Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 5: This Is Jerusalem
The sign-acts reach their sharpest point. Ezekiel shaves his head and beard with a sword used as a razor, weighs the hair on scales, and divides it into three parts, burning one, striking one with the sword, scattering one to the wind, while binding a tiny remnant in the hem of his robe. Then God explains: 'This is Jerusalem.' The city God set 'in the midst of the nations' to be His showcase of righteousness had rebelled worse than the pagans around her, defiling His sanctuary with her idols. So the God who says 'Behold, I, even I, am against thee' will divide her people to famine, sword, and exile. Yet even in the fury a few hairs are kept, a whisper of the remnant God always preserves.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 5. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter completes the siege sign-acts with the divided hair and explains the reason for Jerusalem's judgment: privileged rebellion against a holy God. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Divided Hair
Ezekiel shaves and divides his hair into thirds, a sign of the city's threefold fate.
This Is Jerusalem
Set in the midst of the nations to display God, she rebelled worse than the pagans.
I, Even I, Am Against Thee
God Himself opposes the city, sending pestilence, sword, and scattering.
A Few Bound in the Skirts
Even in fury, a small remnant is preserved, a whisper of coming mercy.
Take Thee a Barber's Razor (Ezekiel 5:1-4)
Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, weighs the hair, and divides it into three parts, burned, struck, and scattered, while binding a few hairs in his robe, enacting the fate of Jerusalem's people.
Divide the Hair
"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. 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. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 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."
Hebrew Study
"a barber's razor," taar ha-gallavim (תַּעַר הַגַּלָּבִים). For a priest, shaving the head and beard was itself a sign of deep mourning and disgrace (Leviticus 21:5; Isaiah 15:2). Ezekiel's shaving pictures Jerusalem stripped and shamed. The "razor" also recalls Isaiah's image of Assyria as a hired razor God uses to shave the land (Isaiah 7:20), the invading army as God's instrument.
"bind them in thy skirts," bikhnaphekha (בִּכְנָפֶיךָ). The "skirts" or hem/wings of the robe, a place of safekeeping. A few hairs are tucked away for protection, the surviving remnant. Yet even some of these are later cast into the fire, a sober reminder that not all who escape one judgment are secure; God's preserving grace, not mere survival, is what keeps a true remnant.
Explanation
The final siege sign is the most personal yet. Ezekiel takes "a sharp knife," a "barber's razor," and shaves off his head and beard, a humiliating act for anyone, especially a priest. He weighs the hair carefully on "balances", judgment is measured, not random, and divides it into three parts. One third he burns "in the midst of the city" (those who die of famine and plague in the siege); one third he strikes with the knife around the city (those who fall by the sword); and one third he scatters "in the wind," with a sword drawn after them (those exiled and hunted among the nations). The precise thirds are spelled out in verse 12.
But there is a gleam of hope: Ezekiel binds "a few in number" in the hem of his robe, the remnant God preserves. Even so, some of even these are cast back into the fire, warning that survival is no guarantee of safety, and that judgment's fire would spread "into all the house of Israel." The whole enacted parable declares that Jerusalem's fall is certain, measured, and complete, yet that God will still keep a few.
Gospel Focus
Amid the sobering picture of judgment, the "few in number... bound in thy skirts" preaches the gospel of the remnant. All through Scripture, when judgment falls, God preserves a people for Himself, "except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma" (Romans 9:29), and "at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5). The hem of the garment where the remnant is kept safe reminds us of the woman who touched "the hem of his garment" and was made whole (Matthew 9:20-22): safety is found in drawing near to the Lord. The warning that even some kept hairs are burned tells us that mere outward escape is not enough; true security is being hidden in Christ, "your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). God always keeps His remnant, and their safety is Himself.
I, Even I, Am Against Thee (Ezekiel 5:5-17)
God explains the sign: Jerusalem, set among the nations to display His ways, rebelled worse than the pagans and defiled His sanctuary, so He Himself will execute unprecedented judgment, pestilence, sword, and scattering, until His fury is accomplished and they know He has spoken.
They Shall Know That I the LORD Have Spoken
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; 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; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it. When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it."
Hebrew Study
"I, even I, am against thee," hineni alayikh gam-ani (הִנְנִי עָלַיִךְ גַּם־אָנִי). An emphatic, chilling declaration: God Himself, in person, is the adversary. The doubled "I, even I" leaves no doubt about who stands behind the coming disaster. There is no more terrifying word in Scripture than to have the LORD Himself set against you, and no sweeter than the reverse, "if God be for us" (Romans 8:31).
"they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it," ki ani YHWH dibbarti (כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה דִּבַּרְתִּי). A refrain that echoes some seventy times in Ezekiel: "they shall know that I am the LORD." Even judgment has this ultimate aim, that people would recognize the one true God, YHWH. God's deepest purpose is not merely to punish but to be truly known.
