TRV
Translation
King James Version
Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
KJV (with Strong's)
Thou shalt burn H1197 with fire H217 a third part H7992 in the midst H8432 of the city H5892, when the days H3117 of the siege H4692 are fulfilled H4390: and thou shalt take H3947 a third part H7992, and smite H5221 about H5439 it with a knife H2719: and a third part H7992 thou shalt scatter H2219 in the wind H7307; and I will draw out H7324 a sword H2719 after H310 them.
Complete Jewish Bible
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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.
American Standard Version
A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
World English Bible Messianic
A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Thou shalt burne with fire the thirde part in the middes of the citie, when the dayes of the siege are fulfilled, and thou shalt take the other thirde part, and smite about it with a knife, and the last thirde part thou shalt scatter in the winde, and I will drawe out a sworde after them.
Young's Literal Translation
A third part with fire thou dost burn in the midst of the city, at the fulness of the days of the siege; and thou hast taken the third part, thou dost smite with a weapon round about it; and the third part thou dost scatter to the wind, and a weapon I draw out after them.
In the KJVVerse 20,549 of 31,102
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Commentary on Ezekiel 5 verses 1–4
1 ¶ And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
We have here the sign by which the utter destruction of Jerusalem is set forth; and here, as before, the prophet is himself the sign, that the people might see how much he affected himself with, and interested himself in, the case of Jerusalem, and how it lay to his heart, even when he foretold the desolations of it. he was so much concerned about it as to take what was done to it as done to himself, so far was he from desiring the woeful day.
I. He must shave off the hair of his head and beard (Eze 5:1), which signified God's utter rejecting and abandoning that people, as a useless worthless generation, such as could well be spared, nay, such as it would be his honour to part with; his judgments, and all the instruments he made use of in cutting them off, were this sharp knife and this razor, that were proper to be made use of, and would do execution. Jerusalem had been the head, but, having degenerated, had become as the hair, which, when it grows thick and long, is but a burden which a man wishes to get clear of, as God of the sinners in Zion. Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries, Isa 1:24. Ezekiel must not cut off that hair only which was superfluous, but cut it all off, denoting the full end that God would make of Jerusalem. The hair that would not be trimmed and kept neat and clean by the admonitions of the prophets must be all shaved off by utter destruction. Those will be ruined that will not be reformed.
II. He must weigh the hair and divide it into three parts. This intimates the very exact directing of God's judgments according to equity (by him men and their actions are weighed in the unerring balance of truth and righteousness) and the proportion which divine justice observes in punishing some by one judgment and others by another; one way or other, they shall all be met with. Some make the shaving of the hair to denote the loss of their liberty and of their honour: it was looked upon as a mark of ignominy, as in the disgrace Hanun put on David's ambassadors. It denotes also the loss of their joy, for they shaved their heads upon occasion of great mourning; I may add the loss of their Nazariteship, for the shaving of the head was a period to that vow (Num 6:18), and Jerusalem was now no longer looked upon as a holy city.
III. He must dispose of the hair so that it might all be destroyed or dispersed, Eze 5:2. 1. One third part must be burnt in the midst of the city, denoting the multitudes that should perish by famine and pestilence, and perhaps many in the conflagration of the city, when the days of the siege were fulfilled. Or the laying of that glorious city in ashes might well be looked upon as a third part of the destruction threatened. 2. Another third part was to be cut in pieces with a knife, representing the many who, during the siege, were slain by the sword, in their sallies out upon the besiegers, and especially when the city was taken by storm, the Chaldeans being then most furious and the Jews most feeble. 3. Another third part was to be scattered in the wind, denoting the carrying away of some into the land of the conqueror and the flight of others into the neighbouring countries for shelter; so that they were hurried, some one way and some another, like loose hairs in the wind. But, lest they should think that this dispersion would be their escape, God adds, I will draw out a sword after them, so that wherever they go evil shall pursue them. Note, God has variety of judgments wherewith to accomplish the destruction of a sinful people and to make an end when he begins.
