Ezekiel 5:4
in Ezekiel 5Again, 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And of these again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezekiel 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThen the application will follow; but this I shall pass by today, because I cannot proceed farther. It is sufficient to hold briefly, that men are here designated by hairs, for hair can scarcely be counted, indeed that of the beard is countless; such was the multitude at Jerusalem, for we know that the city was very populous.
This site's exposition
use it as a barber’s razor
on Ezekiel 5:1-4
Ezekiel shaves his head and beard with “a sharp sword” used as “a barber’s razor” and divides the hair in three. A third is burned “inside the city,” a third struck “with the sword,” and a third scattered “to the wind,” as Ezekiel 5:12 explains.
This site's exposition
throw them into the fire
Even the few kept in the garment face more loss. Some are thrown into the fire, and the fire spreads to the whole house of Israel. Albert Barnes sees this in the fate of those left behind after Jerusalem fell, told in Jeremiah 40 and 41.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
That sign is expounded, and applied to Jerusalem. Sin is charged upon Jerusalem as the cause of this desolation--contempt of God's law (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord G OD ; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v7-8
Then take of them again,....
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמֵהֶם֙ | umehem | and some of them | ||
| ע֣וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| תִּקָּ֔ח | tikach | you will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וְהִשְׁלַכְתָּ֤ | vehishlakhta | and you will throw | H7993 → | 125 times |
| אוֹתָם֙ | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תּ֣וֹךְ | tokh | [the] middle of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָאֵ֔שׁ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְשָׂרַפְתָּ֥ | vesarafta | and you will burn | H8313 → | 117 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בָּאֵ֑שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| מִמֶּ֥נּוּ | mimenu | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| תֵצֵא־ | tetze'- | it will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֵ֖שׁ | ʾesh | a fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ פ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וּמֵהֶם֙and some of them
umehem
ע֣וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
תִּקָּ֔חyou will take
tikachH3947 →966 times
וְהִשְׁלַכְתָּ֤and you will throw
vehishlakhtaH7993 →125 times
אוֹתָם֙<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
תּ֣וֹךְ[the] middle of
tokhH8432 →418 times
הָאֵ֔שׁthe fire
haeshH784 →378 times
וְשָׂרַפְתָּ֥and you will burn
vesaraftaH8313 →117 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
בָּאֵ֑שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
מִמֶּ֥נּוּfrom it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
תֵצֵא־it will go out
tetze'-H3318 →1067 times
אֵ֖שׁa fire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ פIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Romans 2:28–29
A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
- Colossians 2:11
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- Jeremiah 9:26
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in…
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Through
Jeremiah 48:45“Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow, because fire has gone forth from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It devours the foreheads of Moab and the skulls of the sons…
it leads to
- Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and…
- Numbers 24:17
Through
2 Kings 25:25In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the…
it leads to
- Zechariah 8:19
“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of…
- Zechariah 7:5
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?
- Zechariah 8:19
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.