And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “This is Wickedness”; and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
- BSB “This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.
- NKJV then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth.
- NASB Then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead weight on its opening.
- NLT The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.
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
The angel names the woman 'Wickedness' and presses her down with the lead weight. Sin is identified and firmly suppressed.
Overview
By naming the figure Wickedness and sealing her with the heavy lead cover, the vision dramatizes God's determination to restrain and remove evil from His people. Sin is not negotiated with but contained and cast out. This portrays God's holy intent to purge His community, fulfilled in Christ who deals decisively with sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Mic 6:11Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
- Lam 1:14The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the LORD hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.
- Gen 15:16But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
- Ps 38:4For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
- Prov 5:22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
- Amos 9:1–4I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
- Matt 23:32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
- Zech 5:7And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
- 1 Th 2:16Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
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 5:8 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.