Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 21:21 tn Heb “mother.”
2. Ezekiel 21:21 sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.
3. Ezekiel 21:21 tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).
4. Ezekiel 21:21 tn Heb “sees.”
5. Ezekiel 21:21 tn Heb “the liver.”
6. Ezekiel 21:22 tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.
7. Ezekiel 21:22 tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.
8. Ezekiel 21:22 tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”
9. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10. Ezekiel 21:23 sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).
11. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Or “iniquity.”
13. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt to be captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18), thus justifying their capture.