Ezekiel 9:2

9:2 Next, I noticed ¹  six men ²  coming from the direction of the upper gate ³  which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit ⁴  at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

Ezekiel 23:42

23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, ⁵  including all kinds of men; ⁶  even Sabeans ⁷  were brought from the desert. The sisters ⁸  put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Ezekiel 24:17

24:17 Groan in silence for the dead, ⁹  but do not perform mourning rites. ¹⁰  Bind on your turban ¹¹  and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip ¹²  and do not eat food brought by others.” ¹³ 

¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

² sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.

³ sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).

⁴ tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.

⁵ tn Heb “(was) in her.”

⁶ tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”

⁷ tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.

⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁹ tn Or “Groan silently. As to the dead….” Cf. M. Greenberg’s suggestion that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from ָדּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508.

¹⁰ tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.

¹¹ sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).

¹² sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.

¹³ tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).