The Flying Scroll
5 Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Now look up and see what this is going forth.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the [b]ephah (grain basket) going forth. This,” he continued, “is their appearance throughout the land(B) 7 (and behold, a [round, flat] lead [c]cover was lifted up); and there sat a woman inside the ephah.” 8 Then he said, “This is Wickedness (Godlessness)!” And he threw her back down into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead cover on its opening. 9 Then I looked up, and there were two women coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. 10 I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” 11 And he said to me, “To the land of Shinar (Babylon) to build a temple for her; and when it is prepared, [d]she shall be set there on her own pedestal.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 5:2 The measurements of the scroll, as a symbol of God’s judgment, are the same as the measurements of the Holy Place in the tabernacle in the wilderness.
- Zechariah 5:6 The ephah (a bushel basket for collecting grain) that was used by farmers was approximately 1.05 bushels, but it would be much larger in this vision.
- Zechariah 5:7 The Hebrew word for the cover is also used for a talent weight. Metal ingots were cast in the form of a flat disk.
- Zechariah 5:11 Perhaps symbolic of the removal of the sinful customs of the Israelites.
Cross references
- Zechariah 5:3 : Is 24:6; Mal 3:8, 9
- Zechariah 5:6 : Amos 8:5