Discovery BoxEzekiel 21:21-22 
Context21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork 1 in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: 2 He shakes arrows, he consults idols, 3 he examines 4 animal livers. 5 21:22 Into his right hand 6 comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal 7 for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, 8 to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.
1 tn Heb “mother.”
2 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 tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).
4 tn Heb “sees.”
5 tn Heb “the liver.”
6 tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.
7 tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.
8 tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”