IV. He must preserve a small quantity of the third sort that were to be scattered in the wind, and bind them in his skirts, as one would bind that which he is very mindful and careful of, Eze 5:3. This signified perhaps that little handful of people which were left under the government of Gedaliah, who, it was hoped, would keep possession of the land when the body of the people was carried into captivity. Thus God would have done well for them if they would have done well for themselves. But these few that were reserved must be taken and cast into the fire, Eze 5:4. When Gedaliah and his friends were slain the people that put themselves under his protection were scattered, some gone into Egypt, others carried off by the Chaldeans, and in short the land totally cleared of them; then this was fulfilled, for out of those combustions a fire came forth into all the house of Israel, who, as fuel upon the fire, kindled and consumed one another. Note, It is ill with a people when those are taken away in wrath that seemed to be marked for monuments of mercy; for then there is no remnant or escaping, none shut up or left.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–4. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ezekiel
(Chapter 5, verses 1 onwards) And you, son of man, take for yourself a sharp sword, like a barber's razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales for weighing and divide them. One third you shall burn in the midst of the city when the days of the siege are completed, one third you shall strike with the sword all around it, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe a sword after them. And you shall take from there a small number, and bind them at the top of the cloak, and take them out again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel. For three parts of hair and wool, one of which is burned in the midst of the city, another is cut with a sword around it, the third is scattered to and fro by the wind, of which a small part is taken and bound at the edge of the cloak, and again a little of the third part is thrown into the fire, from which a flame comes out into all the house of Israel. Seventy-four parts have been interpreted. And when they had said: Burn the fourth part with fire in the midst of the city, and cut the fourth part with a sword all around it, and scatter the fourth part to the wind, for there remained another fourth part to them, they added from their own: And take the fourth part and burn it in the midst of the city: as if it is not the same as the first, and something else was said in the first, something different in this one that was added. Finally, even in the following, the Lord Himself explained the riddle of the divided hairs into three parts through the Prophet, saying: The third part of you will die by pestilence, and be consumed by famine in your midst, signifying famine and pestilence as fire; and the third part of you will fall by the sword all around you, describing external killings and wars. But, he says, I will scatter your third part to every wind, showing those who are to be led into captivity. After them, he says he will lay bare or pour out his sword, so that captivity is not the last of their evils; and he will take from those dispersed and captive, and bind to the top of his cloak those who are to return from captivity to Jerusalem, and he will also take some part from them, and consume it with fire and flame, signifying the Macedonians under whom the inhabitants of Judaea, and especially Jerusalem, have suffered greatly. But what he says, from this, that is, the people of the Jews; or, according to the LXX, from her; so that it is understood, from the city of Jerusalem, fire will come forth into every house of Israel: The history of the Maccabees relates that a certain part of the Jews surrendered to Antiochus Epiphanes, and incited him to persecute the people, and many other things that are written in the same history, and in the volumes of Josephus, especially the discord between Hyrcanus and Alexander, on account of which Cneus Pompeius, the consul, took Jerusalem and subjected it to Roman rule; and afterwards, under Titus and Vespasian, the city was captured and the temple destroyed. And after fifty years, under Aelius Hadrianus, the city was burned to the ground and destroyed, to the extent that it also lost its original name. However, in the case of emperors, both the hair on their head and their beard are an indication of beauty and manliness, as if they are shaved, an ugly nakedness is revealed, and the most distant and, so to speak, lifeless part of the body is in the hair and beard: in the same way, Jerusalem and its people are lifeless and separated from the living body of God, being handed over to famine, disease, killing, and the sword, and to captivity and dispersion. From this dispersal, under the form of hair, a part of it is tied at the top of the cloak, so that a small amount may be handed over to fire again, from which an infinite flame, almost completely devastating, emerges into every house of Israel.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Ezekiel 5:2 is a vivid and stark prophetic utterance, part of a larger symbolic act commanded by God to the prophet Ezekiel, illustrating the comprehensive and devastating judgment awaiting Jerusalem. This verse graphically details the fate of the city's inhabitants, metaphorically represented by Ezekiel's shaved hair, which is divided into three equal parts, each destined for a distinct and severe form of destruction: consumption by fire, death by the sword, and scattering into exile, with divine judgment relentlessly pursuing even those who flee. It underscores the severity of God's wrath against a persistently rebellious people and the inescapable consequences of their covenant disobedience.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ezekiel 5:2 is rich in Symbolism, where Ezekiel's hair represents the people of Jerusalem, and his actions (burning, striking, scattering) symbolize their various fates. This forms part of a larger Prophetic Drama, where the prophet's body and actions become a living parable for God's message, making the abstract concept of judgment tangible and visceral. The verse employs powerful Imagery, evoking vivid and disturbing scenes of fire, violent death by the sword, and helpless dispersion by the wind, designed to shock the audience into understanding the severity and inescapability of the impending judgment. The Repetition of "a third part" underscores the comprehensive and inescapable nature of the judgment, ensuring that no segment of the population would be exempt from the consequences of the nation's sin, though their specific suffering might differ. This tripartite division also highlights the precision and deliberateness of God's judgment.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ezekiel 5:2 profoundly illustrates the biblical principle that God is both just and holy, and that persistent, unrepentant sin, especially covenant disobedience, inevitably leads to divine judgment. This verse is a stark reminder that God's warnings are not idle threats but expressions of His righteous character and His commitment to upholding His covenant. The comprehensive nature of the judgment—affecting all segments of the population through various means—underscores the depth of Jerusalem's rebellion and the necessity of such a severe divine response. It also highlights God's absolute sovereignty over history and human destiny, as He orchestrates events to fulfill His prophetic word, even through the actions of pagan empires, demonstrating that His purposes will always prevail.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Ezekiel 5:2 serves as a sobering mirror, reflecting the gravity of sin and the unwavering justice of God. While the immediate context is ancient Israel, the underlying principles are timeless: God is holy, He abhors sin, and He will hold His people accountable. This passage challenges us to consider the seriousness of our own disobedience and the consequences of neglecting God's commands. It calls us to a deep and genuine repentance, recognizing that God's patience, while vast, is not infinite. For believers, it reinforces the importance of living in faithful obedience, not out of fear of judgment, but out of love and reverence for a God who is both just and merciful. It also reminds us that God is sovereign over all circumstances, even those that seem chaotic or devastating, working His purposes through them for His ultimate glory and the good of those who love Him.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did God use such graphic and violent imagery in Ezekiel 5:2?
