Zechariah 5:6

And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:5-11 In this vision the prophet sees an ephah, something in the shape of a corn measure. This betokened the Jewish nation. They are filling the measure of their iniquity; and when it is full, they shall be delivered into the hands of those to whom God sold them for their sins. The woman sitting in the midst of the ephah represents the sinful church and nation of the Jews, in their latter and corrupt age. Guilt is upon the sinner as a weight of lead, to sink him to the lowest hell. This seems to mean the condemnation of the Jews, after they filled the measure of their iniquities by crucifying Christ and rejecting his gospel. Zechariah sees the ephah, with the woman thus pressed in it, carried away to some far country. This intimates that the Jews should be hurried out of their own land, and forced to dwell in far countries, as they had been in Babylon. There the ephah shall be firmly placed, and their sufferings shall continue far longer than in their late captivity. Blindness is happened unto Israel, and they are settled upon their own unbelief. Let sinners fear to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath; for the more they multiply crimes, the faster the measure fills.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This is the ephah that goeth forth - Theodoret: "We too are taught by this, that the Lord of all administers all things in weight and measure. So, foretelling to Abraham that his seed should be a sojourner and the cause thereof, He says, "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" Genesis 15:16, that is, they have not yet committed sins enough to merit entire destruction, wherefore I cannot yet endure to give them over to the slaughter, but will wait for the measure of their iniquity." The relation then of this vision to the seventh is, that the seventh tells of God's punishment on individual sinners; this, on the whole people, when the iniquity of the whole is full.

This is their resemblance, as we say, their look, that is, the look, appearance, of the inhabitants "in all the land." This then being the condition of the people of the land, at the time to which the vision relates, the symbolical carrying away of the full measure of sin cannot be its forgiveness, since there was no repentance, but the taking away of the sin with the sinner. Cyril: "The Lord of all is good and loving to mankind; for He is patient toward sinners and endures transgressors, waiting for the repentance of each; but if one perseveres long in iniquity, and come to the term of the endurance allowed, it remains that he should be subjected to punishment, and there is no account of this long forebarance, nor can he be exempt from judgment proportioned to what he has done. So then Christ says to the Jewish people, rushing with unbridled phrensy to all strange excess, "Fill ye up the measure of your fathers" Matthew 23:32. The measure then, which was seen, pointed to the filling up of the measure of the transgression of the people against Himself." Jerome: "The angel bids him behold the sins of the people Israel, heaped together in a perfect measure, and the transgression of all fulfilled - that the sins, which escaped notice, one by one, might, when collected together, be laid open to the eyes of all, and Israel might go forth from its place, and it might be shown to all what she was in her own land." Ribera: "I think the Lord alluded to the words of the prophet, as though He would say, "Fill up the measure of sins" which your fathers began of old, as it is in Zechariah, that is, ye will soon fill it; for ye so haste to do evil, that ye will soon fill it to the utmost."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. This is their resemblance—literally, "eye" (compare Eze 1:4, 5, 16). Hengstenberg translates, "Their (the people's) eye" was all directed to evil. But English Version is better. "This is the appearance (that is, an image) of the Jews in all the land" (not as English Version, "in all the earth"), that is, of the wicked Jews.

This—Here used of what was within the ephah, not the ephah itself.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

And I said, What is it? Zechariah knew not what this was tie saw, so far was. he from knowing what it meant.

And he, the angel, said,

This is an ephah; the greatest, say some, of measures with the Hebrews, but their corus was much greater: it was a great measure, and many times taken for any measure; when strictly taken, it held some three bushels.

That goeth forth, out of the temple of Jerusalem.

He said moreover; having told the prophet what the thing was, the angel addeth once and above,

This is their resemblance through all the earth; this, how dark soever it may seem to be, is a clear emblem of this people every where. Thus there is a limited time and measure for them; whilst they sin and are filling up the ephah with their sins, they will find that the ephah of wrath is filled up also to be poured out upon them. Or as the Hebrew, This their eye; as the Gallic version, This the eye I have upon them, &c.: i.e. God’s eye observes how they fill their ephah with sin, that he may suitably punish, that his ephah of wrath may fill also.

