Zechariah 5:6

Zechariah 5:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the basket that is going out." And he said, "This is their iniquity in all the land."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a basket that is going forth.” He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth:

Context of Zechariah 5:6

4I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.” 5Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Now lift up your eyes and see what is approaching.” “What is it?” I asked. And he replied, “A measuring basket is going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket. 8“This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.

Zechariah 5:6 word by word

וָאֹמַ֖ר מַה־הִ֑יא וַיֹּ֗אמֶר זֹ֤את הָֽאֵיפָה֙ הַיּוֹצֵ֔את וַיֹּ֕אמֶר זֹ֥את עֵינָ֖ם בְּכָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear

• Whatמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• is itהוּאhû' hîy' · he/she/itH1931
• I askedאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• ·זֹאתzô'th · thisH2063
• A measuring basketאֵיפָה'êyphâh 'êphâh · ephahH374
• is going forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• is their iniquityעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: sinH5869
• in allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Zechariah 5:6

• Ezekiel 44:10Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.
• Amos 8:5asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.

Commentaries on Zechariah 5:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6This 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.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6This 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” Genesis 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-11Verses 5-11 In this vision the prophet sees an ephah, something in the shape of a corn measure. This betokened the Jewish nation. They are filling the measure of their iniquity; and when it is full, they shall be delivered into the hands of those to whom God sold them for their sins. The woman sitting in the midst of the ephah represents the sinful church and nation of the Jews, in their latter and corrupt age. Guilt is upon the sinner as a weight of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6The measuring basket, known as an ephah in Hebrew, was a standard unit for measuring dry goods. An ephah was about half a bushel. Old Testament prophets condemned unfair ephahs. They associated the ephah basket with wrongdoing (see Ezekiel 45:10; Micah 6:10).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. This is their resemblance--literally, "eye" (compare Eze 1:4, 5, 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.Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 5:6

• Measure
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Angel
• Ephah
• Bible, the
• Ephah (2)
• Joshua (3)
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Zechariah 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings