John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 5:1

"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." — Ezekiel 5:1 (ASV)

And you, son of man, take you a sharp knife
Or, "sword" {m}. The word signifies any sharp instrument, by which anything is cut off, or cut asunder; what is here meant is explained by the following: take you a barber's razor . The Septuagint and Arabic versions read this in conjunction with the former, thus, "take you a knife", or "sword, sharper than a barber's razor"; and so the Syriac version, "take you a sword sharp as a barber's razor"; this sharp knife, sword, or razor, signifies, as Jarchi interprets it, Nebuchadnezzar; and very rightly; so the king of Assyria is called in (Isaiah 7:20) :

and cause [it] to pass upon your head, and upon your beard ; the "head" was a symbol of the city of Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea; the "beard", of the cities, towns, and villages about it; and the "hair" of both, of the common people; compared to hair for their numbers, for their levity and unsteadiness, and for their being the beauty and ornament of the places where they lived; and the shaving of them denotes their disgrace and destruction, and mourning on account thereof:

then take you balances to weigh and divide the [hair] . The Syriac version adds, "into three parts"; signifying, that several distinct punishments would be inflicted on them, and these according to the righteous judgment of God; balances being a symbol of justice.

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