Zechariah 5:6

6 And I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the ephah that goes forth." And he said, "This is their iniquity 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Zechariah 5:6 In-Context

4 I will send it forth, says the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it shall abide in his house and consume it, both timber and stones."

5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, "Lift your eyes, and see what this is that goes forth."

6 And I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the ephah that goes forth." And he said, "This is their iniquity in all the land."

7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the ephah!

8 And he said, "This is Wickedness." And he thrust her back into the ephah, and thrust down the leaden weight upon its mouth.