF THE TAW ON

THE FOREHEAD

Ezekiel’s picture of a scribe scouring the city of Jerusalem for

righteous persons and marking their foreheads with a taw has had a
special place in both Jewish and Christian tradition. Probably the
earliest witness to this interest is provided by the Damascus
Document, a sectarian text from the intertestamental period that
played an important role in the Qumran community.54 This
document asserts that at the time of the final judgment, the scene
described in Ezek. 9 will be repeated: only those bearing the taw
on their foreheads will be saved. The addition of the article to the
word that is anarthrous in Ezek. 9:4 suggests that it has become a
technical expression for [Ezek 1-24, p. 311] the X mark.55 Pss.
Sol. 15 (1st century B.C.) contemplates the divergent fates of the
wicked and the righteous in the day of the Lord’s judgment. Vv. 6–
9 allude clearly to Ezekiel’s taw:

For God’s mark (σημεῖον) is on the righteous for (their) salvation.

Famine and sword and death shall be far from the righteous;
for they will retreat from the devout like those pursued by famine.
But they shall pursue sinners and overtake them,
for those who act lawlessly shall not escape the Lord’s judgment.
They shall be overtaken as by those experienced in war,
for on their forehead (is) the mark (σημεῖον) of destruction.56

The mark of the righteous was undoubtedly the taw, but the nature
of the mark for the wicked is not indicated. The Talmud (b. Šabb.
55a) answers the latter issue as follows:

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Gabriel, Go and set a taw of
ink upon the foreheads of the righteous, that the destroying angels
may have no power over them; and the taw of blood upon the
foreheads of the wicked, that the destroying angels may have
power over them.

Another rabbinic tradition treats the taw on the righteous as a

symbol for freedom, but the mark on the wicked was a theta,
representing thanatos, “death.”57 How little agreement there was
concerning the actual significance of the taw is reflected in the
paragraph that follows the quotation from b. Šabb. 55a cited above.
This paragraph reports a series of scholars’ suggestions: “Said
Rab: Taw [stands for] tiḥyeh [thou shalt live], taw [stands for]
tamuth [thou shalt die]. Samuel said: The taw denotes that the
merits of the Patriarchs are exhausted [tamah]. R. Johanan said:
The merit of the Patriarchs will confer grace [taḥon]. While Resh
Lakish said: Taw is the end of the seal of the Holy One, blessed be
He. For R. Ḥanina said: The seal of the Holy One, blessed be He,
is emeth [truth]. R. Samuel b. Naḥmani said: It denotes the people
who fulfilled the Torah from alef to taw.”

[Ezek 1-24, p. 312]

Origen is familiar with the last suggestion. Recording the

results of his investigation of the Jews’ understanding of the taw he
wrote:

Upon inquiring of the Jews whether they can relate [to me] any
traditional teaching regarding the Taw, I heard the following. One
of them said that in the order of the Hebrew letters the Taw is the
last of the twenty-two consonantal sounds. The last consonant is
therefore taken as proof of the perfection of those who, because of
their virtue, moan and groan over the sinners among the people and
suffer together with the transgressors. Another said that the Taw
symbolizes the observers of the Law. Since the Law, which is
called Tora by the Jews, begins [its name] with the consonant Taw,
it is a symbol of those who live according to the Law. A third
[Jew], one of those who believe in Christ, said the form of the Taw
in the old [Hebrew] script resembles the cross [τοῦ σταυροῦ], and it
predicts the mark which is to be placed on the foreheads of the
Christians.58

In view of the extensive links between Exod. 12 and Ezek. 9,

especially the identification of those to be spared by means of a
sign, early Jewish commentators on Ezek. 9 quite naturally
referred to the blood of the paschal lamb as a mark of salvation.59
However, when the church fathers began to link the mark of
Ezekiel and the blood of the Passover lamb to the cross and blood
of Christ,60 the Jews reversed their position. The blood became a
sign of doom instead of life. As in b. Šabb. 55a, the taw on the
righteous was now of ink, and its function was to assure them of a
quick and easy death before the destroying angels could reach
them and torture them.61
The earliest Christian allusion to Ezek. 9 occurs in Rev. 7:2–
3, which [Ezek 1-24, p. 313] describes the sealing of the
144,000.62 When these texts are compared, however, the contrasts
are as significant as the parallels. John identifies the figure who
places the mark on the righteous as an angel (ἄγγελος). The taw is
replaced by a seal, which not only highlights the ownership
significance of the mark but also provides a basis for the
identification of those marked as the slaves of God (δούλους τοῦ
Ηεοῦ). Furthermore, John notes that the angel found many who
qualified for the seal. Indeed, this remnant of Israel has strong and
equal representation from all the tribes, which reminds the readers
that in the long run Ezekiel’s fear was unfounded.
Given the X-shape of the taw, it was perhaps inevitable that
the church fathers should seize on Ezekiel’s sign as a symbol of the
cross. Origen’s views have already been cited, but Tertullian (2nd–
3rd century) wrote of the apostles and the faithful being signed and
sealed as follows:

The Lord said unto me, Pass through in the midst of the gate in the
midst of Jerusalem, and set the mark TAU on the foreheads of the
men. For this same letter TAU of the Greeks, which is our T, has
the appearance of the cross, which he foresaw we should have on
our foreheads in the true and catholic Jerusalem.… And since all
these are found in use with you also, the sign on the foreheads, and
the sacraments of the churches, and the pureness of the sacrifices,
you ought at once to break forth and affirm that it was for your
Christ that the Creator’s Spirit prophesied.63
Although this interpretation receives considerable popular support
to this day,64 Greenhill recognized centuries ago that it is difficult
to sustain exegetically. Taking his cue from the LXX (σημεῖον),
this seventeenth-century exegete argued that the taw was not the
last letter of the alphabet, but simply a sign in general. He adds,

This sign was no corporeal sign, as if the Lord had made

some impression in their foreheads, whereby to distinguish them

from others; for this was a vision, not to be taken really, but in a

spiritual sense. The Lord Christ took special notice of these, and

did distinguish them by special providence from those who were to

perish in the destruction of the city: he did not go up and down

from house to house, and set a mark on their foreheads, he applied

his blood and merits, and sealed them by his Spirit; not that [Ezek

1-24, p. 314] they were not washed in the blood of Christ before,

but now there was a new and special evidence of it.65