Ezekiel 5 Study Notes

5:1 Shaving one’s head was often associated with mourning rites (7:18; 27:31; Jb 1:20; Is 7:20; 15:2-3; Jr 7:29; 48:37). Mourning for the dead in this way was prohibited for the Israelites (Dt 14:1). Weighing on scales was a symbol of evaluation for impending judgment (Pr 21:2; Dn 5:27).

5:2 Two-thirds of the population would be killed in the invasion, and one-third would be taken into exile.

5:3 From the last third of hair that was consigned to dispersion, Ezekiel was to take and bind some in the folds of his robe. This portrayed survival of only a remnant of exiles. From the ancient perspective, exile was a fate from which people never returned. Hair scattered to the wind would be impossible to retrieve. By tucking the remnants of hair into his garment, Ezekiel indicated that the future of the people of God lay with the Babylonian exiles (Lv 26:36-39; Hg 2:12). There would never be a complete end of Israel brought about by God’s judgment.

5:4 Destruction will reach even some of those in exile.

5:5 According to Ps 132:13-14, the Lord’s oath to the Davidic house was specifically linked to his choice of Zion or Jerusalem as his special dwelling place (Dt 12:5; 1Kg 8:41-43; Ps 48:1-14).

5:6 According to Dt 4:7-8, Israel’s covenantal obligations to the Lord gained the admiration of the nations of the world. If Israel had obeyed these laws, she would have been the light of the world.

5:7-9 Ezekiel accused Israel of being worse than the nations (16:27; cp. 2Kg 21:11; Jr 2:11).

5:10 Cannibalism was prohibited in the law of Moses (Lv 26:29; Dt 28:53-57) and was denounced by the prophets (Is 9:19-21; Jr 19:9; Zch 11:9). Tragically, the Israelites resorted to cannibalism in Jerusalem during the siege and the subsequent fall to Babylon’s forces in 588-586 BC (Lm 1:7-14; 2:20-22; 4:4-10).

5:11 The expression show you no pity was used to discourage leniency in criminal cases (Dt 7:16; 13:8; 19:13,21; 25:12). The defilement of the holy sanctuary is the sole issue in 8:1-18.

5:12 Famine and plague often accompanied the siege of a city. These were also numbered among the covenant curses of Lv 26:25-26.

5:13 God’s zeal “moves him to punish sin so people will know he is not indifferent to unrighteousness, and it moves him to redeem and restore a remnant lest the unbelieving nations should question his faithfulness” (Lamar Cooper, Ezekiel, NAC).

5:14-15 The nation that was chosen for honor (Dt 26:19) now became the moral spectacle of the nations (you will be a disgrace and a taunt). The role of the nations here contrasts with the original blessing that Israel was supposed to bring them. She failed at this task (Lk 12:48).

5:16-17 The phrase when I shoot deadly arrows of famine at them begins a list of judgments. These are identical to the standard types of covenant curses associated with disobedience of God’s law (famine, Lv 26:26,29; wild animals, Lv 26:22; Dt 32:24; disease, Dt 28:21; bloodshed, Dt 32:42).