“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.
Parallel translations
- WEB “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.
- KJV 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.
- BSB “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.
- NASB “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.
- NLT “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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ezekiel must shave his head and beard with a sword and divide the hair by weight. The shaving is a sign of shame and the coming division of Jerusalem's people.
Overview
God commands a new sign-act: shaving the prophet's hair with a sword used as a razor, then weighing and dividing it. For a priest, shaving was a mark of mourning and disgrace, fitting the humiliation about to fall on Jerusalem. The sword-razor foreshadows that war itself will be the instrument God uses to judge His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Lev 21:5“‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh.
- Ezek 44:20Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
- Isa 7:20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.
- Dan 5:27TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.
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How Ezekiel 5:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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