Ezekiel 9

And he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying: The visitations of the city have drawn near. For 'visitations' the Seventy translated 'vengeance': for Mine indeed is vengeance, and I will repay, says the Lord, and every vengeance is a visitation, as of one who is sick, as of one who has wounds, as of one who awaits the hands of physicians, according to what is written elsewhere: I will visit their iniquities with the rod, and their sins with scourges; but my mercy I will not take away from them. And rightly, as we said above, visitation or vengeance is said to draw near, with the captivity close at hand.

And each one has a vessel of slaughter in his hand. He did not say 'had', as the Seventy translated, for he is not narrating things past, but shows things present and future. Whoever, therefore, strikes the wicked in that they are wicked, and has vessels of slaughter to kill the worst, is a minister of the Lord.

And behold, six men were coming from the way of the upper gate which looks toward the north, and each one a vessel of destruction in his hand; and one man in their midst clothed in linen, and a writer's inkhorn at his reins; and they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. And the glory of the Lord of Israel was taken up from the Cherub over whom it was, to the threshold of the house; and he called the man who was clothed in linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his loins. For 'linen', which we translated following Symmachus, the Seventy translated ποδήρη [a robe reaching to the feet], Theodotion the Hebrew word itself, 'baddim', Aquila 'choice things'; again, where we said: And a writer's inkhorn at his reins, the Seventy put: And a sapphire girdle upon his reins, Theodotion: Κάστυ [inkhorn] of the scribe in his hand, Aquila: Μελανοδοχεῖον (that is, Inkhorn) of the scribe at his loins, Symmachus: He had a writer's tablets at his reins; and where we translated 'threshold of the house', the Seventy and Theodotion put τὸ αἴθριον, that is, a 'vestibule' under the open sky; for 'vessel' also, which each of the men had in his hands, the Seventy alone translated 'axe'. To blot out, therefore, the sins of men, who were made on the sixth day of the fashioning of the world, six men come and descend from the upper gate (or, as the Seventy translated, 'the high one') toward the north; and each one had an axe in his hands, of which John speaks: For already the axe has been laid to the roots of the trees; every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and sent into the fire. And in the midst of the six men was one, that is, a seventh, in the attire of a high priest, clothed in linen garments, and he had a writer's inkhorn at his reins, with which to write down the sins of all and to separate the number of the saints from the sinners; or a sapphire girdle, of the color of the sapphire stone which is among the ornaments of the chief of the priests. And the six men went out and stood beside the bronze altar — for there were two altars: one of incense, of gold, within, and the other before the temple, the bronze altar of holocausts. They are said to stand beside the altar ready for the command of the one giving orders, so that whoever they saw had not had his sins forgiven there, they might know him to be subject to the sentence of the Lord and to slaughter —.

Some interpret the six men as six angels who obey the will of God, and understand that one, who had the high priest's garments, as the Savior, according to the fact that the angel of great counsel is a priest, and to what is said: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Now ποδήρη, which the Seventy translated, is one of the eight garments of the high priest, which in Latin is called 'talaris' [ankle-length]; and from the fact that it comes down to the feet, it was allotted this name — I know that many years ago I published a book on the vesture of the high priest, to whose explanation I send the reader, for I cannot say everything in every place —. And as to what Aquila's first edition and Theodotion called κάστυ, for which in the Hebrew one reads 'cesath': when I asked a Hebrew what it meant, he answered me 'that in the Greek tongue it is called καλαμάριον [pen-case], from the fact that pens are stored in it'; we say 'atramentarium' [inkhorn], from the fact that it holds atramentum [ink]; many, more expressively, call them 'thecae' [cases], from the fact that they are cases for writers' pens. Of the four Cherubim, one Cherub is sent from the glory of the Lord's majesty, to speak to him who was clothed in the vestments of the high priest — and although most think that τά χερουβεὶμ [the cherubim] is said in the neuter gender and the plural number, we ought to know that 'Cherub' is in the singular number, of the masculine gender, and in the plural, of the same gender, 'Cherubim'; not that there is sex among the ministers of God, but that each thing is called by different genders according to the property of its own language: angels are called in the plural number 'Malachim', and 'Cherubim' and 'Seraphim', of the same gender and number; whereas 'sabaoth', which means 'of warfares' or 'of hosts' and 'of powers', are said in the feminine gender and the plural number, and end in the final syllable 'oth'. — Those, however, who wish the Savior to be understood under the figure of the high priest use an example from the Revelation of John, in which it is written: And I turned and saw the voice that was speaking with me; and having turned I beheld seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man.

