TRV
Translation
King James Version
And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
Berean Standard Bible
And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
American Standard Version
(and, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah.
World English Bible Messianic
(and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the efah basket.”
Geneva Bible (1599)
And beholde, there was lift vp a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the middes of the Ephah.
Young's Literal Translation
And lo, a cake of lead lifted up; and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah.'
In the KJVVerse 22,944 of 31,102
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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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Gregory of NyssaAD 395
On Virginity 18
For virtue is something light and exhilarating. All who live according to it “fly along the clouds,” according to Isaiah, and “like doves” with their young, but sin is heavy, seated, as one of the prophets says, upon a “talent of lead.” If such an interpretation of Scripture appears to anyone to be forced and unfitting, because he does not think the miracle of the sea was written as an aid to us, let him listen to the apostle saying that he wrote symbolically, both for the people of his own time and “for our correction.”
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
Letter 2
The deserts of each one of us are suspended in the balance, which a little weight either of good works or of degenerate conduct sways this way or that; if the evil preponderate, woe is me! if the good, pardon is at hand. For no man is free from sin; but where good preponderates, the evil flies up, is overshadowed, and covered. Wherefore in the Day of judgement our works will either succour us, or will sink us into the deep, weighed down as with a millstone. For iniquity is heavy, supported as by a talent of lead; avarice is intolerable, and all pride is foul dishonesty. Wherefore exhort the people of God to trust rather in the Lord, to abound in the riches of simplicity, wherein they may walk without snare and without hindrance.
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.
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 5:7 describes the fifth of Zechariah's eight nocturnal visions, presenting a symbolic tableau of divine judgment against national wickedness. In this vivid scene, a heavy lead cover is lifted from an ephah (a large measuring basket), revealing a woman seated within—a potent personification of the pervasive sin and moral corruption within the land of Judah. This moment initiates the process of God's decisive action to contain and remove the accumulated evil from His people, signifying His commitment to purification and the establishment of holiness in preparation for future blessing.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zechariah 5:7 is rich in Symbolism and Personification, making the abstract concept of sin strikingly concrete. The "ephah" symbolizes the collective measure of national sin and moral corruption, a container filled to the brim with the accumulated iniquity of the people. The "talent of lead" serves as a powerful symbol of the immense weight of divine judgment and the decisive, overwhelming force by which God suppresses and seals away this wickedness. Most notably, the "woman" is a clear Personification of "Wickedness" itself, giving an abstract spiritual reality a tangible, identifiable form. Her presence "in the midst of the ephah" is a vivid Imagery that portrays sin as deeply embedded and comfortably settled within the very fabric of the community, requiring a dramatic divine intervention for its removal. The entire vision functions as an extended Allegory, communicating profound theological truths about God's holiness and His active role in purifying His people.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zechariah 5:7 powerfully underscores God's unwavering commitment to holiness and His active intervention in human affairs to purge sin. This vision reveals that God does not tolerate wickedness indefinitely, especially within His covenant community. The unveiling and subsequent removal of the "woman" of wickedness signify a divine cleansing, a necessary prerequisite for the full restoration and blessing of His people. This aligns with the broader biblical narrative of God's redemptive plan, which always involves the removal of sin to establish righteousness. It is a testament to God's character as both just and holy, assuring His people that He will indeed deal decisively with all forms of evil, preparing a purified remnant for His presence.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Zechariah 5:7 offers a profound and sobering reflection for believers today. It serves as a stark reminder that God is not indifferent to sin, whether individual or systemic. The imagery of the "woman" of wickedness being contained and removed should impress upon us the pervasive and weighty nature of sin in God's sight. It is not a trivial matter but something that demands divine judgment and decisive action. This vision calls us to a deeper commitment to personal and corporate holiness, urging us to actively identify and renounce any form of "wickedness" that might have settled "in the midst" of our lives or communities. As God worked to purify His post-exilic people, He continues to sanctify His church, calling us to cooperate with His Spirit in the ongoing process of cleansing and transformation, striving for purity in thought, word, and deed, knowing that our God is a consuming fire against all that is unholy.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is an ephah, and why is it used in this vision?
Answer: An ephah (Hebrew: ʼêyphâh) was a standard dry measure in ancient Israel, roughly equivalent to a bushel (about 22 liters or 0.6 US bushels). It was commonly used for grain and other dry goods. In Zechariah 5:7, its use is highly symbolic: it represents the collective sum or full measure of the nation's wickedness. The fact that the "woman" (Wickedness) is "sitting in the midst of the ephah" suggests that sin had accumulated to a significant, measurable extent, filling the very container of the nation's life and requiring comprehensive divine action.
Who is the "woman" in the ephah, and what does she represent?
Answer: The "woman" in the ephah is explicitly identified in the very next verse, Zechariah 5:8, as "Wickedness." She is a personification of the pervasive moral corruption, idolatry, and accumulated sin that had settled within the land of Judah. Her presence "sitting" within the ephah suggests that this wickedness was not merely superficial but deeply entrenched and comfortable at the heart of the community, symbolizing the systemic evil that God intended to decisively remove.
Why is a "talent of lead" used as a cover for the ephah?
Answer: A "talent" (Hebrew: kikkâr) was a very heavy unit of weight, often around 75 pounds (34 kg) or more. "Lead" (Hebrew: ʻôwphereth) is a dense, heavy metal. The "talent of lead" thus signifies an extraordinarily heavy, oppressive weight. Its use as a cover or lid over the ephah symbolizes the immense, decisive, and forceful nature of God's judgment. It indicates that the wickedness is being suppressed, contained, and sealed away with overwhelming power and authority, preventing its escape and preparing it for complete removal from the land, as described in Zechariah 5:11.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Zechariah 5:7, with its vivid imagery of the removal of national wickedness, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "woman" of wickedness, representing the pervasive sin that contaminates humanity and the world, is decisively dealt with through Christ's atoning sacrifice. On the cross, Jesus bore the full "talent of lead" of God's judgment against sin, effectively sealing its fate and breaking its power over believers (Colossians 2:14-15). Just as the ephah was to be carried away to a distant land, Christ's death and resurrection inaugurated a new covenant where sin's dominion is broken, and believers are progressively sanctified by the Holy Spirit, being cleansed from all defilement (2 Corinthians 5:17 and Titus 2:14). Ultimately, the complete and final removal of all wickedness from God's purified people and the earth will be fully realized at Christ's glorious return, when He establishes His righteous kingdom, banishing sin forever (Revelation 21:27).