Ezekiel 9 Footnotes

9:2-4 The six men, each with a war club in his hand, were emissaries of judgment. With them was a man clothed in white linen carrying writing equipment. God instructed him to put a “mark” on every person who grieved over the abominations of idolatry. The word translated “mark” is taw, the name of the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In ancient Hebrew script the taw was shaped like an X or + (not as in the “square” script commonly used for Hebrew after the return from exile). Each one who received the mark would be spared. Christian interpreters view this mark as a type of the cross of Christ (Rv 7:3; 9:4). According to Jewish tradition the taw also represented the first letter in the word tichyeh, “you shall live.”

9:5-6 The merciless slaughter of those who did not have the “mark” seems out of character for God, who has made it clear that the taking of a human life is contrary to his will (Gn 9:6; Ex 20:13). Several considerations bear on this question. First, the OT names a number of crimes that were punishable by death, including some that were commonplace in Judah during the time of Ezekiel: advocating the worship of other gods (Dt 13:1-10) and sacrificing to false gods (Ex 22:20).

Second, it was permissible to take a life in the course of warfare. The command to kill those who were not grieved over Judah’s rebellion against the Lord is comparable to the command to exterminate the Canaanites during Israel’s occupation of the land (see note on Jos 6:17). A population steeped in pagan religion could not be allowed to remain, for it would tempt the people away from loyalty to the Lord.

Third, under the principle of corporate solidarity (see notes on Dt 2:34; 5:9; 19:6), all who participate in a sinful culture are tainted by its sin. The application of the protective “mark” was an act of mercy by which the Lord spared those faithful few who had not yielded to the general perversity of a society under judgment; the prophet interceded with the Lord on their behalf (Ezk 9:8). Finally, this passage was a vision given to Ezekiel in Babylon (see note on 8:1), not an act that was ever carried out. As extreme as the Lord’s command appeared, the actual killings in the streets of Jerusalem would be done by the Babylonian invaders, not the six warriors shown to Ezekiel. The slaughter in this passage was a word picture predicting the eventual doom of Jerusalem and its inhabitants because of the pervasive climate of sin; the whole nation was guilty of “bloodshed” and “perversity” (9:9-10).