The glory of the Lord of Israel also went up, or was taken up, from the one Cherub, and went to the threshold, or to the open-air part of the court of the house and of the vestibule, which is in no way pressed down by a roof but enjoys the freedom of the air. This very glory of the Lord called the man who was in the attire of a high priest and had the inkhorn at his loins, and said what Scripture attests.

Thus he suffers and is dishonoured; and although he still ventures with shameless confidence to disguise himself, yet now, wretched spirit, he is detected the rather by them that bear the Sign on their foreheads; yea, more, he is rejected of them, and is humbled, and put to shame. For even if, now that he is a creeping serpent, he shall transform himself into an angel of light, yet his deception will not profit him; for we have been taught that `though an angel from heaven preach unto us any other gospel than that we have received, he is anathema.'

But maybe that person wasn't yet a Christian. We at least, brothers and sisters, should listen; we to whom as believers the gospel is chanted, we by whom the one who said all this is worshiped, whose sign is worn by us on our foreheads and held in our hearts. It makes a great deal of difference, you see, where a person keeps the sign of Christ, whether on the forehead or both on the forehead and in the heart. You heard, when the holy prophet Ezekiel was speaking, how before God sent an exterminator of a wicked people, he first sent a marker and said to him, "Go and mark with a sign the foreheads of those who groan and grieve over the sins of my people, which are committed among them." Yet for all that they groan and grieve; and this is why they have been marked with a sign on the forehead—the forehead of the inner self, not the outer one. There is a forehead of the face, you see, and a forehead of the conscience. In fact, sometimes the inner forehead gets a knock, and the outer one blushes; it either blushes for shame or turns pale with fright.

God says that only those can escape who have been reborn and signed with the sign of Christ; when sending his angels to lay waste the world and to destroy the human race he threatens more seriously than the last time.… This sign pertains to the passion and blood of Christ and that he is kept safe and unharmed whoever is found in this sign.

And the Lord said to him: Pass through the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and mark a tau upon the foreheads of the men who groan and grieve over all the abominations that are done in its midst. And to those he said, in my hearing: Pass through the city following him, strike; let your eye not spare, nor have pity: old man, youth and virgin, little child and women, kill to utter destruction; anyone upon whom you see the tau, do not kill, and begin from my sanctuary. He who was clothed in an ankle-length garment, or a linen one, and displayed priestly attire, is commanded to put a sign upon the foreheads of the men who groan and grieve over all the abominations that are done in the midst of Jerusalem. For 'sign', which the Seventy, Aquila and Symmachus translated, Theodotion put the Hebrew itself, 'tau', which among the Hebrews is the last of the twenty-two letters, so as to show perfect knowledge in the men who groan and grieve; or, as the Hebrews assert, because 'law' is called 'thora' among them, which is written with this letter at the beginning of its name, those received this seal who had fulfilled the precepts of the law. And to come to our own: in the ancient letters of the Hebrews, which the Samaritans use to this day, the last letter, 'tau', has the likeness of a cross, which is painted on the foreheads of Christians and is signed by the frequent tracing of the hand; there are those who think that, from the fact that this is the last letter according to the Hebrew alphabet, it is shown that in the multitude of sinners a remnant of the saints survives. Those who groan and grieve, therefore, are saved, who not only did not consent to evil works but also lamented the sins of others, as Samuel too lamented over Saul, and the apostle Paul over those who after sinning did not do penance; whence he himself also said: We who are in the tabernacle groan, and elsewhere: I have great sorrow, and unceasing pain of my heart.

And I have heard many, after such experience, blame themselves, and say, What advantage is it that I have grieved? I have not recovered my money, and I have injured myself. But if thou hast grieved on account of sin, thou hast blotted it out, and hast reaped the greatest pleasure. If thou hast grieved for thy brethren who have fallen, thou hast both encouraged and comforted thyself, and hast also restored them; and even if thou wert not to profit them, thou hast an abundant recompense. And that thou mayest learn that this grieving for those who have fallen, though we should not at all benefit them, still brings us a large reward, hear what Ezekiel says; or rather, what God Himself speaks through him. For when He had sent certain messengers to overturn the city, and to consume all the dwellings with sword and fire, along with their inhabitants, He thus charges one of them: "Set a mark upon the forehead of the men that groan, and are in anguish." And after charging the others, and saying, "Begin ye from mine holy ones," He goes on to add, "But upon whomsoever the sign is, touch them not." For what reason, tell me? Because although they avail nothing, they nevertheless lament the things which are done, and deplore them.

