Discovery BoxEzekiel 5:16 
Context5:16 I will shoot against them deadly, 1 destructive 2 arrows of famine, 3 which I will shoot to destroy you. 4 I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply. 5
Ezekiel 21:21
Context21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork 6 in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: 7 He shakes arrows, he consults idols, 8 he examines 9 animal livers. 10
Ezekiel 39:9
Context39:9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling 11 – the shields, 12 bows and arrows, war clubs and spears – they will burn them for seven years.
1 tn The Hebrew word carries the basic idea of “bad, displeasing, injurious,” but when used of weapons has the nuance “deadly” (see Ps 144:10).
2 tn Heb “which are/were to destroy.”
3 tn The language of this verse may have been influenced by Deut 32:23.
4 tn Or “which were to destroy those whom I will send to destroy you” (cf. NASB).
5 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support. See 4:16, as well as the covenant curse in Lev 26:26.
6 tn Heb “mother.”
7 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.
8 tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).
9 tn Heb “sees.”
10 tn Heb “the liver.”
11 tn Heb “burn and kindle the weapons.”
12 tn Two different types of shields are specified in the Hebrew text.
