Zechariah 5:6

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah which is going out. And he said further, This is their evil-doing in all the land.

Zechariah 5:6 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 5:6

And I said, What [is] it?
&c.] After he had lifted up his eyes and seen it, he desires to know both what it was, and what was the meaning of it: and he said, This [is] an ephah that goeth forth;
which was a measure much in use with the Jews, ( Exodus 16:36 ) ( Leviticus 19:36 ) ( Ruth 2:17 ) it is the same with the "bath", and held above seven wine gallons. The Targum interprets this of such who dealt in false measures, whose sin is exposed, and their punishment set forth; but rather it designs the measure of iniquity filling up, either in Judea, particularly in the times of Christ, ( Matthew 23:32 ) or in the whole world, and especially in the antichristian states, ( Revelation 18:5 Revelation 18:6 ) : and He said moreover, this [is] their resemblance through all the
earth;
or "this is their eye" F26; what they are looking at, and intent upon, namely, this ephah; that is, to fill up the measure of their iniquity: or, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, this ephah, which thou seest, shows that there is an eye upon them which sees their works; and this is the eye of the Lord, which sees and takes notice of all the evil actions of men, not as approving them, but as observing them, and avenging them. Cocceius, by the "ephah", understands an abundance of temporal good things bestowed upon the Christian church in Constantine's time and following, on which the eyes of carnal men were looking.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (Mnye taz) "haec est oculus eorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius, Cocceius.

Zechariah 5:6 In-Context

4 And I will send it out, says the Lord of armies, and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of him who takes a false oath by my name: and it will be in his house, causing its complete destruction, with its woodwork and its stones.
5 And the angel who was talking to me went out and said to me, Let your eyes be lifted up now, and see the ephah which is going out.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah which is going out. And he said further, This is their evil-doing in all the land.
7 And I saw a round cover of lead lifted up; and a woman was seated in the middle of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is Sin; and pushing her down into the ephah, he put the weight of lead on the mouth of it.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.