Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”;
Parallel translations
- WEB (and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket.”
- KJV And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
- BSB And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
- NASB And behold, a lead cover was lifted up.” He continued, “And this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.”
- NLT Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it.
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
A lead cover is lifted, revealing a woman sitting inside the basket. The woman personifies wickedness contained within.
Overview
The heavy lead lid and the woman inside set up the vision's meaning: wickedness is being confined and prepared for removal. The imagery is symbolic, not literal, portraying sin as something to be sealed away. This prepares for the next verse, where the figure is explicitly named and forcibly contained.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Rev 17:1–18One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
- Ezek 23:1–49Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying,
- Jer 3:1–2“They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says Yahweh.
- Hos 1:1–3Yahweh’s word that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
- Isa 13:1The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:
- Isa 22:11You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.
- Ezek 16:1–63Again Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
- Isa 15:1The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 5:7 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.