Ezekiel 5

The Razor and the Hair

¹“You, son of man, take a sharp sword. You shall take it as a barber’s razor to yourself, and shall cause it to pass over your head and over your beard. Then take balances to weigh and divide the hair.

²A third part you shall burn in the fire in the middle of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. You shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it. A third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

³You shall take a small number of these and bind them in the folds of your robe.

⁴Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the middle of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From it a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

Judgment Upon Jerusalem

⁵“The Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the middle of the nations, and countries are around her.

⁶She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.’

⁷“Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have followed the ordinances of the nations that are around you;

⁸therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.

⁹I will do in you that which I have not done, and which I will not do anything like it any more, because of all your abominations.

¹⁰Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will scatter the whole remnant of you to all the winds.

¹¹Therefore as I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you. My eye won’t spare, and I will have no pity.

¹²A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.

¹³“‘Thus my anger will be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I will be comforted. They will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.

¹⁴“‘Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by.

¹⁵So it will be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes—I, the LORD, have spoken it—

¹⁶when I send on them the evil arrows of famine that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you. I will increase the famine on you and will break your staff of bread.

¹⁷I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood will pass through you. I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken it.’”

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Next Ezekiel 6

God commands Ezekiel to perform a dramatic symbolic act using a razor and hair to represent Jerusalem's coming destruction. The prophet must divide his shaved hair into thirds—burning one portion, striking another with a sword, and scattering the third to the wind—symbolizing how Jerusalem's population will face pestilence, warfare, and exile. God declares that Jerusalem's rebellion against His laws has exceeded even that of pagan nations, warranting unprecedented judgment that will make the city a warning to surrounding peoples.

Context

This chapter continues the series of symbolic acts begun in chapter 4, intensifying the message of Jerusalem's impending doom before Ezekiel's later oracles against foreign nations.

Key Themes

Outline

1-4
The Razor and Hair Symbolic Act Ezekiel commanded to shave his hair and divide it into thirds representing different fates awaiting Jerusalem's inhabitants.
5-7
Jerusalem's Exceptional Rebellion God identifies Jerusalem as centrally positioned among nations but uniquely rebellious against His ordinances and statutes.
8-12
Unprecedented Judgment Announced Divine judgment will be so severe it includes famine-driven cannibalism and the threefold destruction symbolized by the hair.
13-16
Jerusalem as Warning to Nations The city's desolation will serve as an object lesson and reproach visible to all surrounding peoples.

The Razor and the Hair

5:1–5:4

prophecy instruction solemn

God instructs Ezekiel to shave his hair and beard with a sword, then divide it into thirds to symbolize the fate of Jerusalem's inhabitants. The hair represents how the people will be destroyed by fire, sword, and scattering, with only a small remnant preserved.

person_contrast

Ezekiel's use of a sword as a razor creates a jarring metaphor where the instrument of war becomes a tool of grooming, foreshadowing Jerusalem's violent transformation.

Judgment Upon Jerusalem

5:5–5:17

prophecy speech wrathful

God pronounces severe judgment upon Jerusalem for rebelling against His ordinances and committing abominations worse than surrounding nations. The punishment will be unprecedented in its severity, including famine so severe that parents and children will consume each other, with survivors scattered among the nations.

structural

Jerusalem's central geographic position "in the middle of the nations" becomes the very reason for her heightened culpability—her rebellion appears more heinous precisely because of her intended role as a moral beacon.

Insight Character Study

Ezekiel's use of a sword as a razor creates a jarring metaphor where the instrument of war becomes a tool of grooming, foreshadowing Jerusalem's violent transformation.

Insight Literary Structure

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Ezekiel 5:1 1 reference

Lexicals 1

Isaiah 7:20 Lexical

In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria,…

2 shared words

Ezekiel 5:2 4 references

Lexicals 4

Ezekiel 12:14 Lexical

I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands. I will draw out the sword after…

5 shared words

Leviticus 26:33 Lexical

I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your…

Ezekiel 5

The Razor and the Hair

Judgment Upon Jerusalem

The Razor and the Hair

Judgment Upon Jerusalem

Insights

Cross-References

Ezekiel 5:1 1 reference

Ezekiel 5:2 4 references

Ezekiel 5:4 2 references

Ezekiel 5:6 5 references

Ezekiel 5:7 5 references

Ezekiel 5:8 3 references

Ezekiel 5:11 5 references

Ezekiel 5:12 5 references

Ezekiel 5:13 5 references

Ezekiel 5:15 3 references

Ezekiel 5:16 4 references

Ezekiel 5:17 5 references

Interlinear

Historical Context