Ezekiel 9:5

5 And to the others he said in mine ears, `Pass on into the city after him, and smite; your eye doth not pity, nor do ye spare;

Ezekiel 9:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 9:5

And, to the others he said in mine hearing
To the other six men that had the slaughter weapons in their hands: go ye after him through the city;
that is, after the man clothed with linen; for he was sent out first to take care of the righteous, and preserve them; and the rest were not suffered to stir till he was gone; and then they are bid to go after him. The Syriac version is,

``to them that were with him he said to them before me, go through the city after me;''

as if these were the words of the man clothed with linen to the other six; and so the Arabic version; of it the other is the true reading, and gives the right sense, as the following words show: and smite;
the inhabitants of the city: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity;
not that the Chaldeans were inclined to mercy and pity, for they were a cruel and barbarous people; but this is said to show the resentment of God against the sins of the Jews; and that it was his will they should act the severe part they did.

Ezekiel 9:5 In-Context

3 And the honour of the God of Israel hath gone up from off the cherub, on which it hath been, unto the threshold of the house.

4 And He calleth unto the man who is clothed with linen, who hath the scribe's inkhorn at his loins, and Jehovah saith unto him, `Pass on into the midst of the city, into the midst of Jerusalem, and thou hast made a mark on the foreheads of the men who are sighing and who are groaning for all the abominations that are done in its midst.'

5 And to the others he said in mine ears, `Pass on into the city after him, and smite; your eye doth not pity, nor do ye spare;

6 aged, young man, and virgin, and infant, and women, ye do slay -- to destruction; and against any man on whom [is] the mark ye do not go nigh, and from My sanctuary ye begin.'

7 And they begin among the aged men who [are] before the house, and He saith unto them, `Defile the house, and fill the courts with the wounded, go forth.' And they have gone forth and have smitten in the city.