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.

The Symbolic Act of Shaving and Dividing Hair

1
"Now you, human being, take a sharp sword; and use it like a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Then weigh the hair on a balance-scale, and divide it up. ​
2
A third of it you are to burn in the city when the days of the siege are over. Take another third, and hit it with your sword all around the city. Scatter the last third to the wind, and I will pursue them with drawn sword. ​
3
Also take a few hairs and tie them up in the folds of your garment.
4
Again, of these take some; throw them in the fire, and burn them up; from there a fire will come out against the entire house of Isra'el. ​

Jerusalem's Unique Status and Condemnation

5
"Here is what Adonai ELOHIM, says: 'This is Yerushalayim! I have placed her in the middle of the nations; countries can be found all around her. ​
6
But she has rebelled against my rulings and committed wickedness more than the nations, against my laws more than the countries around her; because they have rejected my rulings and not lived according to my laws.' ​
7
"Therefore here is what Adonai ELOHIM, says: 'Because you have outdone the nations around you by not living according to my laws or following my rulings or even following the rules of the nations around you,'

God Declares Unprecedented Judgment

8
therefore here is what Adonai ELOHIM, says: 'I too am against you, yes, I; and I will execute judgments among you while all the nations look on. ​
9
Moreover, because of all your disgusting practices, I will do things to you that I have never done before; and I will never do such things again. ​
10
Parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their parents! I will execute judgments among you and scatter to all the winds those of you who remain. ​
11
For, as I live,' says Adonai ELOHIM, 'because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and disgusting practices, therefore I swear that I will cut you off - my eye will not spare, I will have no pity. ​
12
A third of you will die from plague or be consumed by famine inside [Yerushalayim]; a third will fall by the sword all around [Yerushalayim]; and a third I will scatter to all the winds and pursue with the sword.' ​

The Fulfillment of Divine Wrath

13
In this way my anger will spend itself, my fury against them will die down, and I will be satisfied. Then, when I have spent my fury on them, they will know that I, ADONAI, have spoken out of my zeal. ​
14
'I will make you a ruin and an object of reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all passing by.
15
When I execute judgments and furious punishments among you in anger and fury, [Yerushalayim] will be an object of reproach, derision and horror, and a lesson to warn the nations around you. I, ADONAI, have announced it. ​
16
I will send upon them the deadly, destructive arrows of famine, which I will send to destroy you. I will make the famine worse for you by cutting off your food supply. ​
17
Yes, I will send famine and savage beasts upon you to leave you without children; plague and bloodshed will sweep through you; and I will bring the sword upon you. I, ADONAI, have spoken it.'" ​

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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