I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land
Parallel Translations
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I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land
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And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
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And I said: 'What is it?' And he said: 'This is the measure that goeth forth.' He said moreover: 'This is their eye in all the land —
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Zechariah 5:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Amos 8:5 Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
- Ezekiel 44:10-11 “ ‘ “But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they will bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house. They shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Then the angel answered, This is the measure that…
Then the angel answered, This is the measure that goes forth, and this is their eye in all the earth. By saying that the measure is their eye, he no doubt means that the ungodly could not thus be carried away at their own pleasure, but that God restrained them whenever it seemed good to him; for they could not escape his sight. For by their eyes he understands passively the power of seeing in God, by which he notices all the sins of the ungodly, that he may check them when he pleases, when they hurry on without restraint.
But that the meaning of the Prophet may be made more clear, let us first see what wickedness means, — whether it is to be taken for those sins which provoked God’s wrath against the Jews, — or whether for those wrongs which heathen enemies had done. The last is the view I prefer, though if we take it for the wickedness which had previously reigned in Judea, the meaning would not be unsuitable. For as wickedness is hateful to God, his vengeance against the Jews could not have ceased except by cleansing them from their sins, and by renewing them by his Spirit. For they had carried on war with him in such a way, that there was no means of pacifying him but by departing from their sins. And whenever God reconciles himself to melt, he at the same time renews them by his Spirit; he not only blots out their sins, as to the guilt, but also regenerates those who were before devoted to sin and the devil, so that he may treat them kindly and paternally.
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With regard then to the subject in hand, both views may be suitably adopted. We may consider the meaning to be, — that God would take away iniquity from Judea by cleansing his Church from all defilements, since the Jews could not partake of his blessing except iniquity were driven afar off and banished. As God then designed to be propitious to his people, he justly says, that he would cause wickedness to disappear from the midst of them. Yet the other view, as I have said, is more agreeable to the context, — that wickedness would not be allowed freely to prevail as before; for we know that loose reins had been given to the cruelty of their enemies, inasmuch as the Jews had been exposed to the wrongs of all. As then they had been so immoderately oppressed, God promises that all unjust violence should be driven afar off and made to depart into the land of Shinar, that is, that the Lord would in turn chastise the Babylonians and reward them as they had deserved. The import of the whole is, that God, who had chosen the seed of Abraham, would be propitious to the Jews, so as to put an slid at length to their calamities.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, all the wickedness of the ungodly is…
That is, all the wickedness of the ungodly is in God’s sight, which he keepeth in a measure, and can shut it or open it at his pleasure.
Which was a measure in dry things, containing about ten pottels.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 5:6 And I said, What [is] it? And…
Zec 5:6 And I said, What [is] it? And he said, This [is] an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This [is] their resemblance through all the earth.
Ver. 6. And I said, What is it?] i.e. What meaneth it? for the vision is very hard and mysterious lest (saith one) the plain denunciation of the second overthrow of temple and state might discourage them too much to go forward in the present restoration of both. Hugh Broughton, on Dan 2:4, observeth that while the visions are general, and cause the Jews no danger, so far Daniel writeth in the Syriac tongue, general over the East. But when the oppressors be named, and the Jews plainly described the people whom God defendeth, then the eighth chapter and all after he writes in Hebrew (a tongue less known and studied), and hath commandment to keep close the plain exposition Dan 12:4. There is a great deal of wisdom required of those that are intrusted with the dispensation of divine truths. Our Saviour spake as the people could hear, and not as he could have spoken. See Heb 5:11-12.
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This is an ephah that goeth forth] The ephah was the greatest and most common measure among the Jews; and is therefore generally put for any measure whatsoever, Deu 25:14. By false measures (one kind of theft) they had sinned (whence the Chaldee here, Isti sunt populi qui aceipiebant, et dabant mensura falsa, These are the people that bought and sold by false measures), by the same, therefore, their punishment is set forth and signified: a piece of their punishment it was that they were bounded and limited; that wickedness was confined and kept within her ephah. The Vulgate translates it amphora, a pitcher; which, when it is once filled with the bitter waters of wickedness, will soon sink to the bottom. Sinners, as they are stinted, so, when they have filled up their measure, they are sure to be punished; when they are ripe in the field God will come with his sickle; when their grapes of Sodom are full ready he will cast them into the winepress of his wrath, Rev 14:19 Gen 15:16 Mat 23:32.
