Ezekiel 21:21

Ezekiel 21:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
• New International Version (NIV)For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.

Context of Ezekiel 21:21

19Also, thou son of man, mark two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both ways shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. 20Mark a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. 22At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a siege mound, and to build a fort. 23And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

Ezekiel 21:21 word by word

כִּֽי־עָמַ֨ד מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֜ל אֶל־אֵ֣ם הַדֶּ֗רֶךְ בְּרֹ֛אשׁ שְׁנֵ֥י הַדְּרָכִ֖ים לִקְסָם־קָ֑סֶם קִלְקַ֤ל בַּֽחִצִּים֙ שָׁאַ֣ל בַּתְּרָפִ֔ים רָאָ֖ה בַּכָּבֵֽד׃Read the interlinear

• kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• Babylonבָּבֶ֫ל, בָּבֶלbâbel · BabylonH894
• stoodעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: standH5975
• partingאֵם'êm · motherH517
• wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• useקָסַםqâsam · to divineH7080
• divinationקֶ֫סֶםqesem · divinationH7081
• arrowsחֵץchêts · arrowH2671
• brightקָלַלqâlal · to lightenH7043
• consultedשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• imagesתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655
• lookedרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• liverכָּבֵדkâbêd · liverH3516

Cross-references for Ezekiel 21:21

• Proverbs 16:33The lot is cast into the lap; but its whole disposing is from the LORD.
• Proverbs 21:1The king’s heartis in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it wherever he will.
• Numbers 23:28And Balak brought Balaam to the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon.
• Deuteronomy 18:10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
• 1 Samuel 15:23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
• Proverbs 16:10A divine sentenceis in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.
• Acts 16:16And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain maid possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
• Genesis 31:19And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
• Judges 17:5And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
• Judges 13:14She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing : all that I commanded her let her observe.
• 2 Kings 23:24Moreover the mediums, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
• Hosea 3:4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
• Hosea 4:12My people ask counsel at their idols, and their staff declareth to them: for the spirit of harlotry hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot departing from under their God.
• Zechariah 10:2For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 21:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way - He was in doubt which way he should first take; whether to humble the Ammonites by taking their metropolis, Riblath, or go at once against Jerusalem. In this case of uncertainty, he made use of divination. And this was of three kinds: 1. By arrows. 2. By images or talismans. 3. By inspecting the entrails of a sacrifice offered on the occasion. He made bright his arrows. This might be after the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18-32Verses 18-32 The third word of judgment. The king of Babylon‘s march upon Judaea and upon the Ammonites. Destruction is to go forth not on Judah only, but also on such neighboring tribes as the Ammonites (compare Jeremiah 27:2-3). Ezekiel 21:19 Appoint thee - Set before thee. Choose thou a place, choose it - Rather, “mark a spot, mark it,” as upon a map, at the head of the two roads, one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Ammon. These were the two roads…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 By the Spirit of prophecy Ezekiel foresaw Nebuchadnezzar's march from Babylon, which he would determine by divination. The Lord would overturn the government of Judah, till the coming of Him whose right it is. This seems to foretell the overturnings of the Jewish nation to the present day, and the troubles of states and kingdoms, which shall make way for establishing the Messiah's kingdom throughout the earth. The Lord secretly leads all to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21Omens were signs that people believed came from the gods. People looked for these signs through divination (trying to learn the future through special rituals). He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver: These were common ways people tried to receive omens from their gods.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. parting--literally, "mother of the way." As "head of the two ways" follows, which seems tautology after "parting of the way," Havernick translates, according to Arabic idiom, "the highway," or principal road. English Version is not tautology, "head of the two ways" defining more accurately "parting of the way." made ... bright--rather, "shook," from an Arabic root. arrows--Divination by arrows is here referred to: they were put into a quiver marked…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 21:21

• Arrow
• Liver
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• Babylon
• Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian
• Arrows
• Divination
• Liver
• Magic
• Parting
• Privy
• Astrology
• Augury

Commentaries on Ezekiel 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings