Footnotes

1. 5:1 This verse tells us again about the enemies who were coming to fight against Jerusalem. They will hit the king on his face, because they will almost win the war. This will show that they have authority over him. (An army from Assyria attacked Jerusalem in 701 BC but they did not completely beat Judah's soldiers. An army from Babylon came years later and beat them.)
2. 5:2 This verse tells people that the birth of the ruler will be in Bethlehem, a very small town. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.
3. 5:5 ‘Seven or eight leaders’ means ‘as many leaders as we need’. The idea is that Israel will have more than enough leaders to beat their enemy at that time.
4. 5:6 Nimrod is another name for Assyria. (Genesis 10:8-11 says that Nimrod was a strong hunter. He lived in the same place as Assyria, but many years earlier.)
5. 5:8 A lion is a big wild animal. It kills other animals and it eats them.
6. 5:8 Verses 7-8 These verses tell about the future time when God's people will be strong again. This time is the ‘last days’, as in Chapter 4:1. Jacob's people can bring life to people from other countries as water brings life to plants. But some of those other people may not want to obey God. To them, Jacob's people will bring death, as a lion kills other animals.
7. 5:13 An idol is a thing that people have made from stone, wood or metal. Then they worship and pray to the idol instead of God.
8. 5:14 Asherah was the mother-god of the people called Canaanites. Israel's people took their country from the Canaanites and they lived there. They learned to worship the Canaanites' god, Asherah. They used the poles to worship Asherah. But God had told Israel's people not to worship any other gods.