Zechariah 5:8

The angel explained that the woman personified wickedness. Some have interpreted the woman as covenant-breakers, a particular form of wickedness. [Note: E.g., McComiskey, p. 1101.] The angel picked her up, threw her down into the middle of the basket, and shut the lead cover over her (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). Obviously some conflict was involved; "Wickedness" did not want to be restricted. Perhaps Zechariah saw a woman, instead of a man, because the word "wickedness" in Hebrew is feminine. It was not uncommon to represent wickedness as a woman (e.g., Proverbs 7; Revelation 17; et al.). Here the woman represents the sum total of Israel’s sins, wickedness being the opposite of righteousness (cf. Proverbs 13:6; Ezekiel 33:12). Another view is that she represents Babylon (Revelation 17-18), but this seems unlikely since she ends up in Babylon (Zechariah 5:11).