Ezekiel — Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Ezekiel is commanded to shave his head and divide the hair in three parts — one third burned in the city, one third struck with the sword around it, one third scattered to the wind — symbolizing the three fates of Jerusalem's inhabitants: death by plague and famine, death by the sword, and exile. Lapide notes the razor (novacula) as the instrument of divine judgment working through the Babylonians.
Verse 2
One third burned with fire in the city: Lapide reads the three portions as representing the three ways sinners perish — some by God's immediate judgment (the fire of conscience and contrition), some by the sword of the divine word which condemns, some scattered among the nations in the diaspora of spiritual exile. All three apply to the soul in the state of mortal sin.
Verse 5
Jerusalem placed in the midst of the nations (in medio gentium posui eam): Lapide interprets this geographically (Palestine is the center of the ancient world) and providentially (Jerusalem was meant to be a spiritual center radiating the Law to all peoples). Having rejected her vocation, she receives the judgment reserved for apostates.