Ezekiel 5:2
in Ezekiel 5When 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezekiel 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThou, shall burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city,.... Of Jerusalem, as portrayed upon the tile, Eze 4:1; or the prophet was now in Chaldea.
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
burn up a third of the hair
Each third of the hair stands for part of Jerusalem's people. Albert Barnes reads the burned third as those who die inside the city. The third slashed with the sword are those killed around it, and the third scattered to the wind are those carried to foreign lands.
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 Reformation1 voice
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.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Puritans and the Awakening2 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
Note, God has variety of judgments wherewith to accomplish the destruction of a sinful people and to make an end when he begins. 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,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
“The third part burnt in the midst of the city” represents those who perished within the city during the siege; “the third part smitten about it” (the city) “with” the sword, those who were killed about the city during the same period: “the third part scattered to the wind” those who after the siege were dispersed in foreign lands. In the midst of the city - The prophet is in exile, and is to do this in the midst of Jerusalem. His action being ideal is fitly assigned to the place which the prophecy concerns.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Three classes are described. The sword was to destroy one third of the people; famine and plague another third ("fire" in Eze 5:2 being explained in Eze 5:12 to mean pestilence and famine); that which remained was to be scattered among the nations.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁלִשִׁ֗ית | shelishit | a third [part] | H7992 → | 107 times |
| בָּא֤וּר | baur | in the fire | H217 → | |
| תַּבְעִיר֙ | tavir | you will burn | H1197 → | 94 times |
| בְּת֣וֹךְ | betokh | in [the] midst of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| כִּמְלֹ֖את | kimlot | when are completed | H4390 → | 249 times |
| יְמֵ֣י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַמָּצ֑וֹר | hamatzor | the siege | H4692 → | 25 times |
| וְלָֽקַחְתָּ֣ | velakachta | and you will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשְּׁלִשִׁ֗ית | hashelishit | <the> third [part] | H7992 → | 107 times |
| תַּכֶּ֤ה | takeh | you will strike [it] | H5221 → | 499 times |
| בַחֶ֙רֶב֙ | vacherev | with the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| סְבִ֣יבוֹתֶ֔יהָ | sevivoteiha | around it | H5439 → | 336 times |
| וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית֙ | vehashelishit | and <the> third [part] | H7992 → | 107 times |
| תִּזְרֶ֣ה | tizreh | you will disperse | H2219 → | 39 times |
| לָר֔וּחַ | laruach | to the wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וְחֶ֖רֶב | vecherev | and a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| אָרִ֥יק | ʾarik | I will draw | H7324 → | 19 times |
| אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾachareihem | after them | H310 → | 715 times |
שְׁלִשִׁ֗יתa third [part]
shelishitH7992 →107 times
בָּא֤וּרin the fire
baurH217 →
תַּבְעִיר֙you will burn
tavirH1197 →94 times
בְּת֣וֹךְin [the] midst of
betokhH8432 →418 times
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
כִּמְלֹ֖אתwhen are completed
kimlotH4390 →249 times
יְמֵ֣י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
הַמָּצ֑וֹרthe siege
hamatzorH4692 →25 times
וְלָֽקַחְתָּ֣and you will take
velakachtaH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשְּׁלִשִׁ֗ית<the> third [part]
hashelishitH7992 →107 times
תַּכֶּ֤הyou will strike [it]
takehH5221 →499 times
בַחֶ֙רֶב֙with the sword
vacherevH2719 →413 times
סְבִ֣יבוֹתֶ֔יהָaround it
sevivoteihaH5439 →336 times
וְהַשְּׁלִשִׁית֙and <the> third [part]
vehashelishitH7992 →107 times
תִּזְרֶ֣הyou will disperse
tizrehH2219 →39 times
לָר֔וּחַto the wind
laruachH7307 →378 times
וְחֶ֖רֶבand a sword
vecherevH2719 →413 times
אָרִ֥יקI will draw
ʾarikH7324 →19 times
אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃after them
ʾachareihemH310 →715 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 15:2If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 43:11
He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
- Zechariah 11:9
Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”
- Revelation 6:3–8
And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
- Revelation 13:10
“If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he will go; if anyone is to die by the sword, by the sword he must be killed.” Here is a call for the perseverance and…
- Jeremiah 43:11
Through
Leviticus 26:33But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
it leads to
- Zechariah 7:14
But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they…
- Ezekiel 20:23
However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.
- Deuteronomy 4:27
Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Zechariah 7:14
Through
Ezekiel 5:12A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 15:2
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
- Jeremiah 15:2
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.