At the beginning of our prayers let us sign ourselves with the seal of baptism. Let us make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, as on the day of our baptism, as it is written in Ezekiel. Let us not first lower our hand to our mouth or to our beard, but let us raise it to our forehead, sing in our heart, "We have signed ourselves with the seal." This is not like the seal of baptism, but the sign of the cross was traced on the forehead of each of us on the day of our baptism.

You have given a sign, the blood itself of a lamb without blemish, slain for the sin of the world. And Ezekiel says that a sign was given on the foreheads of the persons.

And the six men are commanded, apart from those who can say: The light of your countenance has been signed upon us, O Lord, to kill all: to spare not the old man, not the young man, not the virgin, not the little child, not the woman — according to the mystical senses, the old men are those in the Church of whom it is said: A man's gray hairs are his prudence; the young men, those who are most ready for the battles of faith; the virgins, those who keep chastity with their whole mind; the little children, those who are given the milk of infancy to drink and do not yet take solid food; the women, those who attest the frailty of their sex by the weakness of their soul — ; none of whom is spared if they believe themselves to be anything apart from the seal of Christ.

In Ezekiel the prophet, when the angel who had been sent had slain everyone and the slaughter had begun at the holy places, only those whom he had signed with the letter tau—that is, with the mark of the cross—remained unharmed.

So there is a forehead of the inner self. That is where those people were marked, to save them from being wiped out. Because even if they did not put right the sins that were committed among them, at least they were pained by them, and by their very pain they set themselves apart; while set apart for God, they were mixed together in the eyes of people. They are marked with a sign in secret; they escape harm in public. The destroyer is sent next and is told, "Go, destroy, do not spare young, old, male, female; but do not go near those who have the sign on their foreheads." What a sure guarantee has been given you, my brothers and sisters, you among this people who are groaning and grieving over the wicked deeds committed in your midst and are not committing them!

And what follows: And begin from my sanctuary (or, as the Seventy translated: And begin from my holy ones) signifies either the priests who busied themselves in the temple and worshiped idols, or those who, by the merit of their priesthood, were called holy among the people and who had been the cause of sin among the peoples, and these were the first to deserve punishment: for it is time for judgment to begin from the house of God.

You who are first in riches will be the first to bear the yoke of captivity, according to what is written in Ezekiel: Begin from my sanctuary. Not from the saints, as most people think, but from the overthrow of the temple, which was holy.

They began, therefore, with the elder men who were before the face of the house. And he said to them: Defile the house and fill the courts with the slain. For 'courts', which in Hebrew are called 'aseroth', the Seventy put 'ways'. Now the elder men are slain, of whom we read above that they had censers and burned incense to idols. Nor is there any sanctity of the temple left, because, the God of religion having been offended, all things have been defiled, so that whence came the sin, thence may come the judgment. And the courts in the temple are filled with corpses, and not the ways, which surely were outside, unless perhaps we can understand the ways as the streets of the city. Nor could the angels have dared to defile with the blood of the dead the temple in which the glory of God had formerly dwelt, had not the Lord of the departing glory commanded this. Everyone who is dead through sin defiles the courts of the temple and the ways of the city of the Lord in which he lives; he who rises with Christ ceases to be dead.

And they went out, and struck those who were in the city. (Or, as others translated: They struck the city, naming the city itself in place of those who were in the city.)

