Ezekiel 5:1

The Razor of Judgment

1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

Ezekiel 5:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 5:1

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife
Or, "sword" {m}. The word signifies any sharp instrument, by which anything is cut off, or cut asunder; what is here meant is explained by the following: take thee a barber's razor.
The Septuagint and Arabic versions read this in conjunction with the former, thus, "take thee a knife", or "sword, sharper than a barber's razor"; and so the Syriac version, "take thee a sword sharp as a barber's razor"; this sharp knife, sword, or razor, signifies, as Jarchi interprets it, Nebuchadnezzar; and very rightly; so the king of Assyria is called in ( Isaiah 7:20 ) : and cause [it] to pass upon thine head, and upon thy beard;
the "head" was a symbol of the city of Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea; the "beard", of the cities, towns, and villages about it; and the "hair" of both, of the common people; compared to hair for their numbers, for their levity and unsteadiness, and for their being the beauty and ornament of the places where they lived; and the shaving of them denotes their disgrace and destruction, and mourning on account thereof: then take thee balances to weigh and divide the [hair].
The Syriac version adds, "into three parts"; signifying, that several distinct punishments would be inflicted on them, and these according to the righteous judgment of God; balances being a symbol of justice.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (brx) "gladium", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius.

Ezekiel 5:1 In-Context

1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

2 When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them.

3 But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.

4 Again, take a few of these, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

5 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.