This is their resemblance through all the earth] Heb. their eye, their aspect, their colour. This, that is, this ephah, is their resemblance; sc. that when they have filled up their sins they shall have their fill of punishment. Or this, meaning some apparition representing God’s providence showed by the angel to the prophet, is their eye, that is, the eye of the three persons in Trinity, God’s universal providence, which presideth over his judgments, Zec 3:9; Zec 4:10; Zec 9:1. Or thus: This ephah or measure of their punishment, proportionate to their sin, in killing Christ especially, Mat 23:32, shall be their eye through all the earth, i.e. shall be conspicuous and apparent to all sorts; so that all men shall hate them, and hoot at them for a company of kill-Christs, shall look upon them as a people of God’s curse. Thus the Chaldee here, Behold, they are made manifest before all the inhabitants of the earth; for all men shall be witnesses of their horrible both sins and plagues.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And I said, What is it? Zechariah knew not…
And I said, What is it? Zechariah knew not what this was tie saw, so far was. he from knowing what it meant.
And he, the angel, said,
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This is an ephah; the greatest, say some, of measures with the Hebrews, but their corus was much greater: it was a great measure, and many times taken for any measure; when strictly taken, it held some three bushels.
That goeth forth, out of the temple of Jerusalem.
He said moreover; having told the prophet what the thing was, the angel addeth once and above,
This is their resemblance through all the earth; this, how dark soever it may seem to be, is a clear emblem of this people every where. Thus there is a limited time and measure for them; whilst they sin and are filling up the ephah with their sins, they will find that the ephah of wrath is filled up also to be poured out upon them. Or as the Hebrew, This their eye; as the Gallic version, This the eye I have upon them, &c.: i.e. God’s eye observes how they fill their ephah with sin, that he may suitably punish, that his ephah of wrath may fill also.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I said, What is it?.... After he had…
And I said, What is it?.... 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, Exo 16:36 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, Mat 23:32 or in the whole world, and especially in the antichristian states, Rev 18:5, and
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He said moreover, this is their resemblance through all the earth; or "this is their eye" (z); 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.
(z) "haec est oculus eorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius, Cocceius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain He - The angel. An ephah - A measure…
He - The angel. An ephah - A measure which held about three bushels. Goeth forth - Out of the temple. Their resemblance - This is an emblem of this people everywhere. Thus there is limited time and measure for them, while they sin, and are filling the ephah with their sins, they will find that the ephah of wrath is filled up also, to be poured out upon them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. This is an ephah that goeth forth.]…
Verse 6. This is an ephah that goeth forth.] This, among the Jews, was the ordinary measure of grain. The woman in the ephah is supposed to represent Judea, which shall be visited for its sins; the talent of lead on the ephah, within which the woman was enclosed, the wrath of God, bending down this culprit nation, in the measure of its sins; for the angel said, "This is wickedness;" that is, the woman represents the mass of iniquity of this nation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain This is the ephah that goeth forth - Theodoret:…
This is the ephah that goeth forth - Theodoret: “We too are taught by this, that the Lord of all administers all things in weight and measure. So, foretelling to Abraham that his seed should be a sojourner and the cause thereof, He says, “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” Gen 15:16, that is, they have not yet committed sins enough to merit entire destruction, wherefore I cannot yet endure to give them over to the slaughter, but will wait for the measure of their iniquity.” The relation then of this vision to the seventh is, that the seventh tells of God’s punishment on individual sinners; this, on the whole people, when the iniquity of the whole is full.
