Ezekiel 5:1

a sharp knife lit. sword. The term may suggest the devouring divine sword, ch. Ezekiel 21:8 seq.

take thee a barber's rasor With R.V., as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee. Two weapons are not to be taken, the sword is to be used as a razor. Isaiah (ch. Isaiah 7:20) had already said: "In that day shall the Lord shave with the razor that is hired, even with the king of Assyria, the beard and the hair of the feet." The land is likened to a man; the enemy sweeps off the population clean as the razor does the hair of the body.

balances to weigh The divine justice is accurate, assigning to each part its destined chastisement; Jeremiah 15:2, "Such as are for death to death; and such as are for the sword to the sword; and such as are for the famine to the famine; and such as are for the captivity to the captivity."