Ezekiel 5:1

1 You, human one, take a sharp sword. Use it like a razor and shave your head and beard. Then use scales to 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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 5:1 In-Context

1 You, human one, take a sharp sword. Use it like a razor and shave your head and beard. Then use scales to divide the hair.

2 At the end of the siege, burn one-third of it in the city. Strike another third with the sword left and right. Then scatter one-third to the wind and let loose the sword after it.

3 From that third, take a few strands and hide them in your garment.

4 From that hair, take yet another batch and throw it into the fire and burn it up. From there, fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

5 The LORD God proclaims: This is Jerusalem! I have set her in the middle of the nations and surrounding countries.