Zechariah 5

Vision of the Flying Scroll

¹Then again I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.

²He said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”

³Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land, for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.

⁴I will cause it to go out,” says the LORD of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”

Vision of the Woman in the Basket

⁵Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is that is appearing.”

⁶I 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—

⁷and behold, a lead cover weighing one talent was lifted up—and there was a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket.”

⁸He said, “This is Wickedness;” and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the lead weight on its mouth.

⁹Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there were two women; and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky.

¹⁰Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are these carrying the ephah basket?”

¹¹He said to me, “To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.”

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Zechariah receives two visions revealing God's judgment on sin and His plan to remove wickedness from the land. The first vision shows a flying scroll representing divine judgment that will pursue and destroy thieves and those who swear falsely. The second vision depicts wickedness personified as a woman contained in a basket and carried away to Babylon, symbolizing the complete removal of sin from the restored community.

Context

Following the previous night visions, this chapter continues Zechariah's prophetic revelations about God's judgment and purification of the post-exilic community.

Key Themes

Outline

1-2
The Flying Scroll Appears Zechariah sees a massive flying scroll measuring twenty by ten cubits.
3-4
The Scroll's Purpose Revealed The scroll represents God's curse against thieves and false oath-takers, pursuing them to destroy their houses.
5-8
The Woman in the Basket A woman representing wickedness is sealed inside an ephah basket with a heavy lead cover.
9-11
Wickedness Removed to Shinar Two winged women carry the basket containing wickedness to Babylon where it will be permanently housed.

Vision of the Flying Scroll

5:1–5:4

prophecy vision solemn

Zechariah sees a flying scroll representing God's curse against thieves and those who swear falsely. This vision depicts divine judgment that will seek out and destroy the houses of the wicked, emphasizing God's justice against sin.

person_contrast

Zechariah's flying scroll measures exactly half the dimensions of Solomon's temple porch, symbolically reducing divine presence from worship space to judgment instrument.

Vision of the Woman in the Basket

5:5–5:11

prophecy vision solemn

Zechariah sees a vision of a woman representing Wickedness trapped in a basket and carried away to Shinar. This symbolizes the removal of sin from the land and its banishment to a foreign place.

theme_rarity

Zechariah's vision uniquely combines the Hebrew ephah (a grain measure) with lead covering and winged women, creating the Bible's only instance where commercial imagery depicts sin's physical removal.

Insight Character Study

Zechariah's flying scroll measures exactly half the dimensions of Solomon's temple porch, symbolically reducing divine presence from worship space to judgment instrument.

Insight Rare Theme