TRV
Translation
King James Version
And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
Complete Jewish Bible
I asked, "What is it?" He said, "This is the eifah-measure [a one-bushel dry-measure] passing by." Then he added, "This is their eye in all the land."
Berean Standard Bible
“What is it?” I asked. And he replied, “A measuring basket is going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”
American Standard Version
And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their appearance in all the land
World English Bible Messianic
I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the efah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land
Geneva Bible (1599)
And I saide, What is it? And hee sayde, This is an Ephah that goeth foorth. Hee saide moreouer, This is the sight of them through all the earth.
Young's Literal Translation
And I say, `What is it?' And he saith, `This--the ephah that is coming forth.' And he saith, `This is their aspect in all the land.
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Commentary on Zechariah 5 verses 5–11
5 ¶ Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
The foregoing vision was very plain and easy, but in this are things dark and hard to be understood; and some think that the scope of it is to foretel the final destruction of the Jewish church and nation and the dispersion of the Jews, when, by crucifying Christ and persecuting his gospel, they should have filled up the measure of their iniquities; therefore it is industriously set out in obscure figures and expressions, "lest the plain denunciation of the second overthrow of temple and state might discourage them too much from going forward in the present restoration of both." So Mr. Pemble.
The prophet was contemplating the power and terror of the curse which consumes the houses of thieves and swearers, when he was told to turn and he should see greater desolations than these made by the curse of God for the sin of man: Lift up thy eyes now, and see what is here, Zac 5:5. What is this that goeth forth? Whether over the face of the whole earth, as the flying roll (Zac 5:3), or only over Jerusalem, is not certain. But, it seems, the prophet now, through either the distance or the dimness of his sight, could not well tell what it was, but asked, What is it? Zac 5:6. And the angel tells him both what it is and what it means.
I. He sees an ephah, a measure wherewith they measured corn; it contained ten omers (Exo 16:36) and was the tenth part of a homer (Eze 45:11); it is put for any measure used in commerce, Deu 25:14. And this is their resemblance, the resemblance of the Jewish nation over all the earth, wherever they are now dispersed, or at least it will be so when their ruin draws near. They are filling up the measure of their iniquity, which God has set them; and when it is full, as the ephah of corn, they shall be delivered into the hands of those to whom God has sold them for their sins; they are meted to destruction, as an ephah of corn measured to the market or to the mill. And some think that the mentioning of an ephah, which is used in buying and selling, intimates that fraud, and deceit, and extortion in commerce, were sins abounding much among them, as that people are known to be notoriously guilty of them at this day. This is a proper representation of them through all the earth. There is a measure set them, and they are filling it up apace. See Mat 23:32; Th1 2:16.
II. He sees a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah, representing the sinful church and nation of the Jews in their latter and degenerate age, when the faithful city became a harlot. He that weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance measures nations and churches as in an ephah; so exact is he in his judicial dealings with them. God's people are called the corn of his floor, Isa 21:10. And here he puts this corn into the bushel, in order to his parting with it. The angel says of the woman in the ephah, This is wickedness; it is a wicked nation, else God would not have rejected it thus; it is as wicked as wickedness itself, it is abominably wicked. How has the gold become dim! Israel was holiness to the Lord (Jer 2:3); but now this is wickedness, and wickedness is nowhere so scandalous, so odious, and, in many instances, so outrageous, as when it is found among professors of religion.
III. He sees the woman thrust down into the ephah, and a talent, or large weight, of lead, cast upon the mouth of it, by which she is secured, and made a close prisoner in the ephah, and utterly disabled to get out of it. This is designed to show that the wrath of God against impenitent sinners is, 1. Unavoidable, and what they cannot escape; they are bound over to it, concluded under sin, and shut up under the curse, as this woman in the ephah; he would fain flee out of his hand (Job 27:22), but he cannot. 2. It is insupportable, and what they cannot bear up under. Guilt is upon the sinner as a talent of lead, to sink him to the lowest hell. When Christ said of the things of Jerusalem's peace, Now they are hidden from thy eyes, that threw a talent of lead upon them.
