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

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? 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. 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.

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.Ver. 6. And I said, What is it?] i.e. What meaneth it? for the vision is very hard and mysterious lest (saith one) the plain denunciation of the second overthrow of temple and state might discourage them too much to go forward in the present restoration of both. Hugh Broughton, on Daniel 2:4, observeth that while the visions are general, and cause the Jews no danger, so far Daniel writeth in the Syriac tongue, general over the East. But when the oppressors be named, and the Jews plainly described the people whom God defendeth, then the eighth chapter and all after he writes in Hebrew (a tongue less known and studied), and hath commandment to keep close the plain exposition Daniel 12:4. There is a great deal of wisdom required of those that are intrusted with the dispensation of divine truths. Our Saviour spake as the people could hear, and not as he could have spoken. See Hebrews 5:11-12. This is an ephah that goeth forth] The ephah was the greatest and most common measure among the Jews; and is therefore generally put for any measure whatsoever, Deuteronomy 25:14. By false measures (one kind of theft) they had sinned (whence the Chaldee here, Isti sunt populi qui aceipiebant, et dabant mensura falsa, These are the people that bought and sold by false measures), by the same, therefore, their punishment is set forth and signified: a piece of their punishment it was that they were bounded and limited; that wickedness was confined and kept within her ephah. The Vulgate translates it amphora, a pitcher; which, when it is once filled with the bitter waters of wickedness, will soon sink to the bottom. Sinners, as they are stinted, so, when they have filled up their measure, they are sure to be punished; when they are ripe in the field God will come with his sickle; when their grapes of Sodom are full ready he will cast them into the winepress of his wrath, Revelation 14:19 Genesis 15:16 Matthew 23:32. This is their resemblance through all the earth] Heb. their eye, their aspect, their colour. This, that is, this ephah, is their resemblance; sc. that when they have filled up their sins they shall have their fill of punishment. Or this, meaning some apparition representing God’ s providence showed by the angel to the prophet, is their eye, that is, the eye of the three persons in Trinity, God’ s universal providence, which presideth over his judgments, Zechariah 3:9; Zechariah 4:10; Zechariah 9:1. Or thus: This ephah or measure of their punishment, proportionate to their sin, in killing Christ especially, Matthew 23:32, shall be their eye through all the earth, i.e.

(6) What is it?—i.e., What does it symbolise? For, of course, he could see that it was an ephah. This is an ephah . . . all the earth.—Better, This, the ephah that cometh forth, this, continued he, is their resemblance throughout the whole lands: i.e., this is a symbol of the sinners mentioned above. (For “resemblance” the LXX., by the change of one letter, read iniquity.) The nature of the comparison is seen by some to be as follows. As in an ephah the separate grains are all collected together, so will the individual sinners over the whole length and breadth of the land be brought into one confused heap. (Comp. Matthew 13:30.) It is not mentioned till later that they are to be carried away.

Verse 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.

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.

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.

5, 6. The interpreting angel is the first to appear. Went forth — As in Zechariah 2:3.