¹ tn Heb “And an ox.”

² tn Heb “divide the dead.” The noun “ox” has been supplied.

¹ tn Heb “And an ox or a sheep, it and its son, you shall not slaughter.”

¹ tn Heb “And the fat from the ox and from the ram.”

² tn Heb “he was not keeping it” or perhaps guarding or watching it (referring to the ox).

¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and all the horns of the wicked I will cut off, the horns of the godly will be lifted up.” The imagery of the wild ox’s horn is once more utilized (see vv. 4-5).

² tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”

⁴ sn The image of the powerful wild ox continues; see the note on the phrase “drive back” in the preceding line.

¹ tn Heb “and all the army brought near, each his ox by his hand, and they slaughtered there.”

⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21, 28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.

² tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

² sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where an ox’s face appeared instead of a cherub’s. Note that some English versions harmonize the two descriptions and read the same here as in 1:10 (cf. NAB, NLT “an ox”; TEV, CEV “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.

² tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.

² sn The image behind the language of vv. 4-5 is that of a powerful wild ox that confidently raises its head before its enemies.

² sn The Hebrew verb translated “drive back” is literally “gore”; the imagery is that of a powerful wild ox that “gores” its enemies and tramples them underfoot.

⁴ tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tsoʾn) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.

² sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.

⁵ sn Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity has features that are associated with the mental disorder boanthropy, in which the person so afflicted imagines himself to be an ox or a similar animal and behaves accordingly.