Zechariah 5:4

4 I shall lead out it, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the house of a thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall dwell in the middle of his house, and shall waste him, and his trees, and his stones. (I have sent it out, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the thief's house, and to the house of him who sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall stay, or remain, in the midst of his house, and it shall destroy him, and his wood, or his timber, and his stones.)

Zechariah 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 5:4

I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts
The roll was come forth, and was flying abroad; but the curse and wrath of God, signified by it, is what God would bring forth out of his treasures, according to his purposes and declarations, and execute upon sinners; which shows the certainty of it, and that there is no escaping it: and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the
house of him that sweareth 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;
when wrath is gone forth from the Lord, there is no stopping it; and where it takes place it will remain, there is no getting rid of it; it makes an utter desolation of goods and estates, and entirely destroys both body and soul in hell: there seems to be an allusion to the plague of the leprosy, ( Leviticus 14:45 ) . So the son of Sirach says,

``a man that swears much shall be full of iniquity, and the plague shall not depart from his house:''

and again,

``if a man swears in vain, he shall not be innocent or justified, for his house shall be full of calamities ^F25.''

So the oracle in Herodotus ^F26, which Grotius has observed, makes an utter destruction of a man's house and family, to be the punishment of the sin of perjury. Moreover, by the house of the thief and swearer may be meant the temple, as in the times of Christ, which was become a den of thieves and perjurers, and for their sins, became desolate, ( Matthew 21:13 ) ( 23:38 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 11.
F26 Erato, sive l. 6. c. 86.

Zechariah 5:4 In-Context

2 And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, Lo! I see a book flying; the length thereof was of twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof of ten cubits. (And I said, Lo! I see a flying book/Lo! I see a scroll flying through the air; its length was twenty cubits, and its breadth was ten cubits.)

3 And he said to me, This is the curse, that goeth on the face of all (the) earth; for each thief shall be deemed, as it is written there; and each man swearing (falsely) shall be deemed of this also. (And he said to me, This is the curse, that goeth forth over the face of all the earth; for each thief shall be judged, as it is written there; and each person who falsely sweareth shall also be judged by this, and swept away.)

4 I shall lead out it, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the house of a thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall dwell in the middle of his house, and shall waste him, and his trees, and his stones. (I have sent it out, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the thief's house, and to the house of him who sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall stay, or remain, in the midst of his house, and it shall destroy him, and his wood, or his timber, and his stones.)

5 And the angel went out, that spake in me (who spoke to me), and said to me, Raise (up) thine eyes, and see, what this thing is that goeth out.

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an amphora, either a pot, going out. And he said, This is the eye of them in all earth (And he said, This is their sin in all the earth).