A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine ... and a third part shall fall by the sword ... and I will scatter a third part into all the winds - statement in plain terms of what was intended by the symbols (Ezekiel 5:2; see Ezekiel 6:12; Jeremiah 15:2; Jeremiah 21:9).
I will draw out a sword after them - (quoted from Leviticus 26:33). Sceptics object, No such thing happened under Zedekiah as a here foretold-namely, that a third part of the nation should die by pestilence, a third part by the sword, and a third be scattered unto all winds, and a sword sent after them. But the prophecy is not restricted to Zedekiah's time. It includes all that Israel suffered, or was still to suffer, for their sins, especially those committed at that period (Ezekiel 17:21). It only received its primary fulfillment under Zedekiah: numbers then died by the pestilence and by the sword; and numbers were scattered in all quarters, and not carried to Babylonia alone, as the objectors assert (cf. Ezra 1:4; Esther 3:8, "There is a certain people scattered abroad, and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom" (Ahasuerus' kingdom); Obad
14).
With the pestilence, and ... famine - signified by the symbol "fire" (Ezekiel 5:2). Compare Isaiah 13:8; Lamentations 5:10; plague and famine burning and withering the countenance, as fire does.