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Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.
Zechariah 5:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.
  • KJV Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
  • NKJV Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying scroll.
  • NASB Then I raised my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll.
  • NLT I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Zechariah's sixth vision: a large flying scroll. It represents God's written curse going out against sin.

Overview

The scroll, inscribed with God's word, flies over the land, signaling that judgment is set in motion. This vision turns from comfort to the seriousness of sin among the restored people. It reminds the community that restoration does not erase the need for holiness, for God's word both blesses the repentant and condemns the unrepentant.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Zech 5:2“What do you see?” asked the angel. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
  • Ezek 2:9–10Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll,
  • Isa 8:1Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
  • Rev 10:2He held in his hand a small scroll, which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
  • Jer 36:1–6In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
  • Rev 10:8–11Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”
  • Rev 5:1–14Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
  • Jer 36:27–32After the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
  • Jer 36:20–24So the officials went to the king in the courtyard. And having stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, they reported everything to the king.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Zechariah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Zechariah 5:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ZechariahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.

How Zechariah 5:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.