Explanation
Now God interprets the sign: "This is Jerusalem." God had "set it in the midst of the nations" as a showcase, a city meant to display His righteous "judgments and statutes" to the watching world. Instead she "changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations", she became worse than the pagans who had never known God's law. Privilege abused brings heavier guilt. The specific charge is deep: "thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things", idolatry in the very house of God.
So the sentence falls, and it is the LORD Himself who pronounces it: "Behold, I, even I, am against thee." The judgment will be unprecedented, "that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like", including the covenant horror of cannibalism in the siege, and the threefold division of the hair now spelled out: a third to pestilence and famine, a third to the sword, a third scattered. God says "neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity", not because He is cruel, but because sustained, defiant sin has finally exhausted the space for further warning. Four times He seals it: "I the LORD have spoken it." And the purpose of it all is stated: "they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal."
Gospel Focus
"I, even I, am against thee" is one of the most sobering sentences in the Bible, and it drives us straight to the gospel. To have God against us is the ultimate ruin; to have God for us is salvation. The wonder of the cross is that at Calvary God set Himself "against" sin fully and finally, not by pouring out His fury on the guilty, but on His own sinless Son who bore our sin, so that toward all who trust Christ He could say instead, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). The refrain "they shall know that I am the LORD" reveals God's heart even in judgment: His purpose is to be known. That purpose reaches its fullness in Jesus, in whom the one LORD made Himself fully known, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). And the greater privilege Jerusalem abused warns us: to be near God's truth and reject it invites the heaviest guilt (Luke 12:48). The antidote is not to be against God but to flee to the God who, in Christ, longs to be for us.
Chapter 5 in Review
Ezekiel 5 completes the siege sign-acts with the razor and the divided hair. Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, weighs the hair, and divides it into thirds, burned, struck, and scattered, picturing Jerusalem's people falling to famine, sword, and exile, while binding "a few in number" as a preserved remnant. God then explains: "This is Jerusalem," the city He set "in the midst of the nations" to display His ways, which instead rebelled "more than the nations" and "defiled my sanctuary." Therefore the LORD Himself declares, "I, even I, am against thee," and pronounces measured, unprecedented judgment, sealed four times with "I the LORD have spoken it," so that "they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal."
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter teaches the seriousness of privileged rebellion and the terror of having God against us, yet it also holds the seeds of grace. God always keeps a remnant; His deepest aim even in judgment is to be known as the one true LORD; and the safety of His people is found in being hidden near Him. All of this points to Jesus Christ, in whom the one LORD is fully made known, who bore God's fury against sin so that God could be "for us," and in whom our life is "hid with Christ in God." The dreadful "I am against thee" is answered, for the repentant, by the glorious "God is for us" at the cross.
- God set Jerusalem to display His righteousness to the nations; abused privilege brings heavier guilt (5:5-6; Luke 12:48).
- Defiling God's sanctuary with idols is at the heart of the charge against her (5:11).
- "I, even I, am against thee" is the ultimate ruin; "God for us" is salvation (5:8; Romans 8:31).
- God's judgment is measured, not random; the hair is weighed on balances (5:1; Daniel 5:27).
- Even in fury God keeps a remnant; He binds "a few in number" in His robe (5:3; Romans 11:5).
- The aim even of judgment is that "they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal," that God be known, fully revealed in Christ (5:13; John 14:9).
Questions for Reflection
- Have you, like Jerusalem, been given great spiritual privilege? How are you stewarding it?
- What does it mean to you that at the cross God turned "I am against thee" into "God is for us" for all who trust Christ?
- Is your safety found in mere outward escape, or in being "hid with Christ in God"?
- God's aim even in judgment is to be known. Do you truly know Him, revealed in Jesus?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. The shaved head/beard as shame and mourning reflects Leviticus 21:5 and Isaiah 15:2; the razor as God's instrument of judgment is Isaiah 7:20. The weighed hair recalls measured judgment (Daniel 5:27, "weighed in the balances"). The preserved remnant, the "few in number" bound in the robe (verse 3), is the doctrine of the remnant (Romans 9:29; 11:5); safety near the Lord recalls Matthew 9:20-22 and Colossians 3:3. "I, even I, am against thee" (verse 8) is answered by Romans 8:31. The covenant horror of cannibalism (verse 10) fulfills Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53. Verse 13 declares "they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal"; the wider refrain "they shall know that I am the LORD" recurs throughout Ezekiel (e.g. 6:7) and is fulfilled in Christ, who reveals the one God (John 14:9); the peril of abused privilege is Luke 12:48. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The razor and the divided hair; the preserved remnant: Ezekiel 5:1-4; Isaiah 7:20; Romans 11:5; Colossians 3:3.
- "This is Jerusalem"; privileged rebellion; "I, even I, am against thee"; the threefold judgment: Ezekiel 5:5-17; Luke 12:48; Romans 8:31; John 14:9.