Zechariah 5:5-11

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:11

To build it a house in the land of Shinar - The land of Shinar means Babylon; and Babylon means Rome, in the Apocalypse. The building the house for the woman imprisoned in the ephah may signify, that there should be a long captivity under the Romans, as there was under that of Shinar or Babylon, by which Rome may here be represented. That house remains to the present day: the Jewish woman is still in the ephah; it is set on its own base - continues still as a distinct nation; and the talent... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:5

Verse 5 Here I stop; I intended to add all the verses, but I can hardly finish the whole today. It will be enough for us to understand that this is the second part of the vision, in which the Prophet, in order to relieve or in some measure to mitigate the sorrow of the Jews, shows, that God would not treat them with extreme rigor, so as to punish them as they deserved, but would chastise them with paternal moderation. Hence he says, that a measure appeared to him and a woman in the measure. The... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:6

Verse 6 Then the angel answered, This is the measure that goes forth, and this is their eye in all the earth. By saying that the measure is their eye, he no doubt means that the ungodly could not thus be carried away at their own pleasure, but that God restrained them whenever it seemed good to him; for they could not escape his sight. For by their eyes he understands passively the power of seeing in God, by which he notices all the sins of the ungodly, that he may check them when he pleases,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:7

Verse 7 Now the Prophet says that wickedness, when first seen, was in mid air, and in a measure; but at the same time he calls the measure the eye of the ungodly, for though wickedness extends itself to all parts, yet God confines it within a hidden measure; and this he designates by eyes, whereby he seems to allude to a former prophecy, which we have explained. For he had said that there were seven eyes in the stone of the high priest, because God would carry on by his providence the building... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:8

Verse 8 Now the angel adds, that a thin piece of lead was cast over the mouth of the measure, and that wickedness was cast into the measure. The expression, that wickedness was thrown into the measure, may be explained in two ways — either that God would not permit so much liberty to the devil to lead the Jews to sin as before; for how comes it that men abandon themselves to every evil, except that God forsakes them, and at the same time delivers them up to Satan, that he may exercise his... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:9

Verse 9 The Prophet says here that such would be the change of things, that God would in turn afflict the Chaldeans, who had so cruelly treated the chosen people. And this is the reason why I think that iniquity is to be taken for the violent injustice and plunder which heathen enemies had exercised towards the Jews. For when he says that a house would be for iniquity in the land of Shinar, it is as though he had said, “as Judea has been for a long time plundered by enemies, and has been... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 5:5

Went forth. While the prophet meditated on the last vision, the interpreting angel retired into the background or among the company of angels; he now comes into view again to explain a new revelation closely connected with the former. That goeth forth. That comes into sight from the surrounding darkness. As the preceding vision denoted that sinners should be extirpated, so the present vision shows how iniquity itself, the very principle of evil, should be removed from the Holy Land. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 5:5-11

§ 9. The seventh vision: the woman in the ephah. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 5:5-11

Worldliness in the Church. I. SADLY PREVALENT . "This is their eye"—what they mind and what they lust after. There is a climax. First two classes of sinners are figured, next one great indistinguishable mass. Then "wickedness" is personified, as one woman. This teaches how worldliness is: 1 . Common. 2 . Absorbing. 3 . Debasing—corrupting all that is beautiful and fair. II. SPECIALLY OFFENSIVE . Bad in the world; infinitely worse in the Church. 1 . Opposed to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 5:5-11

A materialistic community. "Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth," etc. Here is another (the seventh) vision in the wonderful series of visions which the prophet had that night. This is one of the strangest of the whole, one, perhaps, admitting of no certain interpretation—a " woman in the ephah." We know what an "ephah" was. It... read more

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