Verse 2
Six men entered the inner courtyard from the north (upper; Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 8:5; Ezekiel 8:14) gate each with a lethal weapon in his hand (cf. Jeremiah 51:20). A seventh man dressed in linen also approached with them, and he had a writing kit of the type that scribes used attached to his waist.
"This writing kit usually was made from an animal horn. It had a palette with a slot for pens and a hollow place for two kinds of ink, usually black and red. Professional scribes usually carried this kind of equipment." [Note: Cooper, pp. 126-27. Cf. Allen, p. 147.]
In other passages people who were divine messengers wore linen (cf. Daniel 10:5; Daniel 12:6-7; Revelation 15:6), and this was the role of these men. Priests also wore linen (Exodus 28:39-42; 1 Samuel 2:18; 1 Samuel 22:18), and they too were divine messengers. They entered the inner courtyard and stood by the brazen altar. Their number, seven, often signified a complete work of God to the Jews, as in the seven days of creation. These seven would carry out God’s work of judgment completely.
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