Zakharia 5:6

5:6 I asked, “What is it?” And he replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain ¹  that is moving away from here.” Moreover, he said, “This is their ‘eye’ ²  throughout all the earth.”

Zakharia 6:5

6:5 The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits ³  of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

Zakharia 7:2

7:2 Now the people of Bethel ⁴  had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord’s favor

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “[This is] the ephah.” An ephah was a liquid or solid measure of about a bushel (five gallons or just under twenty liters). By metonymy it refers here to a measuring container (probably a basket) of that quantity.

[5:6]  ² tc The LXX and Syriac read עֲוֹנָם (’avonam, “their iniquity,” so NRSV; NIV similar) for the MT עֵינָם (’enam, “their eye”), a reading that is consistent with the identification of the woman in v. 8 as wickedness, but one that is unnecessary. In 4:10 the “eye” represented divine omniscience and power; here it represents the demonic counterfeit.

[6:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “spirit” here may also be translated “wind” or “breath” depending on the context (cf. ASV, NRSV, CEV “the four winds of heaven”; NAB similar).

[7:2]  ⁴ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.