This is their resemblance, as we say, their look, that is, the look, appearance, of the inhabitants “in all the land.” This then being the condition of the people of the land, at the time to which the vision relates, the symbolical carrying away of the full measure of sin cannot be its forgiveness, since there was no repentance, but the taking away of the sin with the sinner. Cyril: “The Lord of all is good and loving to mankind; for He is patient toward sinners and endures transgressors, waiting for the repentance of each; but if one perseveres long in iniquity, and come to the term of the endurance allowed, it remains that he should be subjected to punishment, and there is no account of this long forebarance, nor can he be exempt from judgment proportioned to what he has done. So then Christ says to the Jewish people, rushing with unbridled phrensy to all strange excess, “Fill ye up the measure of your fathers” Mat 23:32. The measure then, which was seen, pointed to the filling up of the measure of the transgression of the people against Himself.” Jerome: “The angel bids him behold the sins of the people Israel, heaped together in a perfect measure, and the transgression of all fulfilled - that the sins, which escaped notice, one by one, might, when collected together, be laid open to the eyes of all, and Israel might go forth from its place, and it might be shown to all what she was in her own land.” Ribera: “I think the Lord alluded to the words of the prophet, as though He would say, “Fill up the measure of sins” which your fathers began of old, as it is in Zechariah, that is, ye will soon fill it; for ye so haste to do evil, that ye will soon fill it to the utmost.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Vessel. Hebrew epha. (Calmet) --- Eye. This is what…
Vessel. Hebrew epha. (Calmet) --- Eye. This is what they fix their eye upon, or this is a resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "resemblance." (Haydock) --- This is their picture. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "wickedness;" aunom. (Haydock) --- U is often mistaken for i. (St. Jerome) Yet here the Septuagint seems equally intelligible, ver. 8. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain This is their resemblance--literally, "eye" (compare Eze 1:4-5, Eze…
This is their resemblance--literally, "eye" (compare Eze 1:4-5, Eze 1:16). HENGSTENBERG translates, "Their (the people's) eye" was all directed to evil. But English Version is better. "This is the appearance (that is, an image) of the Jews in all the land" (not as English Version, "in all the earth"), that is, of the wicked Jews.
This--Here used of what was within the ephah, not the ephah itself.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. an ephah] Lit. the ephah. Though it seems…
6. an ephah] Lit. the ephah. Though it seems impossible to fix accurately the size of the Hebrew ephah (Dict. of Bible, Weights and Measures), there can be no doubt that it was not large enough to contain a woman (Zec_5:7). “This,” then, says the angel, “is the (ideal) ephah, or ephah-like vessel, that is coming forth to view.” Comp. for the connection of sin with a measure, Mat_23:32, and see Gen_15:16; Jer_51:13.
This is their resemblance] Lit. their eye. So we read of the manna, “its eye (i.e. appearance) was as the eye of bdellium,” Num_11:7. Comp. Lev_13:55; Eze_1:4; Eze_1:16.
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This is understood by some to mean: “this” ephah, which thou seest is “their resemblance” (i.e. the resemblance of the wicked) “in all the land,” inasmuch as they are now no longer scattered over it, as in the preceding vision, but gathered up in one, like the grains of corn in a measure. It is better, however, to give a wider meaning to the word “this,” viz. this ephah, with all that you will see in the vision regarding it, is the resemblance or representation of the wicked through all the land, and of what shall befall them.
the earth] Rather, the land.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) What is it?—i.e., What does it symbolise? For,…
(6) What is it?—i.e., What does it symbolise? For, of course, he could see that it was an ephah.
