Ezekiel5

Ezekiel is commanded to perform a symbolic act involving shaving his hair, dividing it, and subjecting it to fire, sword, and scattering, representing God's impending judgment on Jerusalem. The Lord declares that Jerusalem, having rebelled against His laws more than the surrounding nations, will face severe and unprecedented punishments. These judgments include death by pestilence, famine, and sword, with a remnant scattered among the nations. Ultimately, Jerusalem will become a reproach and astonishment to the surrounding peoples.
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The Symbolic Act of Shaving and Dividing Hair

1
“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair. ​
2
When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them. ​
3
But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.
4
Again, take a few of these, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel. ​

Jerusalem's Unique Status and Condemnation

5
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. ​
6
But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes worse than the countries around her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’ ​
7
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You have been more insubordinate than the nations around you; you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances, nor have you even conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.’

God Declares Unprecedented Judgment

8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ​
9
Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. ​
10
As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’ ​
11
Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you. ​
12
A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them. ​

The Fulfillment of Divine Wrath

13
And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD, in My zeal have spoken. ​
14
I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15
So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken. ​
16
When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food. ​
17
I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.” ​

Study Notes for Ezekiel 5

Verse 1

The prophet is instructed to shave his hair and beard, an act symbolizing profound humiliation, mourning, and the defilement of the consecrated priestly status. The razor represents the destructive force of Babylon.

Verse 2

The hair is divided into three equal parts, foreshadowing the three ways the inhabitants of Jerusalem will perish: one-third dying within the city (by fire/siege), one-third killed outside the city (by the sword), and one-third scattered into exile (in the wind).

Verse 4

The small remnant saved in the skirt represents the few survivors taken into exile. The subsequent instruction to burn even these few hairs shows that the exile itself is a painful purging and judgmental fire for the nation.

Verse 5

Jerusalem had a unique covenant status, placed 'in the midst of the nations' to be a spiritual center and a witness to God’s law. This central position heightens her guilt, as her visibility made her failure a greater offense.

Verse 6

The charge is that Jerusalem sinned more grievously than the pagan nations around her. Israel’s possession of the divine law and covenant knowledge made their refusal to obey a greater wickedness than the idolatry of the uninformed nations.

Verse 8

The declaration 'I, even I, am against thee' is a formal statement of God acting as the divine judge and adversary. The judgment will be executed publicly, in the sight of the nations, demonstrating God’s sovereignty.

Verse 9

The judgment is described using hyperbole as 'unprecedented.' This emphasizes the exceptional horror and severity of the destruction of the Holy City and the Temple, necessitated by the extent of their 'abominations.'

Verse 10

Cannibalism was the ultimate curse for covenant disobedience (Deut. 28:53) and represents the total breakdown of societal order and the extremity of the famine brought by the siege.

Verse 11

The defilement of the sanctuary (the Temple) was the breaking point. The presence of idols and detestable practices within the holy place necessitated God’s withdrawal of presence and the subsequent destruction of the city.

Verse 12

This verse confirms the literal application of the symbolic distribution of the hair from verse 2. The three primary methods of destruction—pestilence/famine, sword, and scattering/exile—are divinely decreed and precise.

Verse 13

God’s statement that he will be 'comforted' (or satisfied) is an anthropomorphism indicating that divine justice requires a full response to sin. The execution of judgment fulfills the demands of his holiness and zeal.

Verse 15

Jerusalem’s destruction will serve as a terrifying object lesson ('reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment') to the nations, demonstrating God’s unwavering commitment to justice, even toward his own covenant people.

Verse 16

The 'evil arrows of famine' refers to the devastating effects of starvation during the siege, which God controls and uses as a weapon against the city. 'Breaking the staff of bread' is a metaphor for cutting off the food supply.

Verse 17

God lists four covenant curses (Lev. 26:22): famine, evil beasts (which would prey on the weak or the remnant), pestilence, and the sword. These judgments work in concert to complete the devastation.

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