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 The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.
7 sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.
8 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
16 sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.
17 sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.
18 sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).
21 tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the
26 tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”
31 tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”
32 sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.
36 tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.
41 tn Heb “a stumbling block of iniquity.” This is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (cf. also Ezek 7:19; 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30).
42 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
43 tn Heb “will bear.”
46 sn For a similar concept of the transmitting of holiness, see Exod 19:12-14; Lev 10:1-2; 2 Sam 6:7. Similar laws concerning the priest are found in Lev 10 and 21.