Old Testament · Prophecy

Zechariah 5

The Flying Scroll

A scroll flies through the air. A woman sits in a basket carried to Babylon. Bizarre visions that deal with sin's removal from the land.

King James Version BSB KJV

1Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.

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.

3Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

4I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

5Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

6And 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.

7And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

8And 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.

9Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

10Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?

11And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

Understand This

Zechariah 5, explained

What Zechariah 5 is saying

Two visions address the purging of sin from the restored community. First, a flying scroll thirty feet long carries curses against thieves and perjurers throughout the land. Second, a woman called 'Wickedness' is stuffed into a measuring basket (ephah) and carried by two winged women to Shinar (Babylon), where a house is built for her.

The background behind it

The flying scroll's dimensions match those of Solomon's temple porch (1 Kings 6:3), suggesting the Torah itself serves as the standard of judgment. The removal of Wickedness to Shinar reverses the exile symbolically—now sin is exiled from Israel to Babylon rather than Israel being exiled because of sin.

Themes running underneath

The twin visions address individual sin (theft, perjury) and collective, systemic wickedness. The personification of evil as a woman in an ephah draws on commercial imagery—sin corrupts the marketplace. The geographical transfer to Shinar (Genesis 11:2) connects this purification to the reversal of humanity's primal rebellion.

Why it still matters

True restoration requires not only rebuilding institutions but purging the moral corruption that led to judgment. The visions challenge communities to address both individual ethical failures and systemic injustice.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.