Answer: God used graphic and violent imagery to convey the absolute certainty and severity of the impending judgment upon Jerusalem. The people of Judah were deeply entrenched in idolatry and rebellion, and previous warnings had gone unheeded. The symbolic actions and vivid descriptions were designed to shock them out of their complacency and impress upon them the dire reality of their situation. This prophetic drama, where Ezekiel's body and actions became a living sermon, was a powerful, unforgettable way to communicate God's unwavering resolve and the inescapable consequences of their sin, leaving no room for doubt about the fate awaiting the city and its inhabitants. It was a divine act of communication aimed at piercing their hardened hearts and demonstrating the seriousness of their covenant breach, as seen throughout the book of Ezekiel.
Does this verse mean God is cruel or arbitrary in His judgment?
Answer: No, this verse does not portray God as cruel or arbitrary. Instead, it highlights His justice and holiness. The judgment described in Ezekiel 5:2 is a direct consequence of Jerusalem's persistent and unrepentant sin, particularly its idolatry and rejection of God's covenant laws, as detailed in Ezekiel 5:6-11. God had repeatedly warned His people through prophets, offering opportunities for repentance. The division into three distinct fates—fire, sword, and scattering—demonstrates that God's judgment is precise and proportionate, not random. It is a righteous response to profound and prolonged rebellion, affirming that God is faithful to His covenant, both in blessing and in judgment, as outlined in Deuteronomy 28.
How is Ezekiel 5:2 relevant for believers today?
Answer: While the specific judgment on ancient Jerusalem is historical, Ezekiel 5:2 contains timeless truths relevant for believers today. It underscores God's unchanging character: His holiness, His justice, and His abhorrence of sin. It reminds us that God takes sin seriously and that there are consequences for disobedience, even for His people. This passage calls us to a deeper reverence for God, a commitment to genuine repentance, and a life of faithful obedience. It also highlights God's sovereignty over all circumstances, reminding us that He is in control even amidst chaos and suffering, working out His purposes. It serves as a powerful warning against spiritual complacency and a call to live in accordance with the New Covenant's demands for holiness and love, as described in passages like 1 Peter 1:15-16.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Ezekiel 5:2 graphically depicts the judgment of God upon Old Covenant Israel for its sin, it finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment not in a similar judgment upon believers, but in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "sword" of God's wrath, drawn out against sin, was not ultimately scattered upon humanity, but was fully borne by the Lamb of God on the cross. Jesus became the recipient of the divine judgment that humanity deserved, absorbing the "fire" of God's holiness against sin and being "smitten" by the "sword" of justice, as prophesied in Isaiah 53:5. Through His atoning sacrifice, Christ took upon Himself the scattering of sin's consequences, ensuring that those who believe in Him are not scattered in judgment but are gathered into His eternal kingdom. His death and resurrection establish a New Covenant, where the wrath due to sin is satisfied, and believers are offered reconciliation and peace with God, as proclaimed in Romans 5:1. Thus, Ezekiel 5:2, in its stark portrayal of judgment, ultimately points to the profound mercy and grace found in Christ, who delivers us from the wrath to come and gathers us into His eternal embrace, fulfilling the promise of a new and living way to God (Hebrews 10:19-20).