Zechariah 5:1-10

The Flying Scroll

1 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.[a]
3 And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished.
4 The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’ ”

The Woman in a Basket

5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
6 I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity[b] of the people throughout the land.”
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!
8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

Zechariah 5:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 5

This chapter treats of the judgments of God upon the wicked Jews for their sins and impieties, the measure of which was filled up, and of the execution of them, which are represented in two visions: the first is of a flying roll, which signifies the curse of God, and is described by its measure, the length being twenty cubits, and the breadth ten; and by the extent of it, it reaching to the whole earth, and particularly to thieves and false swearers, who shall be cut off by it; and by the certainty of its coming into the houses of such, and the utter desolation it should there make, Zec 5:1-4 and the other is the vision of an ephah, and a woman sitting in it, and a talent of lead cast upon the mouth of it, which signified wickedness, Zec 5:5-8 this "ephah" is seen to be lifted up between earth and heaven by two women, who are said to have wings like the wings of storks, and the wind to be in them; and who are said by the angel to carry the "ephah" into the land of Shinar, to build it a house, that it might be established and settled upon its own base, Zec 5:9-11.

Cross References 10

  • 1. S Psalms 40:7; S Jeremiah 36:4; Ezekiel 2:9; Revelation 5:1
  • 2. S Jeremiah 1:13
  • 3. Malachi 4:6">Isa 2Malachi 4:6; Isaiah 34:2; Isaiah 43:28; Malachi 3:9; Malachi 4:6
  • 4. Exodus 20:15; Malachi 3:8
  • 5. Exodus 20:7; Isaiah 48:1
  • 6. Zechariah 8:17
  • 7. Leviticus 14:34-45; S Proverbs 3:33; S Habakkuk 2:9-11; Malachi 3:5
  • 8. Micah 6:10
  • 9. Micah 6:11
  • 10. Leviticus 11:19

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. That is, about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide or about 9 meters long and 4.5 meters wide
  • [b]. Or "appearance"
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