Yechezkel 5:1

1 And thou, Ben Adam, take thee a sharp cherev, take thee a barber’s ta’ar (razor), and cause it to pass upon thine rosh and upon thy zakan (beard): then take thee scales for weighing and divide the hair.

Yechezkel 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.

Yechezkel 5:1 In-Context

1 And thou, Ben Adam, take thee a sharp cherev, take thee a barber’s ta’ar (razor), and cause it to pass upon thine rosh and upon thy zakan (beard): then take thee scales for weighing and divide the hair.

2 Thou shalt burn with flame a third part in the midst of the Ir, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and strike it all around with the cherev: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the ruach; and I will draw out the cherev after them.

3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in mispar, and bind them in the folds of thy robes.

4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the eish, and burn them in the eish; for thereof shall an eish spread unto kol Bais Yisroel.

5 Thus saith Adonoi Hashem; This is Yerushalayim: I have set it in the midst of the Goyim and countries that are all around her.