Ezekiel 5:1
New International Version
“Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.

New Living Translation
“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.

English Standard Version
“And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair.

Berean Standard Bible
“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.

King James Bible
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

New King James Version
“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.

New American Standard Bible
“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.

NASB 1995
“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.

NASB 1977
“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.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Now 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.

Amplified Bible
“And you [Ezekiel], son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor and shave your head and your beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair [into three parts].

Christian Standard Bible
“Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

American Standard Version
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword; as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But you, son of man, take for yourself a sword that is sharpened like the razor of a Barber, and make it pass upon your head and upon your beard, and take for yourself a scale so that it is weighed, and divide them into three parts

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou, son of man, take thee a sword sharper than a barber's razor; thou shalt procure it for thyself, and shalt bring it upon thine head, and upon thy beard: and thou shalt take a pair of scales, and shalt separate the hair.

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, get a sharp sword and use it to cut off your hair and beard. Weigh the hair and divide it into three equal piles.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife that shaveth the hair: and cause it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard: and take thee a balance to weigh in, and divide the hair.

English Revised Version
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[The LORD said,] "Son of man, take a sharp blade, and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard. Take scales to weigh your hair and divide it [into three even parts].

Good News Translation
The LORD said, "Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts.

International Standard Version
"Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard; then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Literal Standard Version
“And you, son of man, take a sharp weapon for yourself, take the barber’s razor for yourself, and you have caused [it] to pass over your head, and over your beard, and you have taken weighing scales for yourself, and apportioned them.

Majority Standard Bible
“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.

New American Bible
Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor, to shave your head and your beard. Then take a balance scale for weighing and divide the hair.

NET Bible
"As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor. Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off.

New Revised Standard Version
And you, O mortal, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber’s razor and run it over your head and your beard; then take balances for weighing, and divide the hair.

New Heart English Bible
"You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber's razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take to thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

World English Bible
“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.

Young's Literal Translation
And thou, son of man, take to thee a sharp weapon, the barber's razor thou dost take to thee, and thou hast caused it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard, and thou hast taken to thee weighing scales, and apportioned them.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment Against Jerusalem
1“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. 2When 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.…

Cross References
Leviticus 21:5
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.

Isaiah 7:20
On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates--the king of Assyria--to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.

Ezekiel 44:20
They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.

Daniel 5:27
TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.


Treasury of Scripture

And you, son of man, take you a sharp knife, take you a barber's razor, and cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take you balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

son.

take

Ezekiel 44:20
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

Leviticus 21:5
They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

Isaiah 7:20
In the same day shall the Lord shave with a rasor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

then

Daniel 5:27
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

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Balances Beard Cause Chin Divide Hair Head Knife Making Razor Scales Separating Sharp Shave Sword Using Weigh Weighing
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Balances Beard Cause Chin Divide Hair Head Knife Making Razor Scales Separating Sharp Shave Sword Using Weigh Weighing
Ezekiel 5
1. Under the type of hair
5. is shown the judgment of Jerusalem for their rebellion
12. by famine, sword, and dispersion














(1) Take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor.--Rather, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it to thee. The word knife is the same as that used twice in Ezekiel 5:2, and translated once by knife and once by sword. It is occasionally used for any sharp-cutting instrument, but is most commonly taken, as here, for a sword. The English version also neglects to notice the pronoun in the second clause. The thought is plainly that the prophet is to take a sword, on account of its symbolism, and use it instead of a razor.

Upon thine head, and upon thy beard.--The cutting off the hair was a common mark of mourning (see Job 1:20; Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 7:29); but the allusion here seems to be rather to Isaiah 7:20, in which God describes his coming judgments upon Israel as a shaving, "with a razor that is hired . . . by the king of Assyria," of the head and the beard. The symbolism was the more marked because Ezekiel was a priest, and the priests were expressly forbidden in the law to shave either the head or the beard (Leviticus 21:5). The shaving, therefore, of a priest's head and beard with a sword betokened a most desolating judgment. . . .

Verse 1. - Take thee a barber's razor, etc. The series of symbolic acts is carried further. Recollections of Isaiah and Leviticus mingle strangely in the prophet's mind. The former had made the "razor" the symbol of the devastation wrought by an invading army (Isaiah 7:20). The latter had forbidden its use for the head and beard of the priests (Leviticus 19:27; Leviticus 21:5). Once again Ezekiel is commanded to do a forbidden thing as a symbolic act. He is, for the moment, the representative of the people of Jerusalem, and there is to be, as of old, a great destruction of that people as "by a razor that is hired." The word for "barber" (perhaps "hair cutter") does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament, but its use may be noted as showing that then, as now, the "barber" was a recognized institution in every Eastern town. The word for "knife" (Joshua 5:2; 1 Kings 18:28) is used in ver. 2, and commonly throughout the Old Testament, for "sword," and is so translated here by the LXX. and Vulgate. The prophet is to take a "sword" and use it as a razor, to make the symbolism more effective.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now you,
וְאַתָּ֨ה (wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

son
בֶן־ (ḇen-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of man,
אָדָ֜ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

take
קַח־ (qaḥ-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

a sharp
חַדָּ֗ה (ḥad·dāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 2299: Sharp

sword,
חֶ֣רֶב (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

use
תִּקָּחֶ֣נָּה (tiq·qā·ḥen·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

it as a barber’s
הַגַּלָּבִים֙ (hag·gal·lā·ḇîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1532: A barber

razor,
תַּ֤עַר (ta·‘ar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8593: A knife, razor, a scabbard

and shave
וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ֥ (wə·ha·‘ă·ḇar·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

your head
רֹאשְׁךָ֖ (rō·šə·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7218: The head

and beard.
זְקָנֶ֑ךָ (zə·qā·ne·ḵā)
Noun - common singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2206: Beard, chin

Then take
וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ (wə·lā·qaḥ·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

a set of scales
מֹאזְנֵ֥י (mō·zə·nê)
Noun - mdc
Strong's 3976: A pair of scales

and divide the hair.
וְחִלַּקְתָּֽם׃ (wə·ḥil·laq·tām)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine plural
Strong's 2505: To be smooth, to apportion, separate


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 5:1 You son of man take a sharp (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 4:17
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