New Living Translation
Zechariah 5:9
9Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.
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
7Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it. 8The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again. Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky. 10“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel. 11He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”
Read all of Zechariah 5Zechariah 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 28:49“The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand,
- Daniel 9:26“After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.
- Hosea 8:1“Sound the alarm! The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord, for they have broken my covenant and revolted against my law.
- Matthew 24:28Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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