TRV
Translation
King James Version
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.
Complete Jewish Bible
He said, "This is Evil." He threw her down into the eifah and pressed the lead weight over its opening.
Berean Standard Bible
“This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.
American Standard Version
And he said, This is Wickedness: and he cast her down into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
World English Bible Messianic
He said, “This is Wickedness”; and he threw her down into the midst of the efah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
Geneva Bible (1599)
And he said, This is wickednes, and he cast it into the middes of the Ephah, and hee cast the weight of lead vpon the mouth thereof.
Young's Literal Translation
And he saith, `This is the wicked woman.' And he casteth her unto the midst of the ephah, and casteth the weight of lead on its mouth.
In the KJVVerse 22,945 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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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 5:8 marks a pivotal moment in Zechariah's fifth vision, where the prophet witnesses the divine identification and decisive containment of "Wickedness." After an angelic interpreter reveals that the woman within the ephah represents the pervasive moral and spiritual corruption that has plagued Israel, the Lord commands her forceful confinement. This act, symbolized by casting a heavy lead weight upon the ephah's mouth, signifies God's unwavering commitment to purify His people and land from sin, ensuring its removal and preventing its re-emergence.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is situated within the fifth of Zechariah's eight night visions, a series of prophetic revelations given to him in a single night. The preceding verses Zechariah 5:5-7 introduce the "ephah" or measuring basket and the woman within it, whom the angel identifies as "Wickedness." This immediate context is crucial, as Zechariah 5:8 describes the climactic action taken against this personified evil, serving as the resolution to this particular vision before the ephah is transported to Shinar in Zechariah 5:9-11. The vision as a whole, along with the preceding one about the flying scroll in Zechariah 5:1-4, underscores God's commitment to purge sin and injustice from the land, preparing the way for a holy community and the rebuilding of the temple.
Historical & Cultural Context: The visions of Zechariah were given to the Jewish exiles who had returned to Judah from Babylon, a period marked by the daunting task of rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. This community faced internal struggles, including apathy, moral laxity, and economic hardship, alongside external opposition. The "ephah" was a common dry measure, roughly equivalent to 22 liters, used in commerce. Its use here might subtly allude to the prevalence of dishonest weights and measures, symbolizing the social and economic injustices that often accompanied spiritual declension (Amos 8:5). The heavy lead weight emphasizes the finality and permanence of the action, signifying an irrevocable judgment. For a community striving to re-establish itself as God's holy people, this vision offered a powerful assurance that God Himself was actively dealing with the very sins that had led to their past exile, promising purification for a new beginning.
Key Themes: Zechariah 5 powerfully conveys several key themes. The primary message is Divine Judgment and Purification, illustrating God's unwavering commitment to confront and remove wickedness from among His people and their land. The act of casting "Wickedness" back into the ephah and sealing it with a lead weight signifies a definitive and irreversible judgment, echoing God's righteous character seen throughout Scripture (e.g., Psalm 7:11). Another significant theme is the Containment of Evil. The heavy lead weight serves as a powerful symbol of finality and secure imprisonment, ensuring that this personified evil is not merely hidden but prevented from spreading its influence. This provides a profound assurance of God's ability to deal with sin decisively. Finally, the vision offers Hope for a Clean Community, assuring the post-exilic community that God was actively purifying the land of Judah, removing the very sins that had previously led to divine judgment and exile. This purification was essential for establishing a holy community dedicated to God, a promise also found in Ezekiel 36:25-27.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zechariah 5:8 employs several potent literary devices to convey its message. Personification is central, as "Wickedness" (Hebrew, rishʻâh) is embodied as a woman, making the abstract concept of sin tangible, relatable, and menacing. This allows for a dramatic interaction where evil is not merely a concept but an entity that can be seen, confined, and sealed away. Symbolism is also heavily at play: the ephah symbolizes the container of the nation's collective sin, often linked to commercial dishonesty and moral corruption, while the lead weight powerfully symbolizes the finality, permanence, and immovability of God's judgment and the secure containment of evil. The act of "casting" (Hebrew, shâlak) emphasizes Divine Action and decisiveness, portraying God as actively engaged in purging sin from His people and land, rather than passively observing.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zechariah 5:8 provides a profound theological statement about God's active opposition to sin and His commitment to the purity of His people. It reveals that God does not tolerate wickedness within His covenant community; He actively intervenes to identify, contain, and remove it. This vision underscores the principle that God's presence demands holiness and that true restoration involves not just physical rebuilding but spiritual cleansing. The sealing of "Wickedness" within the ephah signifies God's sovereign power over evil, assuring His people that He is capable of dealing decisively with the very forces that led to their past judgment and exile, thus paving the way for a holy dwelling place for Him.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Zechariah 5:8 offers profound insights for believers today, reminding us that God is not passive concerning sin; He is actively engaged in its removal and containment. This vision encourages us to recognize the pervasive nature of "wickedness"—both systemic evil in the world and the sin that can reside within our own hearts and communities. Just as God decisively dealt with "Wickedness" in the vision, we are called to participate in the ongoing process of sanctification, actively "putting to death" sinful practices and desires in our lives. It assures us that God desires a holy people and provides the means for purification. This vision instills hope, knowing that God will ultimately triumph over all evil, and calls us to align our lives with His purifying purposes, striving for personal and communal holiness.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is "Wickedness" personified as a woman in this vision?
Answer: The personification of "Wickedness" as a woman (Hebrew: rishʻâh) serves several purposes. It makes the abstract concept of sin tangible and concrete, allowing Zechariah and the audience to visualize it as an active, pervasive, and corrupting force. In ancient Near Eastern literature, women were sometimes used to symbolize cities, nations, or abstract concepts, both positive (like Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 9) and negative (like Lady Folly). Here, it emphasizes the insidious and pervasive nature of moral corruption that had deeply infiltrated Israelite society, leading to their exile. The act of containing her highlights God's direct and decisive intervention against this very real, active evil.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Zechariah 5:8, with its dramatic portrayal of "Wickedness" being contained and sealed away, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While the vision in Zechariah depicts a symbolic removal of sin from the land, Christ's sacrifice on the cross achieved the actual and definitive victory over sin itself. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, not merely containing it but atoning for it. Through His death and resurrection, Christ disarmed the powers of darkness and triumphed over sin's dominion (Colossians 2:13-15). The lead weight sealing the ephah foreshadows the finality of Christ's triumph, ensuring that sin's power is broken for those who believe (Romans 6:6-7). Ultimately, the vision points to the new heavens and new earth, where, because of Christ's redemptive work, "nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:27). Thus, Christ is the one who truly and eternally casts out and seals away all wickedness.