Zechariah 5:2

And 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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
seest	רֹאֶ֑ה ro.'Eh	H7200	to see · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
answered	וָאֹמַ֗ר va.'o.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
see	רֹאֶה֙ ro.'Eh	H7200	to see · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
flying	עָפָ֔ה 'a.Fah	H5774	to fly · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
roll	מְגִלָּ֣ה me.gi.Lah	H4039	a roll · noun, common feminine singular absolute
length	אָרְכָּהּ֙ 'a.re.Kah	H753	length · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
twenty	עֶשְׂרִ֣ים 'es.Rim	H6242	twenty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
cubits	בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה ba.'a.Mah	H520	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
breadth	וְרָחְבָּ֖הּ ve.ra.che.Bah	H7341	width (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
ten	עֶ֥שֶׂר 'E.ser	H6235	ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
cubits	בָּאַמָּֽה ba.'a.Mah	H520	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 6:11-13 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Jeremiah 1:11-14 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Amos 7:8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst o…
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bi…
Zechariah 4:2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his…
2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their d…
Revelation 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 5:1-4

We do not find that the prophet now needed to be awakened, as he did Zac 4:1. Being awakened then, he kept wakeful after; nay, now he needs not be so much as called to look about him, for of his own accord he turns and lifts up his eyes. This good men sometimes get by their infirmities, they make them the more careful and circumspect afterwards. Now observe, I. What it was that the prophet saw; he looked up into the air, and behold a flying roll. A vast large scroll of parchment which had been rolled up, and is therefore called a roll, was now unrolled and expanded; this roll was flying upon the wings of the wind, carried swiftly through the air in open view, as an eagle that shoots down upo…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 5:2

length . . . twenty cubits . . . breadth . . . ten cubits--thirty feet by fifteen, the dimensions of the temple porch (Kg1 6:3), where the law was usually read, showing that it was divinely authoritative in the theocracy. Its large size implies the great number of the curses contained. The Hebrew for "roll" or "volume" is used of the law (Psa 40:7).

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 5:1

Behold a flying roll - This was twenty cubits long, and ten cubits broad; the prophet saw it expanded, and flying. Itself was the catalogue of the crimes of the people, and the punishment threatened by the Lord. Some think the crimes were those of the Jews; others, those of the Chaldeans. The roll is mentioned in allusion to those large rolls on which the Jews write the Pentateuch. One now lying before me is one hundred and fifty-three feet long, by twenty-one inches wide, written on fine brown Basle goat-skin; some time since brought from Jerusalem, supposed to be four hundred years old.

John Gill on Zechariah 5:2

And he said unto me,.... That is, the angel: What seest thou? and I answered, I see a flying roll, the length whereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits; so that it was a very large one, a volume of a very uncommon size, especially it may so seem to us; but in other nations they have very long rolls or volumes, even longer than this: the Russians write their acts, protests, and other court matters, on long rolls of paper, some twenty ells, some thirty, and some sixty, and more (x): and this being the length and breadth of the porch before the temple, 1 Kings 6:3 hence the Jewish writers conclude that this flying roll came from thence: it may design either the roll or book…

The Church Fathers

It comes in opportunely today even from the Old Testament to show you the heinousness of perjury. "There was," it says, "a flying sickle, ten cubits in breadth." The "flying" betokens the swift advent of the vengeance which pursues oaths; that it is many cubits in length and breadth, signifies the force and magnitude of the woes; that it comes flying "from heaven," is to show that the vengeance comes from the judgment-seat on high: that it is in the form of a "sickle," denotes the inevitableness of the doom: for just as the sickle, where it comes and has hooked the neck, is not drawn back with nothing but itself, but with the head reaped off, even so the vengeance which comes upon the swearers is severe, and will not desist until it have completed its work. But if we swear and escape, let us not be confident; this is but to our woe. For what think ye? How many, since Ananias and Sapphira, have dared the same with them? How is it then, say you, that they have not met with the same fate? Not because it was allowed in them, but because they are reserved for a greater punishment. For those who often sin and are not punished, have greater reason to fear and dread than if they were punished. For the vengeance is increased for them by their present impunity and the long-suffering of God.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Roll — The common form of ancient books. The Hebrew word rendered “roll” or “volume” is meghillah, found in Ezra 6:2; Ps. 40:7; Jer. 36:2, 6, 23, 28, 29; Ezek. 2:9; 3:1-3; Zech. 5:1, 2. “Rolls” (Chald. pl.…
Visions · Mentioned in scripture: To Zechariah — Mentioned in scripture: To Zechariah

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Zechariah 5:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 5:1-4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 5:2

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 5:1

John Gill on Zechariah 5:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Zechariah 5:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zechariah 5:1-4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zechariah 5:2

Adam Clarke on Zechariah 5:1

John Gill on Zechariah 5:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Zechariah 5:1-4

Keil & Delitzsch on Zechariah 5:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Zechariah 5:1-4

Rashi on Zechariah 5:1