Ezekiel 5:1-3

1 And thou, son of man, take to thee a sharp sword, [or (a) razor,] (for) shaving hairs; and thou shalt take it, and shalt lead it by thine head, and by thy beard. And thou shalt take to thee a balance of weight(s), and thou shalt part those. (And thou, son of man, get thee a sharp razor for shaving hair; and thou shalt take it, and shalt lead it over thy head, and over thy beard. And thou shalt get thee a balance of weights, and thou shalt separate, or divide, that hair.)

2 Thou shalt burn the third part with fire in the midst of the city, by the [ful]filling of days of besieging. And thou shalt take the third part, and shalt cut (it) by sword in the compass thereof. But thou shalt scatter the tother third part into the wind; and I shall make naked a sword after them. (Thou shalt burn a third part of it with fire in the midst of the city, at the fulfilling, or at the end, of the days of the besieging. And thou shalt take another third part, and shalt cut it by the sword all around the city. And thou shalt scatter the other third part into the wind; and I shall make naked a sword to go after that hair.)

3 And thou shalt take thereof a little number (of those hairs), and thou shalt bind those in the highness of thy mantle.

Ezekiel 5:1-3 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 5

This chapter is of the same argument with the former; and contains a type of Jerusalem's destruction; an explanation of that type; what were the reasons of God's judgments on that city; and the nature, rise, and end of them. The type is in Eze 5:1-4; the explanation of that type is in Eze 5:5; the reasons of the severe judgments threatened are changing the statutes of the Lord, and not walking in them, and defiling the sanctuary with their abominations, Eze 5:6-11; an account of the judgments of God, answerable to each of the parts in the type, Eze 5:12; the ends of these judgments are, with respect to God, the accomplishment of his anger, and the satisfaction of his justice; with respect to the Jews, bringing them to an acknowledgment that he had spoken in his zeal; and, with respect to the nations, their instruction and astonishment, Eze 5:13-15; and the chapter is concluded with an assurance that these judgments would be sent, Eze 5:16,17.