1By the flying roll is showed the curse of thieves and of false swearers. 5By a woman in an ephah, pressed under a weight, and carried away to Shinar, is denoted wickedness, and the judgment of it.
1THEN1 I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold 2a flying 3roll.
1 Or, And I lifted up mine eyes again.
2 Which flew swiftly all over the land, showing that the curse would come suddenly.
3 That is, by the roll is meant a certain writing rolled up, wherein was written the judgments of God upon thieves and abusers of His Name in swearing falsely. Of the word roll see Isa. 8 on verse 1; Ezek. 2 on verse 9; Luke 4:17.
2And 4he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; 5the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
4 Namely, the Angel of the LORD, Who spoke with me. See Zech. 1:8, 9.
5 The great length and breadth of this roll signifies the great number of sins the people committed, and the great and lasting punishments of God over the same. Compare Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27; 28.
3Then said he unto me, 6This is the curse that goeth forth 7over the face of the whole earth: 8for every one that stealeth shall be 9cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that 10sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
6 That is, in this roll is written the curse, which shall strike the entire land.
7 Namely, over the entire land of the Jews. Or, over all the earth. Do understand this of the universal judgments of God.
8 Other, Every one that stealeth shall be cut off, as it is written on the other side of the roll; and every one that sweareth falsely shall be cut off, as it is written on the other side of the roll. Under these two kinds of gross offences the others must be comprehended and understood.
9 Other, All thieves are cut off hence, (namely, out of this land), according to this roll. Or, holds himself guiltless, namely, by disguising his evil practices, being so impudent in justifying the same, as if the true God had never known anything of it; sinning thereby against the second and as well against the first table of the law, which is given to understand the two sins which are here named as an example.
10 To the word sweareth the word falsely must be supplied from what is stated in verse 4.
411I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter 12into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth 13falsely by my name: and it shall 14remain in the midst 15of his house, and 16shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
11 That is, I shall properly punish the sins of My people.
12 Or, upon, or, unto.
13 Hebr. unto or in falsehood.
14 Or, lodge.
15 Both of the thief, and the one who swears falsely.
16 That is, he shall disgrace it so utterly that there shall remain nothing. Compare Deut. 28:20; Mat. 24:2; Luke 19:44.
5¶Then the angel 17that talked with me went 18forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that 19goeth forth.
17 Or, that spake in me.
18 Namely, from among the troop of the horsemen, who stood behind Him, Zech. 1:8.
19 That is, which is shown to thee in this vision. Here the providential government of God is described, as verse 6.
6And I said, What is it? And he said, This is 20an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, 21This is their resemblance through all the earth.
20 A measure of dry wares. See the annotation on Exod. 16:36. Here it signifies, according to some, the measure of God’s punishment, whereby He punishes the sins of men according to His justice.
21 Hebr. This is their eye in all the land, that is, it is the eye that observes them, to what place they move or turn themselves. By the eye must here be understood the Providence and care of God, Zech. 3:9; 4:10; 9:1 Other, This is the eye, that is, the face, shape, or condition of all the land.
7And, behold, there 22was lifted up 23a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
22 Or, was elevated, or, was brought there.
23 Hereby is signified the heavy and unchangeable judgment of God against the Jews.
8And he said, 24This is wickedness. 25And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast 26the weight of lead upon the mouth 27thereof.
24 That is, this woman is a representation of the wicked among the Jews, or the wicked in general, who are gathered together, kept and sealed unto the judgment of God, of which later is mentioned.
25 Or, When He cast her, namely, the woman.
26 Or, lump of lead. Hebr. the stone of lead. Understand such a lump of lead, which was flat, thus made that it just fitted as a cover upon the ephah.
27 Namely, of the ephah, in order that she was, as it were, kept and contained therein firm and shut; intimating, that the wicked would not be able to escape the punishments of God.
9Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out 28two women, and the 29wind 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.
28 By the one woman, some conceive, is understood the mercy of God over His people; and by the other, His severe justice over their enemies. Both of these women take up the ephah, that is, the punishments for sin of the people of God, and carry the same into the enemies’ country, so that those punishments shall remain upon their necks.
29 This denotes that, when the time is come in which God will execute His judgments, the same shall then be done speedily and without delay.
10Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11And he said unto me, 30To build it an house 31in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
30 Implying, that the punishments would constantly remain upon the enemies.
31 That is, in the land of Babylon. See Gen. 10:10; 11:2. Hereby is intimated that among the idolatrous and vile Babylonians, both the wicked Jews and all impious people besides, are to be comprehended, and punished accordingly altogether.