Ezekiel 5:3

But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God commands Ezekiel to perform a symbolic act during the prophesied siege of Jerusalem. The instruction follows the division of the prophet's hair into three portions representing impending destruction.

The words — The text specifies וְצַרְתָּ (ve./tzar.Ta) meaning "you will confine" and כְנָפֶיךָ (kh.na.Fei./kha) meaning "your skirts." These terms describe the physical act of securing a remnant of the hair within the garment's folds.

The thread — This preservation of a small portion parallels later biblical accounts where a remnant is left behind after judgment, as recorded in Jeremiah 39:10, Jeremiah 40:6, and Jeremiah 52:16.

Why it lands — The verse commands the literal securing of a few hair strands in the garment, establishing that divine judgment operates through measured limitation rather than total erasure. The text requires the reader to acknowledge that preservation is a deliberate act of God within the context of destruction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ve./la.kach.Taand/ you will take מִשָּׁ֖םmi./Shamfrom/ there מְעַ֣טme.'Ata few בְּמִסְפָּ֑רbe./mis.Parin/ number וְצַרְתָּ֥ve./tzar.Taand/ you will confine אוֹתָ֖ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them בִּכְנָפֶֽיךָ׃bi/kh.na.Fei./khain/ skirts/ your

King James Version

Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 40:6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.
Jeremiah 52:16 But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
Jeremiah 39:10 But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
2 Kings 25:12 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
Matthew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Luke 13:23 “Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered,
1 Peter 4:18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”