IV. He sees the ephah, with the woman thus pressed to death in it, carried away into some far country. 1. The instruments employed to do it were two women, who had wings like those of a stork, large and strong, and, to make them fly the more swiftly, they had the wind in their wings, denoting the great violence and expedition with which the Romans destroyed the Jewish nation. God has not only winged messengers in heaven, but he can, when he pleases, give wings to those also whom he employs in this lower world; and, when he does so, he forwards them with the wind in their wings; his providence carries them on with a favourable gale. 2. They bore it up in the air, denoting the terrors which pursued the wicked Jews, and their being a public example of God's vengeance to the world. They lifted it up between the earth and the heaven, as unworthy of either and abandoned by both; for the Jews, when this was fulfilled, pleased not God and were contrary to all men, Th1 2:15. This is wickedness, and this comes of it; heaven thrust out wicked angels, and earth spewed out wicked Canaanites. 3. When the prophet enquired whither they carried their prisoner whom they had now in execution (Zac 5:10) he was told that they designed to build it a house in the land of Shinar. This intimates that the punishment of the Jews should be a final dispersion; they should be hurried out of their own country, as the chaff which the wind drives away, and should be forced to dwell in far countries, particularly in the country of Babylon, whither many of the scattered Jews went after the destruction of their country by the Romans, as they did also to other countries, especially in the Levant parts, not to sojourn, as in their former captivity, for seventy years, but to be nailed down for perpetuity. There the ephah shall be established, and set upon her own base. This intimates, (1.) That their calamity shall continue from generation to generation, and that they shall be so dispersed that they shall never unite or incorporate again; they shall settle in a perpetual unsettlement, and Cain's doom shall be theirs, to dwell in the land of shaking. (2.) That their iniquity shall continue too, and their hearts shall be hardened in it. Blindness has happened unto Israel, and they are settled upon the lees of their own unbelief; their wickedness is established upon its own basis. God has given them a spirit of slumber (Rom 11:8), lest at any time they should convert, and be healed.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 5–11. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Zechariah
(Verse 5 seq.) And an angel came out who spoke to me, and said to me: Lift up your eyes and see what is coming. And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a departing vessel; and he said: This is their eye in all the land. And behold, a weight of lead was being carried, and behold, a woman sitting in the middle of the vessel. And he said: This is wickedness, and he threw her into the middle of the vessel, and he put a lead mass in her mouth. LXX: And the angel who spoke with me came out and said to me: Lift up your eyes and see what is coming out. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the measure that is coming out. And he said, This is their iniquity in all the land. And behold, a talent of lead was lifted up: and behold, a woman was sitting inside the measure, and he said, This is wickedness, and he threw her into the midst of the measure, and he threw a lead stone into her mouth. The amphora, or measure, was being carried out and was seen in the air. And so that we would not doubt by what proper term it is called, the angel himself, who showed the amphora, or measure, gives it a name and says, according to the Septuagint, 'This is their wickedness in all the earth'; according to the Hebrews, 'This is the eye, that is, the manifestation of all sins.' And behold, a woman was sitting in the middle of the amphora, or measure, which is called 'Epha' by the Hebrews, and it is often translated by the Seventy as 'οἴφι'; and this very woman was called wickedness. When she saw these things, behold, a talent of lead, that is, a mass the size of a stone, was being carried either by its own force or by the command of the Lord, or it was being carried by another whose name remains unspoken. But this angel who was speaking through the prophet, and coming out of him, showed all these things, seized the woman who was called impiety, and threw her headlong into the middle of the amphora, which was previously being carried freely, and sitting on top of the amphora, he appeared to everyone. Acne forte rursum elevaret caput, et sua iniquitate et impietate gauderet, talentum plumbi in