Bible Strands
Zechariah 5:8
“This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zechariah records a vision in which an angel identifies the woman inside the ephah basket as wickedness and forces her beneath the lead cover. The declaration occurs immediately after the cover is raised, during a sequence of apocalyptic symbols addressing Israel's spiritual condition.
The words — The text uses זֹאת הָרִשְׁעָה (zot ha-rish‘ah), literally "this is wickedness," to personify the sin trapped in the vessel. It follows with וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֹתָהּ (va-yashlek otah), "and he threw her," describing the angel's physical act of containment.
The thread — The forced removal of wickedness aligns with Genesis 15:16, which notes that Amorite iniquity is not yet complete before judgment falls. The basket's handling parallels Micah 6:11's condemnation of dishonest commercial practices, treating systemic corruption as a tangible burden requiring divine disposal.
Why it lands — The vision demands acknowledgment that sin is a concrete reality actively contained and removed by God rather than ignored. It requires the reader to identify and submit personal or communal practices that warrant similar divine intervention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Micah 6:11 Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?
- Genesis 15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
- Psalms 38:4 For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Lamentations 1:14 My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.
- Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
- Zechariah 5:7 And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
- Matthew 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:16 hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.