Footnote

a Describing this ancient practice, The Holy Bible, With an Explanatory and Critical Commentary, edited by F. C. Cook, explains: “It was practised either by dropping gold, silver, or jewels, into the water, and then examining their appearance; or simply by looking into the water as into a mirror.” Bible commentator Christopher Wordsworth says: “Sometimes the cup was filled with water, and the answer was given by means of imagery, produced by the sun on the water in the cup.”