modum gravissimi lapidis mittit in os amphorae: ut impietatem in medio opprimat atque concludat, ne quoquo modo possit erumpere. Haec quasi umbras quasdam et lineas futurae imaginis duximus, ut quod reliquum est suis coloribus impleamus. Angelus qui loquebatur in propheta, egressus de eo, et quasi cominus loquens, praecipit illi ut levet oculos suos, et videat peccata populi Israel in mensuram coacervata perfectam, et impleta delicta cunctorum: et hanc esse oculum eorum, quod Hebraice dicitur Enam (), et scribitur per Ain, Jod, Nun, Mem: Sive iniquitatem eorum; quae si per Vau litteram scripta esset, recte legeretur Onam (), ut LXX putaverunt: et hic error in editione Vulgata frequenter inolevit, ut quia Vau et Jod litterae eadem forma, sed mensura diversae sunt, altera legatur pro altera. This amphora or measure, their eye is in the whole earth, that is, a display of sins, so that the vices of those scattered and hidden might be gathered together and exposed to the eyes of all, to show what kind of people Israel was and how it had been in its land. And behold, a talent of lead was carried. For the talent of lead, we read in the following passage a lead stone. Chachar is called a talent (); Aben a stone. He is, therefore, the lead stone, which we, expressing it more clearly, have interpreted as the mass or sphere of lead, from which the heaviest weight of sins is signified. And above this measure and vessel of all sins, impiety sat in the middle, which we can also call by another name, idolatry, and denial of God. Hence, the Savior said to the Jews: 'Fill up the measure of your fathers' (Matthew 23:32). This wickedness, which sat upon the sins of Israel and boasted in its own wickedness, is later cast into the midst of Babylon and pressed down by the bad of captivity. Or according to Theodotion, it throws itself and hides in the midst of a jar, and places upon itself the heaviest weight of lead, so that it may have its mouth sealed shut and cannot boast any longer. Or surely it is oppressed by the angel of God, so that what previously rejoiced in wickedness may be silenced in eternal silence. But the following reading teaches to what place and by whom it is brought to a close.
Richard ChallonerAD 1781
This is their eye: This is what they fix their eye upon: or this is a resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Zechariah 5:6 introduces the fifth of Zechariah's eight night visions, where the prophet inquires about a mysterious object revealed to him. The interpreting angel identifies this object as an "ephah" that is "going forth," further clarifying that it represents the "resemblance" or "appearance" of the wickedness prevalent "through all the earth." This verse sets the stage for a profound symbolic act of divine judgment and the ultimate removal of sin from God's land and people.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: Zechariah 5:6 is an integral part of a series of eight night visions granted to the prophet Zechariah, beginning in Zechariah 1:7. These visions are strategically placed to encourage and instruct the post-exilic community in Jerusalem. Specifically, this verse initiates the fifth vision, which spans Zechariah 5:5-11. It immediately follows the fourth vision of the high priest Joshua's cleansing (Zechariah 3) and the vision of the flying scroll (Zechariah 5:1-4), both of which underscore God's commitment to holiness and His judgment against sin. The ephah vision, therefore, serves as a powerful visual representation of the active removal of iniquity from the land, building upon the themes of purification and divine judgment introduced earlier in the prophetic book.
Historical & Cultural Context: The visions of Zechariah occurred around 520-518 BC, during the critical post-exilic period when the Jewish people had returned from Babylonian captivity and were engaged in the challenging task of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. This was a time marked by spiritual apathy, economic hardship, and external opposition, making divine encouragement and clarity of purpose essential. The "ephah" was a common dry measure in ancient Israel, typically used for grain or other commodities, roughly equivalent to 22 liters or 5-6 gallons. Its cultural familiarity would have made its symbolic repurposing as a measure of wickedness particularly striking and understandable to Zechariah's audience, highlighting that God was taking account of the moral state of His people and the world. The vision's emphasis on the "earth" (Zechariah 5:6) and its subsequent destination in Shinar (Zechariah 5:11) also connects to the historical reality of exile and the broader geopolitical landscape of the ancient Near East.