And when the slaughter was complete, I remained, and I fell upon my face and, crying out, I say: Alas, Lord God; will you then destroy all the remnant of Israel, pouring out your fury upon Jerusalem? When all who did not have the seal had been laid low in the slaughter, the prophet fell on his face, thinking, because of the multitude of the slain, that no one but himself had remained. Because this seemed to be contrary to the sentence by which the Lord had ordered that the men with signed foreheads were not to be slain, it was for that reason removed in the common edition; but we, following the Hebrew truth, have put: I remained; and it must be noted that he had not said 'alone', for had he said that, it would have seemed contrary, but: I remained, so that 'with the others' who had sealed foreheads may be understood — and that we may know that this was said pointedly: I remained: in the volume of Kings, when Elijah speaks to God: They have torn down your altars, and I have been left alone, and they seek to take away my life, he put 'alone' because he did not know that others had remained —. Some think that this can also be understood from the person of the Lord, in whose type Ezekiel went before, concerning the people of the Jews: When all turned aside, together they became useless; and the prophet testifies: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed; for the Lord was found 'alone' who did no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth. And as to what he added: Pouring out your fury upon Jerusalem, the word of pouring out shows the greatness of the punishments, as we read elsewhere: Contempt has been poured out upon princes, and again: My steps had almost been poured out, and in a good sense: The love of God has been poured out in our hearts, and: Grace has been poured out on your lips, and in the contrary sense: Pour out your fury upon the nations that have not understood you, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your name, and: Pour out the spear and close in from the opposite side against those who persecute me.

You see, even if it is the wicked who perish, nevertheless the souls of good people are likely to show compassion when they see people being punished; and you will find each of the good people and the inspired writers making earnest supplication for them.

It is, after all, the practice of the prophets and the just to grieve not only for themselves but for the rest of humanity. If you are inclined to check that, you will find them all giving evidence of this compassion—for example, you can listen to Isaiah's words, "Don't put yourself out to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people"; or Jeremiah, … "Who will pour water on my head and provide a fountain of tears for my eyes?" or Ezekiel, "Alas, Lord, will you destroy what remains of Israel?"

And he said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel and of Judah is great, exceedingly, very much; and the land is filled with bloods, and the city is filled with turning away. For they said: The Lord has forsaken the land, and: The Lord does not see; therefore my eye too will not spare, nor will I have pity: I will repay their ways upon their head. The Lord, seeing his prophet weep for the people and marvel at the greatness of the indignation, gives the reasons, not, as he thought, of a punishment unjust or exceeding measure, but of a deserved and just sentence: 'The iniquity,' he says, 'of the ten tribes of Israel and of the two tribes of Judah is great, and not only great but exceedingly great'; nor was it enough to have said this, but he added 'very much', so that the greatness of the punishment might match the greatness of the iniquity. From this we learn that sins are not equal, as many think and especially the Stoics, but either great or small, and that according to the quality and measure of those who sin there is diversity in the punishing judgment. The land, he says, is filled with bloods (or, as the Seventy translated, with peoples), and the city is filled with turning away (or, as the common edition has, with iniquity and uncleanness); no moderate amount of blood was shed, but from gate to gate, and the whole city turned aside from the worship of God, and in its place it is full of uncleanness, namely the filth of idolatry. The cause of such great crimes is this: that they thought there was no providence over the earth, and that God did not care for mortal things, according to what we read elsewhere: Of course this is a labor for those above, this is a care that troubles them in their quiet! ...

Since, therefore, they thought either that there was no providence, or that the providence which had formerly been among the peoples had at this time abandoned its own people, for that reason God's eye too will not spare, nor will he have pity: so that, raging against vices, he may be placable to virtues, and may repay their ways and sins upon their heads, either upon the ruling part of the heart or upon the princes of the people, according to the book of Numbers, in which the heads of the peoples are said to be princes.

And behold, the man who was clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn at his loins, answered, saying: I have done as you commanded me. (LXX: "And behold, the man who was clothed in a podere — that is, an ankle-length garment —, and girded as to his loins with a girdle, and he answered a word, saying: I have done as you charged me.") He is the man who was ordered to pass through the midst of Jerusalem and to put a sign on the foreheads of the men groaning and grieving over all their iniquities. He says, therefore, that he has fulfilled the Lord's commands and has armed the foreheads of those who mourn with the seal of the letter 'tau'. But the six men, whom the Lord had commanded, saying: Pass through the midst of the city following him, and strike; and have pity on no one, to utter destruction, report nothing of the kind; for to carry out a sentence that is proved not by word but by deed is a matter not of gladness but of grief. And in this place, for 'podere', that is, 'ankle-length garment', which the Seventy translated, Theodotion put the Hebrew word itself, 'baddim', Symmachus 'linen', Aquila 'choice' or 'robe'; for 'girdle' also Symmachus put 'tablets', Aquila 'inkhorn', Theodotion κάστυ.