ZECHARIAH 5

Zechariah here is writing after the Exile when the land of Israel still needs further purification from the people's sins. This particular chapter contains two of the most mysterious visions in the whole Bible. These two related visions are part of a whole series which can be outlined as shown below:

Figure 1: The Six Visions

Vision A: Four Horses (1:7-17)

Vision B: Four Horns and Four Smiths (1:18-21)

Vision C: Man with a Measuring Line (2:1-13)

                                                    -------------------------------------------

                                                Vision C': The Flying Scroll (5:1-4)

Vision B': The Ephah (5:5-11)

Vision A': Four Chariots (6:1-8)

Ellis sets the stage by explaining that these two visions “deal with three evils which stand to be dealt with in the wake of spiritual renewal: theft and false witness [in 5:1-4] and unrighteousness in the next vision.” The first two sins are mentioned in the “Flying Scroll” vision. Ellis notes that “theft” might include “the theft of a man's good name or his reputation, and this would provide a firm link with false witness. Worse still is the invoking of the divine name in the bearing of false accusation.”

Zechariah 5:1-4

In the first vision, the prophet is shown a large scroll (about 30 ft. high and 20 ft. wide) which can fly. Perhaps related to that picture is Hadley's interpretation of some of the clay seal images found on jar handles dating from the time of King Hezekiah which appear to show a flying scroll. Ellis notes that these dimensions are approximately the same size as the entrance to Solomon's temple (see I Kings 6:3). Thus, it could represent the words of the Law that decide who can and cannot enter into that holy space. If so, then there is a possible correspondence here with Revelation 21:22-27 where those who practice falsehood are banned from the heavenly temple. A variation on that theme is expressed by Tiemeyer, who says that the scroll represents law and justice that emerge from the temple.

As to the writing on the scroll, Redditt's opinion is: “The writing on one side condemned thieves, and on the other those who bore false witness. These were the two sins most often associated with taking an oath.” Rata says that the two sides may refer to the two tablets of the law and that “the curse of Zechariah's vision could be synonymous with the curse of the law.” Whatever the exact interpretation is, there is an obvious correspondence between that vision and the one in Revelation 5 in which the opening of the seals on another two-sided scroll ushers in a series of judgments on the earth.

Contrary to those opinions is that of R.L. Smith who feels that no significance should be attached to the similarity in sizes. And Redditt merely feels that the “size of the scroll suggested a vast number of transgressions and of God's punishment upon thieves and liars.”

The first major translation hurdle in Zechariah appears in v. 3b. Wolters calls it “enigmatic” and paraphrases it as: “For everyone who steals has escaped punishment for this – just like that! And everyone who swears (falsely) has escaped punishment for this – just like that!” Compare the various translations for other renderings.

Zechariah 5:5-8

“The setting appears to be the same as that of the previous vision, the temple courtyard which has cosmological overtones.” (Smith) And both of these visions deal with a cleansing of the land from sin and sinners. The previous vision took care of this pollution while it was within the land while this subsequent vision deals with it by removing it elsewhere.

In this second vision, we first see an ephah with a leaden lid on top and a (very small) woman inside. We know that she is tiny from the fact that an ephah typically held only about 6-9 gallons. Some translations render the container as a basket and others as a barrel. A top made out of lead would be drastic overkill for any real ephah, but the symbolic implication is that it is so heavy that there is no danger that the woman will escape.

Verse 6 presents us with the second major translation quandary. In the Hebrew it reads literally as “This is their eye in all the earth,” a phrase which Redditt says “yields little sense.” However, versions such as the NIV render it as an idiom meaning “This is their appearance.” And R.L. Smith comes up with “This is what one sees through the whole land.”

But others, such as RSV translate it as “This is their [the people's] iniquity” in line with the ancient Greek and Aramaic manuscripts. But to come up with this rendering, they must emend the Hebrew word 'eynam as 'awon, since the two words are somewhat similar in appearance and could have been mistaken for one another during the process of copying the text. One other rather weak piece of evidence in favor of this approach is found in Amos 8:5 where the words ephah and shekel are symbols of injustice. (Ellis)

That brings us to the identity of the woman. Here the suggestions range all over the chart, from a pagan goddess such as Asherah or Ishtar, Eve, foreign women, or the Samaritans (Dille) Redditt adds the name of Queen Athaliah to the list since she is called “that wicked woman'” in II Chronicles 24:7.

From this vision, Ellis derives the lesson that “this vision is concerned with the truth that wickedness often hidden from men in so far as its real identification is concerned, is a power which must be reckoned with and never underestimated, but removed by the aid of God's immediate authority.”

Zechariah 5:9-11

The word translated as “stork”in v. 9 could equally refer to a bird such as a heron. It is hard to know what to make of the two women with wings. On the one hand, they are said to have the wind in their wings. Since the Hebrew word for “wind” can also be translated as “spirit,” that might indicate that they were ambassadors sent from God, perhaps angels. But the mention of “stork” sends us in another direction in that Leviticus 11:19 and Deuteronomy 14:18 list storks among the unclean birds. Thus, the two woman can be viewed as some sort of angels since they remove iniquity from the land. But on the other hand, they then set the ephah up elsewhere where it can be worshiped.

I am afraid that whenever I think of this passage, all I can see is the image of a stork delivering a baby. But that really isn't very helpful in understanding what is being said except for the fact that it points to the wide wingspan of those birds and their probable ability to carry a load.

Milgrom points to another passage in Leviticus (14:1-9) as a possible parallel to these verses. Thus, he notes that in the purification ritual for removing “leprosy” from a person or object, a live bird who has been dipped in a symbolic mixture of wood, yarn, hyssop and blood is released. He explains that “birds are chosen...because they transport the assumed freight of impurity upward and outward, to far-off distances whence the impurity cannot return.”

Duguid derives a spiritual lesson from v. 9, namely, “The exiles found themselves, like the ephah of 5:9, caught up between two worlds, between the promises of heaven and the realities of earth. They were living in the 'now' but longing for the 'not yet.” The same can well be said of Christians today.

The final destination of the basket, the site of the Tower of Babel, is important symbolically, as Jacques Ellul explains:

    “The land of Shinar is the opposite of the world of peace. It is the land of piracy and destruction...Throughout the adventure of the people of Israel, the presence of Shinar is clearly the presence of a spiritual power, of a temptation to evil...this country is typically the countries of idols and sin...Daniel [Dan. 1:2] purposely calls the country Shinar instead of Babylonia, for he wanted to emphasize that this was a land of thievery and plunder...Shinar [is] the land of sin.”

Thus, Redditt concludes: “The original readers were faced with a decision: should they stay in Babylon where people worshipped wickedness, or return to Jerusalem where people worshipped God?” To some extent, we are faced with the same choice today.