Ezekiel 5:1
New International Version
“Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.

New Living Translation
“Son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a razor to shave your head and beard. Use a scale to weigh the hair into three equal parts.

English Standard Version
“And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair.

Berean Standard Bible
“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.

King James Bible
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

New King James Version
“And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair.

New American Standard Bible
“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.

NASB 1995
“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.

NASB 1977
“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Now as for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.

Amplified Bible
“And you [Ezekiel], son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor and shave your head and your beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair [into three parts].

Christian Standard Bible
“Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

American Standard Version
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword; as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, get a sharp sword and use it to cut off your hair and beard. Weigh the hair and divide it into three equal piles.

English Revised Version
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[The LORD said,] "Son of man, take a sharp blade, and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Take scales to weigh your hair and divide it [into three even parts].

Good News Translation
The LORD said, "Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts.

International Standard Version
"Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.

Majority Standard Bible
“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.

NET Bible
"As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor. Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off.

New Heart English Bible
"You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber's razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take to thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

World English Bible
“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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
“And you, son of man, take a sharp weapon for yourself, take the barber’s razor for yourself, and you have caused [it] to pass over your head, and over your beard, and you have taken weighing scales for yourself, and apportioned them.

Young's Literal Translation
And thou, son of man, take to thee a sharp weapon, the barber's razor thou dost take to thee, and thou hast caused it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard, and thou hast taken to thee weighing scales, and apportioned them.

Smith's Literal Translation
And thou son of man, take to thee a sharp sword, the barber's razor, thou shalt take them to thee and cause to pass over thy head and over thy beard: and take to the balances of weighing and divide them.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife that shaveth the hair: and cause it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard: and take thee a balance to weigh in, and divide the hair.

Catholic Public Domain Version
“And as for you, son of man, obtain for yourself a sharp knife for shaving hair, and you shall take it and draw it across your head and across your beard. And you shall obtain for yourself a balance for weighing, and you shall divide the hair.

New American Bible
Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor, to shave your head and your beard. Then take a balance scale for weighing and divide the hair.

New Revised Standard Version
And you, O mortal, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber’s razor and run it over your head and your beard; then take balances for weighing, and divide the hair.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
AND you, Son of man, take a sharp sword, like a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon your head and upon your beard; then take scales to weigh it, and divide the hair into three parts.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
But you, son of man, take for yourself a sword that is sharpened like the razor of a Barber, and make it pass upon your head and upon your beard, and take for yourself a scale so that it is weighed, and divide them into three parts
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard; then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou, son of man, take thee a sword sharper than a barber's razor; thou shalt procure it for thyself, and shalt bring it upon thine head, and upon thy beard: and thou shalt take a pair of scales, and shalt separate the hair.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment Against Jerusalem
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. 2When 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.…

Cross References
Leviticus 21:5
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.

Isaiah 7:20
On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.

Jeremiah 7:29
Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’

Jeremiah 25:9-11
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation. / Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. / And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

Jeremiah 34:2
The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

2 Kings 25:1-3
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. / And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. / By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

2 Kings 25:9-10
He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. / And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 36:17-19
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, / who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials. / Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value.

Daniel 9:11-12
All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. / You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.

Amos 7:17
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

Micah 1:16
Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

Matthew 24:2
“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:15-21
So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), / then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. / Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. ...

Luke 19:43-44
For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. / They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

Luke 21:20-24
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near. / Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city. / For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. ...


Treasury of Scripture

And you, son of man, take you a sharp knife, take you a barber's razor, and cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take you balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

son.

take

Ezekiel 44:20
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

Leviticus 21:5
They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

Isaiah 7:20
In the same day shall the Lord shave with a rasor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

then

Daniel 5:27
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

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Ezekiel 5
1. Under the type of hair
5. is shown the judgment of Jerusalem for their rebellion
12. by famine, sword, and dispersion














Now you, son of man
The phrase "son of man" is a title used frequently in the book of Ezekiel, emphasizing the prophet's humanity and his role as a representative of the people. In Hebrew, "ben adam" underscores the connection between Ezekiel and the rest of humanity, highlighting his role as a mediator between God and Israel. This title also foreshadows the ultimate "Son of Man," Jesus Christ, who would come as the perfect mediator.

take a sharp sword
The "sharp sword" symbolizes the impending judgment and destruction that God is about to bring upon Jerusalem. In the ancient Near East, swords were not only weapons of war but also instruments of divine judgment. The sharpness of the sword indicates the severity and precision of God's judgment. This imagery is a stark reminder of the seriousness of sin and the righteousness of God's justice.

