Zechariah and the Flying Roll

The words

1. Berechiah

   Zechariah is introduced as Berechiah’s son, with Iddo also named in the family line, in the second year of Darius.

   Zechariah 1:1 (opens a new tab)

2. Breadth

   Width, as the NET renders it.

   The second dimension is the scroll’s breadth, ten cubits; the NET translates the measurement as 15 feet wide.

   Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab)

3. Consume

   Destroy, in the NET.

   The curse remains in the offender’s house and consumes it, including timber and stones, as the LORD’s declaration in the vision describes.

   Zechariah 5:4 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Zechariah 5:4 (opens a new tab)

4. Enter

   The curse enters the houses of two kinds of offenders: the thief and the one who swears falsely by the LORD’s name.

   Zechariah 5:4 (opens a new tab)

5. Falsely

   The final explanation describes a person who swears falsely by the LORD’s name; that person’s house is entered by the curse.

   Zechariah 5:4 (opens a new tab)

6. Flying Roll

   A scroll, in the NET’s wording.

   Zechariah sees the roll flying; the speaker explains that it is a curse directed against thieves and those who swear falsely in God’s name.

   Did you know?

   Ezekiel 2:9–10 also shows a scroll, spread before the prophet and written “within and without.”

   Zechariah 5:1–4 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab) · Ezekiel 2:9–10 (opens a new tab)

7. Length

   Twenty cubits makes the length twice the stated breadth of ten cubits; these dimensions describe the object Zechariah sees flying.

   Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab)

8. Steal

   The KJV says everyone who steals “shall be cut off”; the NET reads “will be removed from the community.”

   Zechariah 5:3 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Zechariah 5:3 (opens a new tab)

9. Swearing

   Making an oath.

   Verse 3 pairs swearing with theft; verse 4 specifies a false oath using the LORD’s name and describes the curse entering the house.

   Zechariah 5:3–4 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: swear (opens a new tab)

10. Ten Cubits

    About 15 feet (4.6 m), using the NET’s conversion.

    Ten cubits is the stated breadth of the flying roll, paired with a length of twenty cubits in Zechariah’s answer.

    Did you know?

    The porch before the temple in 1 Kings 6:3 also measures twenty cubits long and ten cubits broad.

    Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 6:3 (opens a new tab)

11. Thief

    The thief’s house is named alongside the false swearer’s; the curse enters, remains and consumes the house with its timber and stones.

    Zechariah 5:4 (opens a new tab)

12. Timber

    The final verse names timber and stones together, extending the house’s consumption to the materials of its structure.

    Zechariah 5:4 (opens a new tab)

13. Twenty Cubits

    About 30 feet (9.1 m), using the NET’s conversion.

    The twenty cubits measure the flying roll’s length; the speaker identifies that roll as the curse against theft and false swearing.

    Zechariah 5:2–4 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Zechariah 5:2 (opens a new tab)

14. Whole Earth

    The speaker says the curse goes over “the whole earth”; the next verse traces its entry into the households named.

    Did you know?

    Earlier, Zechariah 4:10 describes the LORD’s eyes running “to and fro through the whole earth,” repeating the vision’s wide reach.

    Zechariah 5:3–4 (opens a new tab) · Zechariah 4:10 (opens a new tab)

15. Zechariah

    Zechariah reports turning and lifting his eyes to see a flying roll; a question then prompts him to describe its dimensions.

    Zechariah 5:1–2 (opens a new tab)