Zechariah 5:5-11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Zechariah 5:5-11

The foregoing vision was very plain and easy, but in this are things dark and hard to be understood; and some think that the scope of it is to foretel the final destruction of the Jewish church and nation and the dispersion of the Jews, when, by crucifying Christ and persecuting his gospel, they should have filled up the measure of their iniquities; therefore it is industriously set out in obscure figures and expressions, ?lest the plain denunciation of the second overthrow of temple and state... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:5

Then the angel that talked with me went forth ,.... From the place where he was, and had been interpreting the vision of the flying roll, unto another more convenient for showing and explaining the following one; and, as it should seem, took the prophet along with him: and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth ; either out of the temple or out of heaven, into some open place, where it might be seen. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:6

And I said, What is it ?.... After he had lifted up his eyes and seen it, he desires to know both what it was, and what was the meaning of it: and he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth ; which was a measure much in use with the Jews, Exodus 16:36 it is the same with the "bath", and held above seven wine gallons. The Targum interprets this of such who dealt in false measures, whose sin is exposed, and their punishment set forth; but rather it designs the measure of iniquity... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:7

And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead ,.... By the angel; since he is afterwards said to cast it upon the mouth of the "ephah". A cicar, or talent of silver, with the Jews, was equal to three thousand shekels, as may be gathered from Exodus 38:24 and weighed a hundred and twenty five pounds F1 Epiphanius de Mensuris & Ponderibus. ; or, as others, a hundred and twenty F2 Hebraei apud Buxtorf. Lex. Heb. in rad. ככר . , and, according to the more exact account of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:8

And he said, This is wickedness ,.... A representation of wicked men, who are wickedness itself, as their inward part is, Psalm 5:9 and particularly of the wicked one, the man of sin and son of perdition, the Roman antichrist and apocalyptic beast; who, though he is called by this title, "his Holiness", his true and proper name is "wickedness"; ο ανομος , that wicked lawless one, 2 Thessalonians 2:8 yea, wickedness itself, being extremely wicked, a sink of sin and of all... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:9

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked ,.... This is not a new vision, but a continuation of the former, as appears from the "ephah" seen in it: and, behold, there came out two women ; out of the same place the "ephah" did. The Targum explains these "two women" by two provinces; and Kimchi interprets them of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who had been carried captive into Babylon; and others of the two kings, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, who were the cause of the captivity; but Jarchi... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:10

Then said I to the angel that talked with me ;.... This the prophet said after he had seen the "ephah" come forth; the woman, wickedness, cast into it, and the talent of lead upon her; and the two women lifting up the ephah between heaven and earth: Whither do these bear the ephah ? he neither asks what the ephah signified, nor who were the women that bore it, but only whither they bore it. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 5:11

And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar ,.... That is, in the province of Babylon, as the Targum paraphrases it; for Babel, or Babylon, was in the land of Shinar, Genesis 10:10 whither the Jews were carried captive, Daniel 1:2 Isaiah 11:11 , and the bearing of the "ephah" thither may denote the cause of their captivity, the measure of sins filled up by them: though this some understand of the like injuries, oppressions, and vexations, brought upon the Chaldeans... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:6

This 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 more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 5:9

There 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 of a stork, may point out the power... read more

Group of Brands