Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll.
- BSB Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.
- 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 5:2And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
- Ezek 2:9–10And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
- Isa 8:1Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
- Rev 10:2And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
- Jer 36:1–6And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
- Rev 10:8–11And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
- Rev 5:1–14And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
- Jer 36:27–32Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
- Jer 36:20–24And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.