Ezekiel5
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword; as a barber’s razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
2A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
3And thou shalt take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
4And of these again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
5Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her.
6And she hath rebelled against mine ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have rejected mine ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.
7Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept mine ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you;
8therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I, even I, am against thee; and I will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
9And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
10Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on thee; and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds.
11Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, and I also will have no pity.
12A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part I will scatter unto all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
13Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted: and they shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath upon them.
14Moreover I will make thee a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.
15So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments on thee in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes (I, Jehovah, have spoken it);
16when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you. And I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread;
17and I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 5.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: A type of hair, showing the judgments about to come upon the Jews. (1-4). These awful judgments are declared. (5-17).
vv1-4
The prophet must shave off the hair of his head and beard, which signifies God's utter rejecting and abandoning that people. One part must be burned in the midst of the city, denoting the multitudes that should perish by famine and pestilence. Another part was to be cut in pieces, representing the many who were slain by the sword. Another part was to be scattered in the wind, denoting the carrying away of some into the land of the conqueror, and the flight of others into the neighbouring countries for shelter. A small quantity of the third portion was to be bound in his shirts, as that of which he is very careful. But few were reserved. To whatever refuge sinners flee, the fire and sword of God's wrath will consume them.
vv5-17
The sentence passed upon Jerusalem is very dreadful, the manner of expression makes it still more so. Who is able to stand in God's sight when he is angry? Those who live and die impenitent, will perish for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when the Lord will not spare. Let not persons or churches, who change the Lord's statutes, expect to escape the doom of Jerusalem. Let us endeavour to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. Sooner or later God's word will prove itself true.
Key Words
אַתָּה: thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
חַד: sharp
חֶרֶב: drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement
גַּלָּב: a barber
תַּעַר: a knife or razor (as making bare); also a scabbard (as being bare, i.e. empty)
עָבַר: to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically, to cover (in copulation)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
Cross References
Ezekiel 5Prophetic imagery of a razor hired to shave the head/beard represents humiliating judgment through a foreign king.
Supported by JFB
Priests were forbidden to make baldness; shaving the priestly prophet shows the ceremonial yielding to moral judgment.
Supported by JFB
Daniel confirms that the catastrophe upon Jerusalem was a unique judgment, unequaled under the whole heaven.
Supported by JFB
Lamentations verifies that Jerusalem's punishment surpassed even the sudden, historic overthrow of Sodom.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills the horrific covenant curse of parents eating their children during extreme siege conditions.
Supported by John Calvin
Parallel distribution of the people to specific appointed destines: death, sword, famine, and captivity.
Supported by John Calvin
Jeremiah remaining with Gedaliah represents the tiny remnant bound in the prophet's skirts.
Supported by JFB
The Chaldean captain left a small number of the poorest of the land as a remnant.
Supported by JFB
Ishmael's conspiracy represents the fire coming out from the remnant to consume others.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The nations did not change their false gods, but Israel shamefully changed their true Glory.
Supported by JFB
Detailed Pentateuchal warning of cannibalism during the desperate straits of a hostile siege.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The covenant curse of being scattered among the heathen while God draws out a sword after them.
Supported by John Calvin
Moses warns of God breaking the staff of bread, leaving the people hungry despite eating.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Song of Moses lists God spending His arrows of judgment and famine upon rebellious Israel.
Supported by Matthew Poole