Zechariah 5:9

Zechariah 5:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
• New International Version (NIV)Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.

Context of Zechariah 5:9

7A lead cover ⌞on the basket⌟ was raised, and a woman was sitting in the basket. 8The angel said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and forced the lead cover down on top of it. I looked up and saw two women coming forward with wind in their wings. They had wings like those of a stork. They carried the basket into the sky. 10I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11He answered me, “They are going to build a house for it in Shinar [Babylonia]. When the house is ready, they will set the basket there on a stand.”

Zechariah 5:9 word by word

וָאֶשָּׂ֨א עֵינַ֜י וָאֵ֗רֶא וְהִנֵּה֩ שְׁתַּ֨יִם נָשִׁ֤ים יֽוֹצְאוֹת֙ וְר֣וּחַ בְּכַנְפֵיהֶ֔ם וְלָהֵ֥נָּה כְנָפַ֖יִם כְּכַנְפֵ֣י הַחֲסִידָ֑ה וַתִּשֶּׂ֙אנָה֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֵיפָ֔ה בֵּ֥ין הָאָ֖רֶץ וּבֵ֥ין הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then lifted I upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: lookH5375
• mine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• and lookedרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• and, behold, there came outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• and the windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
• in their wingsכָּנָףkânâph · wingH3671
• for they hadהֵנָּהhênnâh · they(fem.)H2007
• of a storkחֲסִידָהchăsîydâh · storkH2624
• the ephahאֵיפָה'êyphâh 'êphâh · ephahH374
• between the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• and the heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064

Cross-references for Zechariah 5:9

• Deuteronomy 28:49The Lord will bring against you a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth. The nation will swoop down on you like an eagle. It will be a nation whose language you won’t understand.
• Daniel 9:26But after the sixty-two sets of seven time periods, the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The city and the holy place will be destroyed with the prince who is to come. His end will come with a flood until the end of the destructive war that has been determined.
• Hosea 8:1“Sound the alarm on the ram’s horn. The enemy swoops down on the Lord’s temple like an eagle. The people of Israel have rejected my promise and rebelled against my teachings.
• Matthew 24:28Vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.

Commentaries on Zechariah 5:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9There came out two women - As the one woman represented the impiety of the Jewish nation; so these two women who were to carry the ephah, in which the woman Iniquity was shut up, under the weight of a talent of lead, may mean the desperate Unbelief of the Jews in rejecting the Messiah; and that Impiety, or universal corruption of manners, which was the consequence of their unbelief, and brought down the wrath of God upon them. The strong wings, like those…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9There came out two women - It may be that there may be no symbol herein, but that he names women because it was a woman who was so carried; yet their wings were the wings of an unclean bird, strong, powerful, borne by a force not their own; with their will, since they flew; beyond their will, since the wind was in their wings; rapidly, inexorably, irresistibly, they flew and bore the Ephah between heaven and earth. No earthly power could reach or rescue…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. 9In the Old Testament, it is rare to see divine or angelic winged creatures depicted as women. If these two women are the Lord's servants, they are unique angels. If they serve Wickedness (a foreign goddess), their obedience to God's command shows his power over false gods.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. The agents to carry away the "woman" are, consistently with the image, "women." God makes the wicked themselves the agents of punishing and removing wickedness. "Two" are employed, as one is not enough to carry such a load [Maurer]. Or, the Assyrians and Babylonians, who carried away idolatry in the persons, respectively, of Israel and Judah [Henderson]. As two "anointed ones" (Zec 4:14) stand by the Lord as His ministers, so two winged women execute…Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 5:9

• Measure
• Stork
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Angel
• Bible, the
• Ephah (2)
• Joshua (3)
• Stork
• 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