Zechariah 5:1-6

1 Then I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold a flying roll.

2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth; for every one that steals (as it is written on one side of the roll) shall be destroyed; and every one that swears (as it is written on the other side of the roll) shall be destroyed.

4 I brought it forth, said the LORD of the hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name; and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

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 goes forth.

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah to measure wheat that goes forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance in all the earth.

Zechariah 5:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 5

This chapter treats of the judgments of God upon the wicked Jews for their sins and impieties, the measure of which was filled up, and of the execution of them, which are represented in two visions: the first is of a flying roll, which signifies the curse of God, and is described by its measure, the length being twenty cubits, and the breadth ten; and by the extent of it, it reaching to the whole earth, and particularly to thieves and false swearers, who shall be cut off by it; and by the certainty of its coming into the houses of such, and the utter desolation it should there make, Zec 5:1-4 and the other is the vision of an ephah, and a woman sitting in it, and a talent of lead cast upon the mouth of it, which signified wickedness, Zec 5:5-8 this "ephah" is seen to be lifted up between earth and heaven by two women, who are said to have wings like the wings of storks, and the wind to be in them; and who are said by the angel to carry the "ephah" into the land of Shinar, to build it a house, that it might be established and settled upon its own base, Zec 5:9-11.