The Hebrew verb marat means to make smooth or bare by pulling, rubbing, or polishing. It is used of pulling out hair (Ezra 9:3, Nehemiah 13:25 — as a sign of grief or anger), of polishing a sword to gleaming readiness (Ezekiel 21:9–10), and of a bird whose feathers are plucked (Leviticus 1:16). The range of uses from grief to warfare makes marat theologically significant.
In Ezekiel 21:9–11, marat describes a sword polished to slaughter — the terrifying image of divine judgment approaching in readiness. In Ezra 9:3, the tearing of hair expresses the horror of covenant unfaithfulness. Isaiah 50:6 uses the same word for the Suffering Servant who 'did not hide his face from mocking and spitting' — his beard was pulled (marat), a profound act of humiliation. The Servant endures what the sword-polishing of judgment demanded.