Ezekiel 5:1 contains the only biblical occurrence of this occupational term. The prophet receives a bizarre sign-act command: 'Take a barber's razor and pass it over your head and beard.' The word derives from roots meaning to shave or cut, here nominalized to designate the profession. Phoenician inscriptions confirm the term's wider Semitic usage. The symbolism is profound: Jerusalem's inhabitants will be 'shaved'—removed through death, exile, and dispersion. The barber's tool becomes an instrument of divine judgment rather than routine grooming.