Ezekiel 5:4

4 "Next, get a few more hairs. Throw them into the fire. Burn them up. The fire will spread to all of the people of Israel."

Ezekiel 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 5:4

Then take of them again
Of that small number preserved: and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire:
this was fulfilled in Gedaliah and the Jews that were with him, over whom the king of Babylon had made him governor, who were slain by Ishmael, ( Jeremiah 41:1-7 ) ; [for] thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel;
from this barbarous murder of Gedaliah and his men, judgment came upon all the house of Israel; a war commenced between Ishmael and Johanan the son of Kareah; and afterwards Nebuzaradan carried captive great numbers of them that were left in the land. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "from these shall a fire come forth" which Jarchi interprets of these intimations given the prophet, from whence judgments should come upon all the house of Israel. It may be understood of those that were left in the land, and of such who returned from the captivity; for whose sins, and those of their posterity, the wrath of God came forth upon all the house of Israel, to the utter destruction of their nation, city, and temple, by Titus Vespasian.

Ezekiel 5:4 In-Context

2 "Burn up a third of the hair inside the city. Do it when you stop attacking the model of Jerusalem. Next, get another third of the hair. Strike it with a sword all around the city. Then scatter the last third to the winds. That is because I will chase the people with a sword that is ready to strike them down.

3 But save a few of the hairs. Tuck them away in the clothes you are wearing.

4 "Next, get a few more hairs. Throw them into the fire. Burn them up. The fire will spread to all of the people of Israel."

5 The LORD and King says, "This little model stands for Jerusalem. I have placed that city in the center of the nations. Countries are all around it.

6 But its people are sinful. They have refused to obey my laws and rules. They have turned their backs on my laws. They have not followed my rules. Those people are worse than the nations and countries around them."