And I said, What is it? Zechariah knew not what this was tie saw, so far was. he from knowing what it meant.

And he, the angel, said,

This is an ephah; the greatest, say some, of measures with the Hebrews, but their corus was much greater: it was a great measure, and many times taken for any measure; when strictly taken, it held some three bushels.

That goeth forth, out of the temple of Jerusalem.

He said moreover; having told the prophet what the thing was, the angel addeth once and above,

This is their resemblance through all the earth; this, how dark soever it may seem to be, is a clear emblem of this people every where. Thus there is a limited time and measure for them; whilst they sin and are filling up the ephah with their sins, they will find that the ephah of wrath is filled up also to be poured out upon them. Or as the Hebrew, This their eye; as the Gallic version, This the eye I have upon them, &c.: i.e. God’s eye observes how they fill their ephah with sin, that he may suitably punish, that his ephah of wrath may fill also.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 filling up, either in Judea, particularly in the times of Christ, Matthew 23:32 or in the whole world, and especially in the antichristian states, Revelation 18:5, and

He said moreover, this is their resemblance through all the earth; or "this is their eye" (z); what they are looking at, and intent upon, namely, this ephah; that is, to fill up the measure of their iniquity: or, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, this ephah, which thou seest, shows that there is an eye upon them which sees their works; and this is the eye of the Lord, which sees and takes notice of all the evil actions of men, not as approving them, but as observing them, and avenging them. Cocceius, by the "ephah", understands an abundance of temporal good things bestowed upon the Christian church in Constantine's time and following, on which the eyes of carnal men were looking.

(z) "haec est oculus eorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius, Cocceius.

Geneva Study Bible

And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an {e} ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their {f} resemblance through all the earth.

(e) Which was a measure in dry things, containing about five gallons.

(f) That is, all the wickedness of the ungodly is in God's sight, which he keeps in a measure, and can shut it or open it at his pleasure.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. an ephah] Lit. the ephah. Though it seems impossible to fix accurately the size of the Hebrew ephah (Dict. of Bible, Weights and Measures), there can be no doubt that it was not large enough to contain a woman (Zechariah 5:7). “This,” then, says the angel, “is the (ideal) ephah, or ephah-like vessel, that is coming forth to view.” Comp. for the connection of sin with a measure, Matthew 23:32, and see Genesis 15:16; Jeremiah 51:13.

This is their resemblance] Lit. their eye. So we read of the manna, “its eye (i.e. appearance) was as the eye of bdellium,” Numbers 11:7. Comp. Leviticus 13:55; Ezekiel 1:4; Ezekiel 1:16.

This is understood by some to mean: “this” ephah, which thou seest is “their resemblance” (i.e. the resemblance of the wicked) “in all the land,” inasmuch as they are now no longer scattered over it, as in the preceding vision, but gathered up in one, like the grains of corn in a measure. It is better, however, to give a wider meaning to the word “this,” viz. this ephah, with all that you will see in the vision regarding it, is the resemblance or representation of the wicked through all the land, and of what shall befall them.

the earth] Rather, the land.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - What is it? The prophet did not clearly discern the object, or his question may mean, "What does it signify?" An ephah; the ephah, as "the curse" (ver. 3). The ephah was the largest of the dry measures in use among the Jews, and was equal to six or seven gallons. It was, of course, too small to contain a woman. The LXX. calls it simply "the measure;" the Vulgate, amphora; and it must be considered as an imaginary vessel of huge size. It may have a tacit reference to dishonest dealings (comp. Amos 8:5; Micah 6:10). This is their resemblance; literally, this is their eye. The Authorized Version explains the meaning accurately. "Eye" is often used for that which is seen, as in Leviticus 13:55, where the Authorized Version has "colour;" and Numbers 11:7, where in reference to the manna we read, "The eve thereof was as the eye of bdellium" (comp. Ezekiel 1:4, 16). So here the meaning is: This ephah and this whole vision represent the wicked in the land. Some take "the eye" to mean the object of sight, that to which they look. But the ephah was not sot forth for all the people to examine. The LXX. and Syriac, from some variation in the reading, have ἀδικία, "iniquity," and some critics have desired to adopt this in the text. But authority and necessity are equally wanting. Zechariah 5:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

