Ezekiel 9:10
in Ezekiel 9But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way upon their head.
KJV
And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
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This verse in Ezekiel 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd as for me also,.... As they have not spared the poor and the needy, the widow and the fatherless, but have perverted their judgment, and shed innocent blood: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompence their way upon their head; deal with them by the law of retaliation, and reward them according to their deserts; see Eze 7:4.
This site's exposition
The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great
on Ezekiel 9:9-10
The answer names both kingdoms and repeats the charge of chapter 7: “The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity.” The creed of the seventy elders is quoted again, “The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see,” now the ground for judgment.
This site's exposition
their deeds down upon their own heads
The LORD answers the prophet's plea of verse 8 with no pity and no sparing. John Gill calls this the law of retaliation: the leaders spared no widow or orphan, and so they are paid back in kind. Their deeds come down on their own heads.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 9, 10.) And he said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. And the land is filled with blood, and the city is filled with perversity. For they said: The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see. Therefore, I will not show pity nor have mercy: I will repay their ways upon their heads. Seeing his prophet weep for the people, the Lord, in his great anger, explains the reasons: not as he thought, unjust or excessive punishment, but a deserved and just sentence. Iniquity, he says, is great among the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah, and not only great, but exceedingly great. And he not only said this once, but repeated it forcefully, so that the punishment is as great as the magnitude of the iniquity. From this we learn, contrary to what most people think, especially the Stoics, that sins are not equal; but rather, they are either great or small, and the judgement of the punisher varies according to the quality and quantity of the sinners. 'The land is filled,' he says, 'with blood,' or as the Septuagint translates, with peoples; and the city is filled with aversion, or as the Vulgate edition has it, with iniquity and uncleanness. Not a small amount of blood has been shed, but from one end of the city to the other; and the whole city has turned away from the worship of God, and as a result it is filled with uncleanness, clearly of idolatrous filth. But the cause of such great crimes is that they believed there is no providence over the earth, nor does God care about mortal things, according to what we read elsewhere (Virgil, Book IV, Aeneid). Undoubtedly it is a task for the gods, this concern disturbs their tranquility. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Nothing could be said in extenuation of this sin. God was willing to show mercy as the prophet could desire; he always is so. But here the case will not admit of it; it is such that mercy cannot be granted without wrong to justice; and it is not fit that one attribute of God should be glorified at the expense of another.
Great iniquities justify God in great severities; nay, he is ready to justify himself, as he does here to the prophet, for he will be clear when he judges. Here is a return made of the writ of protection which was issued out for the securing of those that mourned in Zion (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Mine eye shall not spare - They say, the Lord seeth not: this is false; I have seen all their iniquities, and do see all their abominations; and I will bring deserved judgment upon them, and then that eye which now sees will neither pity nor spare.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And I too, My word will not pity, and I will not have mercy; the punishment of their ways I have placed upon their heads."
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַ֨ם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֲנִ֔י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָח֥וֹס | tachos | it will look with compassion | H2347 → | 24 times |
| עֵינִ֖י | ʾeini | eye my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶחְמֹ֑ל | ʾechmol | I will show pity | H2550 → | 41 times |
| דַּרְכָּ֖ם | darkam | conduct their | H1870 → | 707 times |
| בְּרֹאשָׁ֥ם | berosham | on own head their | H7218 → | 599 times |
| נָתָֽתִּי׃ | natati | I will requite | H5414 → | 2011 times |
וְגַ֨ם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
אֲנִ֔יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָח֥וֹסit will look with compassion
tachosH2347 →24 times
עֵינִ֖יeye my
ʾeiniH5869 →887 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶחְמֹ֑לI will show pity
ʾechmolH2550 →41 times
דַּרְכָּ֖םconduct their
darkamH1870 →707 times
בְּרֹאשָׁ֥םon own head their
beroshamH7218 →599 times
נָתָֽתִּי׃I will requite
natatiH5414 →2011 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 65:6Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,
it leads to
- Psalms 50:3
Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
- Jeremiah 16:18
And I will first repay them double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and they have filled My inheritance with their abominations.”
- Psalms 79:12
Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.
- Psalms 50:21
You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
- Psalms 50:3
Through
Hosea 9:7The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and…
it leads to
- Acts 26:24–25
At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”
- Acts 26:24–25
Through
Ezekiel 8:18Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
it leads to
- Micah 3:4
Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Micah 3:4
Through
Ezekiel 7:4I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 6:7
The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
- Ezekiel 6:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.