Inkhorn

Inkhorn in the King James Version translates the Hebrew qeset, which refers to a writing case or scribal palette — a container for ink used by scribes in the ancient Near East. In the vision of Ezekiel 9, God summons six men bearing slaughter weapons and one man clothed in linen with a writing case at his side (Ezekiel 9:2–3). This linen-clad figure is commanded to go through Jerusalem and mark the foreheads of those who sigh and cry over the abominations committed in the city — a mark that would protect them from the coming judgment carried out by the other six.

The inkhorn-bearer functions as a divine agent of distinction and protection within the judgment scene, foreshadowing the angelic sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7:3–4. The writing case itself was a characteristic implement of the professional scribe in Egyptian and Mesopotamian contexts, often consisting of a palette with wells for ink and a pen case, worn at the belt. In Ezekiel's vision its presence on the celestial figure marks him as an agent of record and preservation rather than destruction — the one who writes names for life rather than death.