^9:2Next, I noticed² six men³ coming from the direction of the upper gate⁴ which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit⁵ at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

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Footnotes

2 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
3 The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.
4 The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).
5 Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a war club in his hand. There was another man among them, clothed in linen, carrying writing equipment. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

NLTNew Living Translation

Six men soon appeared from the upper gate that faces north, each carrying a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man dressed in linen, who carried a writer’s case at his side. They all went into the Temple courtyard and stood beside the bronze altar.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And look! Six men coming from the way of the upper gate that faced northward, and each with his weapon for shattering in his hand; and one man was in the midst of them, dressed in linen, and the writing case of the scribe was at his side. And they came and stood beside the bronze altar.

KJV 1900King James Version

And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

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