Key Themes: This verse, within the broader context of Zechariah 5, contributes significantly to several key themes. Firstly, it highlights Divine Revelation and Communication, as God continues to communicate His will and understanding through His interpreting angel to the prophet, demonstrating His active engagement with His people. Secondly, the vision powerfully portrays the Symbolic Nature of Wickedness, with the common ephah being transformed into a vessel containing and representing the accumulated sin and moral corruption. This emphasizes that wickedness is not merely abstract but has a measurable "weight" or "volume" in God's sight. Finally, the phrase "through all the earth" introduces the theme of the Universal Scope of Judgment and Purification, indicating that the problem of sin is pervasive, extending beyond Judah, and that God's ultimate plan involves a comprehensive removal of iniquity, setting the stage for a future of holiness.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zechariah 5:6 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message. Symbolism is central, as the common "ephah" is transformed into a potent representation of accumulated wickedness. This everyday object is imbued with profound theological meaning, making the abstract concept of sin tangible and measurable in God's sight. The phrase "goeth forth" also adds a dynamic element to this symbolism, suggesting that this wickedness is actively manifesting or being brought to light. Dialogue is another key device, as the interaction between Zechariah and the interpreting angel structures the revelation. Zechariah's question and the angel's explanation create a narrative flow that guides the reader through the unfolding vision, emphasizing the divine source of understanding. Furthermore, the vision uses Metaphor by equating the ephah with the "resemblance" or "appearance" of wickedness, implying that the ephah is not just a container but is the very embodiment of the pervasive iniquity. This metaphor extends the scope of the problem "through all the earth," highlighting the universal nature of sin and God's comprehensive awareness of it.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zechariah 5:6 reveals a profound theological truth: God is not only aware of human sin but actively measures and accounts for its extent. The vision of the ephah underscores God's meticulous knowledge of iniquity, demonstrating that no amount of wickedness, whether individual or societal, escapes His notice. This divine awareness serves as a prelude to His righteous judgment and ultimate purification. The "going forth" of the ephah signifies that God is bringing hidden sin into the open, preparing for its decisive removal. This vision assures God's people that He will not tolerate sin indefinitely within His holy presence, providing both a warning against unrighteousness and a promise of future cleansing for His land and people.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Zechariah 5:6 serves as a stark reminder that God is not indifferent to the moral state of humanity. The image of the ephah, a common measuring vessel repurposed to quantify wickedness, should prompt us to consider the "weight" and "volume" of sin in our own lives and in the world around us. This vision calls believers to a deeper commitment to personal holiness, recognizing that God meticulously observes and will ultimately deal with all unrighteousness. It challenges us to examine our hearts, confess our sins, and actively participate in the process of purification, both individually and corporately. Understanding that God desires to remove wickedness from His presence should inspire us to strive for purity and justice, aligning our lives with His righteous standards and anticipating the day when all iniquity will be fully banished.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What exactly is an "ephah" in this context?
Answer: An "ephah" (Hebrew: ʼêyphâh) was a common dry measure in ancient Israel, typically used for grain, equivalent to about 22 liters or 5-6 gallons. In Zechariah 5:6, it is not used literally but symbolically. It represents the accumulated "measure" or "volume" of wickedness. The ephah is depicted as a container that holds or embodies the pervasive sin and moral corruption that God is observing and preparing to remove from the land.
What does "their resemblance through all the earth" mean?
Answer: The phrase "their resemblance" (Hebrew: ʻayin, meaning "eye" or "appearance") indicates that the ephah itself embodies the very form, character, or appearance of the wickedness. It's not just a container for sin, but it is the visible manifestation of the iniquity. The addition "through all the earth" signifies the universal scope of this wickedness. It means that the sin represented by the ephah is not confined to Judah but is a pervasive human problem, and God's judgment against it is universal, affecting all lands and peoples. This highlights the comprehensive nature of God's plan to deal with sin.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Zechariah 5:6, with its vision of the ephah representing pervasive wickedness "through all the earth" and its ultimate removal, finds its profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament's recurring theme of God's judgment against sin and His desire for a purified people culminates in Christ, who is the ultimate solution to the problem of human iniquity. While the ephah symbolizes the measurement and removal of sin, Christ is the one who takes away sin. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, bearing the full weight and measure of human wickedness on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). Through His atoning sacrifice, Jesus effectively "carries away" the iniquity that the ephah represents, cleansing not just a land but the hearts of all who believe (Hebrews 9:26). The vision's promise of a land purified from wickedness ultimately points to the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells and "nothing impure will ever enter it" (Revelation 21:27), a reality made possible by Christ's complete triumph over sin and death (Colossians 2:13-14).