Ezekiel 9:6

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!

(Verse 4 and following) And the Lord said to him: Go through the middle of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who groan and lament over all the abominations that are done in the midst of it. And to the others he said while I was listening: Go through the city after him and strike. Your eye shall not spare, nor shall you show pity. Old men, young men and maidens, little children and women, kill them all to total destruction. But on whomsoever you shall see Thau, ye shall not kill him: and begin ye at my sanctuary. So they began with the ancient men who were before the house. Or, as the Hebrews understand it, because the Law is called Torah among them, which is written with the letter at the beginning of its name; those who have fulfilled the precepts of the Law received this sign. And to come to our point, the ancient Hebrew letters, which the Samaritans still use today, have the shape of the letter Thau at the end, which bears resemblance to a cross, which is painted on the foreheads of Christians and is frequently marked in handwriting. There are those who think that, because in the Hebrew alphabet this is the last letter, it is demonstrated that the remains of the saints survive in a multitude of sinners. Therefore, those who groan and lament are saved; those who not only did not consent to evil deeds, but also mourned the sins of others, just as Samuel mourned over Saul (3 Kings 16), and the apostle Paul mourned over those who did not repent after sin. And he himself also said: We who are in this tabernacle groan (2 Cor. 5:2). And elsewhere: I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart (or in my mind) (Al. cordi meo). […]

Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women,.... All, of them objects of compassion, because of their age and sex; and yet none to be spared; and which orders were exactly obeyed; see 2Ch 36:17; but come not near any man on whom is the mark; these were not to be slain; and though some were carried captive, as Daniel, and others; yet it was for their good and God's glory; see Rev 7:3; and begin at my sanctuary; the temple, the house of God, and the priests and Levites that dwelt there.

), that sanctuary which, in the chapter before, he had seen the horrid profanation of; they must begin there because there the wickedness began which provoked God to send these judgments. The debaucheries of the priests were the poisoning of the springs, to which all the corruption of the streams was owing.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

12 ) or those twenty-five who worshipped the sun between the porch and the altar, who might more properly be said to be before the house. Note, Ringleaders in sin may expect to be first met with by the judgments of God; and the sins of those who are in the most eminent and public stations call for the most exemplary punishments.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens