Ezekiel 5 Footnotes

5:1 Shaving one’s head and beard was a serious matter for a priest or a Nazirite because one’s hair was a sign of consecration to God (Lv 19:27; 21:5; Nm 6:5).

5:10 This was unthinkable for any Israelite to practice cannibalism; that this should occur would be the enactment of the curses that sanctioned the Lord’s covenant (Lv 26:29; Dt 28:53-55; see note on Jr 19:8-9). Priests and Nazirites were not even allowed to touch a corpse (Lv 21:1-2; Nm 6:7). Ezekiel’s prophecy underscores the severity of the crisis conditions predicted for the fall of Jerusalem. These same conditions were encountered at the siege of Samaria (2Kg 6:24-33, especially v. 29).

5:12,17 Ezekiel’s three-part judgment formula (“famine,” “plague,” and “sword”) appears here for the first time, and recurs in 6:11,12; 7:15; 12:16; 14:21. Jeremiah frequently used the same formula (Jr 14:12; 21:7,9; 24:10; 27:8,13; 29:17-18; 32:24,36; 34:17; 38:2; 42:17,22; 44:13). Both prophets used the formula to indicate that judgment would be severe and extensive; the conditions were based on the curses of the Mosaic covenant (Lv 26:29; Dt 28:53-55).