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.

Other Translations of Zechariah 5:6

New International Version

6 I asked, "What is it?" He replied, "It is a basket." And he added, "This is the iniquityOr "appearance" of the people throughout the land."

English Standard Version

6 And I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the basketHebrew ephah; also verses 7-11. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters that is going out." And he said, "This is their iniquityOne Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts eye in all the land."

The Message

6 I said, "What in the world is that?" He said, "This is a bushel basket on a journey. It holds the sin of everyone, everywhere."

New King James Version

6 So I asked, "What is it?" And he said, "It is a basket that is going forth." He also said, "This is their resemblance throughout the earth:

New Living Translation

6 "What is it?" I asked. He replied, "It is a basket for measuring grain, and it's filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Zechariah 5:6

Commentary on Zechariah 5:5-11

(Read Zechariah 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.