Ezekiel 5:16

5:16 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

21:21 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

39:9 “‘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.

[5:16]  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).

[5:16]  ² tn Heb “which are/were to destroy.”

[5:16]  ³ tn The language of this verse may have been influenced by Deut 32:23.

[5:16]  ⁴ tn Or “which were to destroy those whom I will send to destroy you” (cf. NASB).

[5:16]  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.

[21:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “mother.”

[21:21]  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.

[21:21]  ⁸ tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).

[21:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “sees.”

[21:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the liver.”

[39:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “burn and kindle the weapons.”

[39:9]  ¹² tn Two different types of shields are specified in the Hebrew text.