Zechariah 5
BSASBZechariah sees two visions about sin among God’s people. A huge flying scroll carries God’s curse into the houses of thieves and false swearers. Then a basket holding a woman called Wickedness is carried away to Babylon, showing that God will remove evil from His land.
Zechariah 5:1-2
Zechariah sees a scroll flying through the air. It is huge: twenty cubits by ten, roughly thirty feet by fifteen. Its size is easy to read from far off. God’s word of judgment is open, public, and impossible to miss.
BSA: flying (“soaring”): The scroll is not carried by anyone; it moves on its own, showing that God’s judgment is active and on its way.
Hebrew: מְגִלָּה (megillah, H4039) — “scroll, roll.” This is the word for a written roll. A written word is fixed and binding, so the flying roll pictures a sentence already pronounced.
See also: Ezekiel 2:9-10.
Zechariah 5:3
The scroll is a curse going out over the whole land. One side deals with thieves, the other with those who swear falsely. These sins match the two halves of the Ten Commandments: wrong against neighbor, and wrong against God’s name. Sin will be cleared out.
BSA: removed (“cut off, purged”): The land is to be cleansed, with unrepentant sin taken out of the community. curse (“a solemn oath, a promise of judgment”): The curse is a sworn consequence for breaking God’s covenant, not a random misfortune.
See also: Deuteronomy 27:26.
Zechariah 5:4
The LORD Himself sends the curse. It enters the house of the thief and of the one who lies under oath using God’s name. It stays there until nothing is left, even the timbers and stones. No hiding place and no wealth gained dishonestly will survive.
BSA: remain (“abide, stay”): The judgment does not pass by quickly; it settles in and finishes its work. name (“identity, honor, and character”): Lying by God’s name misuses His very character, so the offense is against God Himself.
See also: Leviticus 19:11-12.
Zechariah 5:5-6
The angel calls Zechariah to look again. This time he sees an ephah, a measuring basket used for grain, about nine gallons or so. The angel says it holds the people’s iniquity throughout the land. It stands for the sin of the whole community.
BSA: measuring basket (“ephah, a unit of measurement”): The common trading container hints at sin in everyday business and dishonest dealing.
See also: Amos 8:5; Micah 6:10-11.
Zechariah 5:7-8
The heavy lead lid is lifted, and a woman sits inside. The angel names her Wickedness. Evil is personified here, as something that lives among the people. He pushes her down and presses the lead lid back on. God can restrain evil and take it away.
BSA: Wickedness (“sin, guilt, or wrong actions”): The figure stands for evil as a whole, not just a single act. lead (“a heavy metal”): The weight of the lid shows that she cannot escape once God shuts her in.
Hebrew: הָרִשְׁעָה (hārish’āh, H7564) — “the Wickedness.” The word is feminine in Hebrew, which fits the picture of a woman, and it carries the sense of guilt and wrong as a settled condition.
Zechariah 5:9
Two women with strong stork’s wings lift the basket high between earth and heaven. The wind carries them. God supplies the power to remove evil. The stork was an unclean bird under the law, a fitting picture of what carries uncleanness away.
BSA: wind (“a blast of air”): The same word can mean spirit, suggesting that God’s power moves them. stork (“a bird known for maternal care”): A large bird with wide wings that can carry a heavy load far.
See also: Leviticus 11:19.
Zechariah 5:10-11
Zechariah asks where the basket is going. It is going to Shinar, the old name for Babylon, where a house is being built for it. Wickedness is sent back to a land of idolatry and pride, where it belongs. God’s people are to be freed from it.
BSA: Shinar (“Babylonia, a place of idolatry”): The name recalls the Tower of Babel, a place where human pride stood against God. pedestal (“base, foundation”): Wickedness is given a base like an idol, showing it will be worshiped there, not in God’s land.
See also: Genesis 11:2-4; Revelation 18:2.