To this there is appended in Zechariah 5:5-11 a new view, which exhibits the further fate of the sinners who have been separated from the congregation of the saints. Zechariah 5:5. "And the angel that talked with me went forth, and said to me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, what is this that goeth out there? Zechariah 5:6. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the ephah going out. And He said, This is their aspect in all the land. Zechariah 5:7. And behold a disk of lead was lifted up, and there was a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. Zechariah 5:8. And he said, This is wickedness; and he cast it into the midst of the ephah, and cast the leaden weight upon its mouth." With the disappearing of the previous vision, the angelus interpres had also vanished from the eyes of the prophet. After a short pause he comes out again, calls the prophet's attention to a new figure which emerges out of the cloud, and so comes within the range of vision (היּוצאת הזּאת), and informs him with regard to it: "This is the ephah which goeth out." יצא, to go out, in other words, to come to view. The ephah was the greatest measure of capacity which really existed among the Hebrews for dry goods, and was about the size of a cubic foot; for the chōmer, which contained ten ephahs, appears to have had only an ideal existence, viz., for the purpose of calculation. The meaning of this figure is indicated generally in the words זאת עינם כב, the meaning of which depends upon the interpretation to be given to עינם. The suffix of this word can only refer to the sinners mentioned before, viz., the thieves and perjurers; for it is contrary to the Hebrew usage to suppose that the words refer to the expression appended, בּכל־הארץ, in the sense of "all those who are in the whole land" (Koehler). Consequently עין does not mean the eye, but adspectus, appearance, or shape, as in Leviticus 13:55; Ezekiel 1:4.; and the words have this meaning: The ephah (bushel) is the shape, i.e., represents the figure displayed by the sinners in all the land, after the roll of the curse has gone forth over the land, i.e., it shows into what condition they have come through that anathema (Kliefoth). The point of comparison between the ephah and the state into which sinners have come in consequence of the curse, does not consist in the fact that the ephah is carried away, and the sinners likewise (Maurer), nor in the fact that the sin now reaches its full measure (Hofm., Hengstenberg); for "the carrying away of the sinners does not come into consideration yet, and there is nothing at all here about the sin becoming full." It is true that, according to what follows, sin sits in the ephah as a woman, but there is nothing to indicate that the ephah is completely filled by it, so that there is no further room in it; and this thought would be generally out of keeping here. The point of comparison is rather to be found in the explanation given by Kliefoth: "Just as in a bushel the separate grains are all collected together, so will the individual sinners over the whole earth be brought into a heap, when the curse of the end goes forth over the whole earth." We have no hesitation in appropriating this explanation, although we have not rendered הארץ "the earth," inasmuch as at the final fulfilment of the vision the holy land will extend over all the earth. Immediately afterwards the prophet is shown still more clearly what is in the ephah. A covering of lead (kikkâr, a circle, a rounding or a circular plate) rises up, or is lifted up, and then he sees a woman sitting in the ephah ('achath does not stand for the indefinite article, but is a numeral, the sinners brought into a heap appearing as a unity, i.e., as one living personality, instead of forming an atomistic heap of individuals). This woman, who had not come into the ephah now for the first time, but was already sitting there, and was only seen now that the lid was raised, is described by the angel as mirsha‛ath, ungodliness, as being wickedness embodied, just as in 2 Chronicles 24:7 this name is given to godless Jezebel. Thereupon he throws her into the ephah, out of which she had risen up, and shuts it with the leaden lid, to carry her away, as the following vision shows, out of the holy land.