use it as a barber’s razor
Using a sword as a "barber’s razor" is a vivid and shocking image. In ancient Israel, shaving one's head and beard was a sign of mourning, shame, or purification. By instructing Ezekiel to use a sword for this purpose, God is illustrating the drastic and humiliating nature of the judgment that is to come. It also signifies the complete removal of Israel's pride and self-reliance.

and shave your head and your beard
The act of shaving the head and beard is symbolic of humiliation and loss. In the cultural context of the time, hair was often associated with glory and honor. By removing his hair, Ezekiel is enacting the disgrace and devastation that will befall Jerusalem. This act serves as a prophetic sign to the people, illustrating the totality of the coming judgment.

Then take a set of scales
The "set of scales" represents the careful and deliberate nature of God's judgment. Scales were used in ancient times to measure and divide with precision. This imagery conveys that God's judgment is not arbitrary but is measured and just. It reflects the biblical principle that God weighs the hearts and actions of individuals and nations.

and divide the hair
Dividing the hair symbolizes the division and scattering of the people of Israel. This act foreshadows the exile and dispersion that will occur as a result of their disobedience. It serves as a visual representation of the consequences of turning away from God. The division of the hair also points to the remnant that will be preserved, highlighting God's mercy even in judgment.

(1) Take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor.--Rather, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it to thee. The word knife is the same as that used twice in Ezekiel 5:2, and translated once by knife and once by sword. It is occasionally used for any sharp-cutting instrument, but is most commonly taken, as here, for a sword. The English version also neglects to notice the pronoun in the second clause. The thought is plainly that the prophet is to take a sword, on account of its symbolism, and use it instead of a razor.

Upon thine head, and upon thy beard.--The cutting off the hair was a common mark of mourning (see Job 1:20; Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 7:29); but the allusion here seems to be rather to Isaiah 7:20, in which God describes his coming judgments upon Israel as a shaving, "with a razor that is hired . . . by the king of Assyria," of the head and the beard. The symbolism was the more marked because Ezekiel was a priest, and the priests were expressly forbidden in the law to shave either the head or the beard (Leviticus 21:5). The shaving, therefore, of a priest's head and beard with a sword betokened a most desolating judgment. . . .

Verse 1. - Take thee a barber's razor, etc. The series of symbolic acts is carried further. Recollections of Isaiah and Leviticus mingle strangely in the prophet's mind. The former had made the "razor" the symbol of the devastation wrought by an invading army (Isaiah 7:20). The latter had forbidden its use for the head and beard of the priests (Leviticus 19:27; Leviticus 21:5). Once again Ezekiel is commanded to do a forbidden thing as a symbolic act. He is, for the moment, the representative of the people of Jerusalem, and there is to be, as of old, a great destruction of that people as "by a razor that is hired." The word for "barber" (perhaps "hair cutter") does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament, but its use may be noted as showing that then, as now, the "barber" was a recognized institution in every Eastern town. The word for "knife" (Joshua 5:2; 1 Kings 18:28) is used in ver. 2, and commonly throughout the Old Testament, for "sword," and is so translated here by the LXX. and Vulgate. The prophet is to take a "sword" and use it as a razor, to make the symbolism more effective.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now you,
וְאַתָּ֨ה (wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

son
בֶן־ (ḇen-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of man,
אָדָ֜ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

take
קַח־ (qaḥ-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

a sharp
חַדָּ֗ה (ḥad·dāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 2299: Sharp

sword,
חֶ֣רֶב (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

use
תִּקָּחֶ֣נָּה (tiq·qā·ḥen·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

it as a barber’s
הַגַּלָּבִים֙ (hag·gal·lā·ḇîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1532: A barber

razor,
תַּ֤עַר (ta·‘ar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8593: A knife, razor, a scabbard

and shave
וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ֥ (wə·ha·‘ă·ḇar·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

your head
רֹאשְׁךָ֖ (rō·šə·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7218: The head

and beard.
זְקָנֶ֑ךָ (zə·qā·ne·ḵā)
Noun - common singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2206: Beard, chin

Then take
וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ (wə·lā·qaḥ·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

a set of scales
מֹאזְנֵ֥י (mō·zə·nê)
Noun - mdc
Strong's 3976: A pair of scales

and divide the hair.
וְחִלַּקְתָּֽם׃ (wə·ḥil·laq·tām)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine plural
Strong's 2505: To be smooth, to apportion, separate


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 5:1 You son of man take a sharp (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 4:17
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