Zechariah
Zechariah 5
Chapter V · Vol. III, pp. 1488–1490
1 By the flying roll is showed the curse of thieves and swearers. 5 By a woman pressed in an ephah, the final damnation of Babylon.
2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a bflying roll; the length thereof is ctwenty cubits[≈ 9.1 m · 30 ft], and the breadth thereof ten cubits[≈ 4.6 m · 15 ft].
b ver.1. Mal.3.5. Zep.1.7,14. 2 Pe.2.3.
3 Then said he unto me, This is dthe curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth:2 for eevery one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it;3 and every one that sweareth4 shall be cut off as on that side5 according to it.
d ch.8.17. De.11.29; 28.15, &c.; 30.19. Mal.4.6. Re.14.10. Is.3.11.
2 Whole earth—whole land of Judea.—C.
e Ho.4.2. Pr.29.24; 30.9. Mal.1.8;3.8,9. Ne.13.10,11. Ex.20.7,15. ver.4.
3 Or, every one of this people that stealeth, holdeth himself guiltless, as it doth.
4 Every one that stealeth—and every one that sweareth. Sins very prevalent among the Jews in the days of our Lord. See Mat. 5. 33-36; 23.14,16-22. Lu.11.52. Jn.10.8,10. Ro.2.21.—C.
5 This side and that side. The roll was written on both sides, as in Eze. 2.10; one side containing the curses against robbers, the other against blasphemers.—C.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall genter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him hthat sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and ishall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel jthat talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
j ch.2.3;4.1;1.14.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is kan ephah[≈ 22 litres · 4.8 gallons]6 that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
k Mat.23.32. Ge.15.16, with Am.8.5.
6 An ephah—a measure much in use among the Jews, Ex.16.36. Le.19.36. Ru.2.17, resembling the common bushel in shape, and containing about seven gallons.—Their resemblance: the emblem of the Jews as traffickers in all lands.—C.
7 Or, weighty piece, Mat.18.24. Am.2.13. Is.43.24. Eze.16.43. Ge.13.13, or Is.13.1; 15.1;17.1;19.1; 21.1; 22.1; 24; 59.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a ltalent[≈ 34 kg · 75 lb]8 of lead: and this is a lwoman 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 ncast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there ocame out9 two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wingsp like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
o Eze.12.22. Zep.1.7. Mal.3.5. 2 Pe.3.1,3.
9 There came out. 'There went forth' (Newcome).—Two women: the two nations of Assyria and Babylon.—Lifted up the ephah: carried the unjust and blasphemous people captive.—C.
p De.28.49. Ho.8.1. Je.49.22. 2 Ki.15.19,29; 17.3-6;24.1,10-15;25.1-11. Je.50.17. Da.9.26,27. Lu.19.43,44; 21.20,24. Mat.22.7.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, qTo build it an house in the land of Shinar:1 and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.2
q Le.26.33. De.28.59. Ho.3.4. Lu.21.24, with Je.29.5,28.
1 Chaldea, Ge.10.10;11.2,9;14.1; or shaking out, De.28.64-68. Le.26.33-39. Lu.21.24.
2 Her own base. The distinctive character of the Jewish nation shall remain firm as the pedestal of a statue, or foundation of a building, during the entire period of their dispersion.—C.
A.B. If this vision relates to Babylon, see Is.13; 14; 47. Je.50; 51.
Notes
Ver. 6–11. The ephah, a large measure, denotes that they would fill up a very large measure of iniquity everywhere before God would execute his judgments upon them. The woman sitting in the ephah denotes the Jewish nation awfully abandoned to wickedness. The talent of lead, for covering the mouth of the ephah, denotes the dreadful and unavoidable weight of their calamities. The two winged women, who carried the ephah, denote the Roman armies destroying the Jews, and carrying them into a miserable and lasting captivity. Their fixing an house for it in the land of Shinar imports that the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans would be as miserable, and much more lasting, than the captivity in Babylon.
Reflections.—Fearful is the curse which all men are under by nature; and which will find them out go where they will, if they continue without Christ. Thieves and profane swearers, those brethren in sin, are infamous and self-destroying wretches. And unavoidable, insupportable, and lasting is the wrath of God, which falls upon obstinate transgressors, and especially apostates from his true worship.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.