--- title: "Ezekiel 5 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary" description: "Read Ezekiel 5 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 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 balan" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5" --- [ Read](/kjv/ezekiel/5)[ Commentary](/study/ezekiel/5)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ezekiel/5) Audio 1 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*. 2 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. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.* 4 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. 5 ¶ 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. 6 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. 7 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; 8 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. 9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 ¶ 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. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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*. 16 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: 17 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*. [Ezekiel 4](/study/ezekiel/4) [Ezekiel 6](/study/ezekiel/6) ## Commentary To verse 1 Verse [Ezekiel 5:1-4](/kjv/ezekiel/5/1-4). ***Take thee a sharp knife*** — Among the Israelites, and indeed among most ancient nations, there were very few *edge-tools*. The *sword* was the chief; and this was used as a *knife*, a *razor*, c., according to its different *length* and *sharpness*. It is likely that only *one* kind of instrument is here intended a *knife* or short *sword*, to be employed as a *razor*. Here is a new emblem produced, in order to mark out the coming evils. 1. *The prophet* represents the Jewish *nation*. 2. His *hair*, the *people*. 3. The *razor*, the *Chaldeans*. 4. The *cutting* the *beard* and *hair*, the *calamities, sorrows*, and *disgrace* coming upon the people. *Cutting off the hair* was a sign of *mourning*; see on [Jeremiah 45:5](/kjv/jeremiah/45/5); [Jeremiah 48:37](/kjv/jeremiah/48/37); and also a sign of great *disgrace*; see [2 Samuel 10:4](/kjv/2-samuel/10/4). 5. He is ordered to divide the hair, [Ezekiel 5:2](/kjv/ezekiel/5/2), into *three equal* parts, to intimate the *different degrees* and *kinds* *of punishment* which should fall upon the people. 6. The *balances*, [Ezekiel 5:1](/kjv/ezekiel/5/1), were to represent the Divine justice, and the exactness with which God's judgments should be distributed among the offenders. 7. This *hair*, divided into *three parts*, is to be disposed of thus: 1. A *third* part is to be *burnt* in the midst of the city, to show that so many should perish by famine and pestilence during the siege. 2. Another third part he was to *cut* *in small portions* about the city, (that figure which he had pourtrayed upon the brick,) to signify those who should perish in different *sorties*, and in *defending* the *walls*. 3. And the remaining third part he was to *scatter* in the *wind*, to point out those who should be driven into *captivity*. And, 4. The *sword* *following* them was intended to show that their lives should be at the will of their captors, and that many of them should perish by the *sword* in their dispersions. 5. The *few hairs* which he was to take in his skirts, [Ezekiel 5:3](/kjv/ezekiel/5/3), was intended to represent those few Jews that should be left in the land under *Gedaliah*, after the taking of the city. 6. The throwing a part of these last into the fire, [Ezekiel 5:4](/kjv/ezekiel/5/4), was intended to show the miseries that these suffered in *Judea*, in *Egypt*, and finally in their being also carried away into *Babylon* on the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. See these transactions particularly pointed out in the notes on Jeremiah, [Jeremiah 40:0](/kjv/jeremiah/40/0), [Jeremiah 41:0](/kjv/jeremiah/41/0), [Jeremiah 42:0](/kjv/jeremiah/42/0). Some think that this prophecy may refer to the persecution of the Jews by *Antiochus Epiphanes*. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5","name":"Ezekiel 5 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ezekiel 5 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 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 balan","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","name":"clarkes commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel","name":"Ezekiel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/ezekiel/5","name":"5"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```