Here it becomes absolutely clear that the threatening symbolic actions of Ezekiel in verses 1-2 apply to Jerusalem. God himself will punish Jerusalem and its people, just as Ezekiel had acted out.

A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in the midst of you: A third part of you refers to one third of the people of Jerusalem. This group of people corresponds to the first pile of Ezekiel’s hair. They will die of pestilence and be consumed with famine, that is, some of them will become sick and die, and others will starve to death. Pestilence is a plague, disease, or sickness. This will happen in the midst of you, that is, inside Jerusalem while the siege is taking place. Starvation and the spread of diseases due to malnourishment and unsanitary conditions always caused many casualties in a besieged city. There is no contradiction with verse 2 here, because corpses were usually burned during a siege to prevent further spread of disease.

A third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them: The fate of the other two thirds of the people of Jerusalem, which correspond to the second and third piles of hair, is described in the same terms as in verse 2 (see the comments there). The second group will fall by the sword round about you, that is, they will be killed as they try to escape from Jerusalem. The third group God will scatter to all the winds, that is, he will scatter them in all directions. Here in verse 12 God scatters them, but in verse 2 he commanded Ezekiel to scatter them. I … will unsheathe the sword after them means God will pursue them and kill them.

Here is one way to render this verse:

• One third of you will die in the city from disease and starvation. One third of you will be killed by the enemy [or, The enemy will kill a third of you] as you try to leave the city. And I will drive out the rest of you into all parts of the world where I will pursue you and kill you.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .