Ezekiel 9:9
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The prophet had, in vision, seen the wickedness that was committed at Jerusalem, in the foregoing chapter, and we may be sure that it was not represented to him worse than really it was; now here follows, of course, a representation of their ruin approaching; for when sin goes before judgments come next. Here is, I. Preparation made of instruments that were to be employed in the destruction of the city (Eze 9:1, Eze 9:2). II. The removal of the Shechinah from the cherubim to the threshold of the temple (Eze 9:3). III. Orders given to one of the persons employed, who is distinguished from the rest, for the marking of a remnant to be preserved from the common destruction (Eze 9:3, Eze 9:4). IV. The warrant signed for the execution of those that were not marked, and the execution begun accordingly (Eze 9:5-7). V. The prophet's intercession for the mitigation of the sentence, and a denial of any mitigation, the decree having now gone forth (Eze 9:8-10). VI. The report made by him that was to mark the pious remnant of what he had done in that matter (Eze 9:11). And this shows a usual method of Providence in the government of the world.
Open source ↗9:9-10 The Lord replied that he would fully repay Israel’s sins (but see 9:3-4, 11).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
Forge the chain, for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence.
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,