The original text of this chapter is written in the Hebrew language.

Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

[3][a] As in Ezekiel 12:17–20, "Ezekiel is instructed in to act out the response to YHWH's actions, in this case moaning pitifully in order to provoke the people's curiosity and so provide further opportunity to warn them of the coming disaster".

[6] The signpost represented the decision then faced by Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, regarding which of these two capitals to attack.

[6] Three methods of divination are noted: Biblical scholar Julie Galambush comments that "the arrows apparently functioned like lots, first labelled and then shaken together in a quiver, after which one was drawn out"; teraphim (images) were also used in Canaan and Israel (see Genesis 31:19, 1 Samuel 19:13–16 and Hosea 3:4); hepatoscopy, divination based on the analysis of sheep livers, was widespread in the ancient Near East.