This is an ephah . . . all the earth.—Better, This, the ephah that cometh forth, this, continued he, is their resemblance throughout the whole lands: i.e., this is a symbol of the sinners mentioned above. (For “resemblance” the LXX., by the change of one letter, read iniquity.) The nature of the comparison is seen by some to be as follows. As in an ephah the separate grains are all collected together, so will the individual sinners over the whole length and breadth of the land be brought into one confused heap. (Comp. Mat_13:30.) It is not mentioned till later that they are to be carried away.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain What is it? The prophet did not clearly discern…
What is it? The prophet did not clearly discern the object, or his question may mean, "What does it signify?" An ephah; the ephah, as "the curse" (ver. 3). The ephah was the largest of the dry measures in use among the Jews, and was equal to six or seven gallons. It was, of course, too small to contain a woman. The LXX calls it simply "the measure;" the Vulgate, amphora; and it must be considered as an imaginary vessel of huge size. It may have a tacit reference to dishonest dealings. (comp. Amo_8:5 Mic_6:10) This is their resemblance; literally, this is their eye. The Authorized Version explains the meaning accurately. "Eye" is often used for that which is seen, as in Lev_13:55, where the Authorized Version has "colour;" and Num_11:7, where in reference to the manna we read, "The eve thereof was as the eye of bdellium". (comp. Eze_1:4, Eze_1:16) So here the meaning is: This ephah and this whole vision represent the wicked in the land. Some take "the eye" to mean the object of sight, that to which they look. But the ephah was not sot forth for all the people to examine. The LXX and Syriac, from some variation in the reading, have adikia , "iniquity," and some critics have desired to adopt this in the text. But authority and necessity are equally wanting.
Vers. 6-11. The vindication of Law.
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"Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes," etc. The last vision was one of warning. This, as we take it, is one of judgment. The subject appears, however, to be the same. What the prophet previously dreaded and threatened he now describes as fulfilled. In other words, in a mystical fashion, and in language (it may be) only partially understood by himself, he foretells how the warning just uttered by him would be, on the one hand, completely despised by the Jewish people and Church; and, on the other hand, completely vindicated by the course of events.
I THE WARNING DESPISED. This is predicted, in vision, by certain similitudes, which convey to our minds:
1. The idea of measure. An "ephah," a common measure, sometimes put (according to some, see Deu_25:14, margin) as a representative of all measures, is seen "going forth." What for, except to be used? And how used, unless for measuring? As also if Dr. Pusey is right in speaking of it as the largest measure in use for measuring something of very unusual magnitude.
2. The idea of national sin. Of sin, by what is said of the contents of this ephah, viz. (ver. 8), "This is wickedness." Of nationality, by its being presented to us under the figure of a woman, (see Isa_37:22 Eze_16:2, Eze_16:4; and other Scriptures; and comp. Isa_3:26 with the figure and legend of "Judaea Capta" on the coin struck in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem) and perhaps, also, by the remarkable declaration in end of ver. 6.
3. The idea of repletion. This large measure being so filled up as only to require the closing up of its mouth; and that with so heavy a closing as a "talent of lead," as though never requiring to...be opened again. See what our Lord long afterwards said to the Jews in Mat_23:32, (comp. Gen_15:16) with apparent reference to this very prophecy, and, as some think, (Mat_23:35) to this very prophet. Also compare what is said concerning the sin of "stealing," in ver. 4 of this chapter, with what our Saviour also said to the Jews of that day in Mat_21:13; and see Dan_8:23 1Th_2:16.
II THE WARNING FULFILLED. This seems shown us by the following emblems:
1. The emblem of captivity. The "woman," or nation, with its "wickedness," being, as already noted, shut up in the ephah.
2. The emblem of settled purpose. As exhibited by the appearance of "two" persons to effect the same thing. Compare such passages as Amo_3:3 Gen_19:1 Gen_41:32; and note how "two" angels declare both the resurrection and the second coming of Christ. (Joh_20:12 Act_1:10)
3. The emblem of irresistible removal. The "two women" spoken of are naturally able to overcome and lift up the one in the ephah. (Ecc_4:9, Ecc_4:10) The same idea may also be conveyed by their having the "wings of a stork," the most familiar of all birds of migration; (Jer_8:7) also by their having "the wind" in their wings, their natural strength being made stronger still (so this may mean) by the appointed course of events; (comp. Psa_147:18 Psa_148:8) also once more, perhaps, by the ephah being so "lifted up from the earth" that nothing earthly could have the power to prevent its removal.
