Ezekiel 27:31
in Ezekiel 27They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they shall make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
KJV
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
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This verse in Ezekiel 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The countryside will shake
on Ezekiel 27:28-32
The mariners and pilots come down from their ships, casting dust on their heads. Commentators have long noted how closely Revelation 18 echoes this scene in its own lament over Babylon's fall. Henry reads the parallel as evidence that John drew on Ezekiel's dirge for the shape of his own.
This site's exposition
shave their heads for you
Shaving the head was a mourning rite across the ancient Near East, forbidden to Israel's priests in Leviticus 21:5. Sackcloth was coarse goat hair cloth worn against the skin. Anguish of soul marks grief felt within.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), with tearing their hair; and, according to the custom of great mourners, those shall gird themselves with sackcloth who used to wear find linen, and, instead of merry songs, they shall weep with bitterness of heart. Note, Losses and crosses are very grievous, and hard to be borne, to those that have long been wallowing in pleasure and sleeping in carnal security.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. The prophet is ordered to take up a lamentation for Tyrus,
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:85%@v23-25
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
utterly bald--literally, "bald with baldness." The Phœnician custom in mourning; which, as being connected with heathenish superstitions, was forbidden to Israel (De 14:1).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-curly-quotes
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִקְרִ֤יחוּ | vehikrichu | and they will make bald | H7139 → | |
| אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙ | ʾelayikh | because of you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| קָרְחָ֔ה | karechah | baldness | H7144 → | |
| וְחָגְר֖וּ | vechageru | and they will gird themselves | H2296 → | 44 times |
| שַׂקִּ֑ים | sakim | sackcloth<s> | H8242 → | |
| וּבָכ֥וּ | uvakhu | and they will weep | H1058 → | 114 times |
| אֵלַ֛יִךְ | ʾelayikh | because of you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּמַר־ | bemar- | with bitterness of | H4751 → | 37 times |
| נֶ֖פֶשׁ | nefesh | emotion | H5315 → | 754 times |
| מִסְפֵּ֥ד | misped | wailing | H4553 → | |
| מָֽר׃ | mar | bitter | H4751 → | 37 times |
וְהִקְרִ֤יחוּand they will make bald
vehikrichuH7139 →
אֵלַ֙יִךְ֙because of you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
קָרְחָ֔הbaldness
karechahH7144 →
וְחָגְר֖וּand they will gird themselves
vechageruH2296 →44 times
שַׂקִּ֑יםsackcloth<s>
sakimH8242 →
וּבָכ֥וּand they will weep
uvakhuH1058 →114 times
אֵלַ֛יִךְbecause of you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
בְּמַר־with bitterness of
bemar-H4751 →37 times
נֶ֖פֶשׁemotion
nefeshH5315 →754 times
מִסְפֵּ֥דwailing
mispedH4553 →
מָֽר׃bitter
marH4751 →37 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
Isaiah 22:12On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
it leads to
- Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Joel 1:13
Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the…
- Joel 2:17
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among…
- Ecclesiastes 3:4
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
- Amos 8:10
Through
Ezekiel 7:18They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:24
Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 15:2–3
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Isaiah 3:24
Through
Isaiah 22:4Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 9:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.