Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 9:2

"And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer`s inkhorn by his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar." — Ezekiel 9:2 (ASV)

One man among them was clothed with linen. He was among them, but not of them. There were six with weapons, and this one without a weapon formed the seventh, thus making up the mystical number so often used in Scripture.

He was clothed in linen, the ordinary priestly garment and the special garment of the high priest at the ceremonies on the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4). Yet it was also used by others and on other occasions, simply as a garment of purity and distinction , so there is no need here to suppose that a priestly character was attached to this one.

He carried in his girdle the inkhorn, i.e., the little case containing pens, knife, and ink, commonly worn by the Oriental scribe. There is no occasion to understand this person either as a representation of the Babylonian god Nebo, “the scribe of heaven,” or, as many commentators do, of our Lord.

There is nothing mentioned which can give him any special identification. He is simply a necessity of the vision, an angelic messenger, to mark out those whose faithfulness to God amid the surrounding evil exempts them from the common doom .

This group is seen coming from the way of the higher gate. The courts of the Temple were built in stages, the innermost being the highest.

This, then, was the gate of the inner court and was on the north, both as the place where the prophet had been shown the idolatries and as the direction from which the Chaldean destruction was poured out upon the nation. They took their station beside the brazen altar, as the central point of both the true worship of Israel and its present profanation.