4. The emblem of permanent stay. The ephah being taken to "Shinar," or Babylon, a land of long captivity to Israel in the past, (Jer_29:4, Jer_29:5) and having a house "built" for it there, and being "established" there on a base of its own. All which seems to have been fulfilled when the Romans came, after the "filling up" of the sins of the Jews by their rejection of Christ, and took away their "place and nation", (Joh_11:48) carrying them away captive by irresistible might and evidently Divine assistance into their long exile in the great city of that mystical "Babylon," which is also, spiritually, "called Sodom and Egypt", (Rev_11:8 Rev_14:8 Rev_17:1, Rev_17:5, Rev_17:18, etc.) and settling them there (so it possibly means) on a "base" of their "own," i.e. in a kind of life and under a Divine dispensation peculiar to themselves. (comp. Num_23:9, end)
We see, in this prophecy so viewed, in conclusion:
1. The cumulative nature of sin. As nations and men continue in disobedience, so also, and even more, does the amount charged against them, as by a terrible kind of compound interest, continue to increase. The sins of yesterday greatly aggravate the sins of today. Besides passages supra, see Rom_2:5 Jam_5:3 Deu_32:3, Deu_32:4.
2. The necessary limits of sin. Sin, in its ultimate essence, is simply rebellion against God. (1Jn_3:4 Psa_51:4) Even in the case, therefore, of Israel, who was dealt with in especial mercy and love, there must be some boundary beyond which the accumulation of sin cannot be allowed to proceed. What becomes, else, of God"s rule? What of his holiness too? Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur. (see Gen_18:25, end)
3. The ultimate issue of sin. If not repented of, if not atoned for, what can this issue be except "banishment"? And what can such banishment mean except "death"? (Mat_25:41 Psa_16:11 Rom_6:23 Pro_29:1)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain What is it
What is it
In the vision of the ephah local and prophetic elements are to be distinguished. The elements are: an ephah or measure; a woman in the ephah; a sealing weight upon the mouth of the ephah confining the woman, and the stork-winged women whose only function is to bear the ephah and woman away into Babylonia (Shinar). The thing thus symbolized was "through all the land" (Zec 5:6).
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Symbolically, a "measure" (or "cup") stands for something which has come to the full, so that God must judge it 2Sa 8:2; Jer 51:13; Hab 3:6; Hab 3:7; Mat 7:2; Mat 23:32. A woman, in the bad ethical sense, is always a symbol of that which, religiously, is out of its place. The "woman" in Mat 13:33 is dealing with doctrine, a sphere forbidden to her 1Ti 2:12. In Thyatira a woman is suffered to teach Rev 2:20. The Babylon phase of the apostate church is symbolized by an unchaste woman, sodden with the greed and luxury of commercialism.; Rev 17:1-6; Rev 18:3; Rev 18:11-20.
The local application of Zechariah’s ninth vision is, therefore, evident. The Jews then in the land had been in captivity in Babylon. Outwardly they had put away idolatry, but they had learned in Babylon that insatiate greed of gain Neh 5:1-9; Mal 3:8 that intense commercial spirit which had been foreign to Israel as a pastoral people, but which was thenceforward to characterize them through the ages. These things were out of place in God’s people and land. Symbolically He judged them as belonging to Babylon and sent them there to build a temple--they could have no part in His. The "woman" was to be "set there upon her own base" (Zec 5:11). It was Jehovah’s moral judgment upon Babylonism in His own land and people.
Prophetically, the application to the Babylon of the Revelation is obvious. The professing Gentile church at that time condoning every iniquity of the rich, doctrinally a mere "confusion," as the name indicates, and corrupted to the core by commercialism, wealth, and luxury, falls under the judgment of God (Revelation 18.).
earth
Lit. land, i.e. Palestine.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:6 The basket (Hebrew ephah) was a standard unit…
5:6 The basket (Hebrew ephah) was a standard unit of dry measure, approximately ½ bushel. The Old Testament prophets’ condemnation of unjust ephahs creates a natural association between the ephah basket and evil (see Ezek 45:10; Mic 6:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.