Zechariah 5:4
in Zechariah 5I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
KJV
I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
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This verse in Zechariah 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseInto the house of him - Babylon, the house or city of Nebuchadnezzar, who was a public plunderer, and a most glaring idolater.
This site's exposition
This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth
on Zechariah 5:3-4
The angel names the roll the curse going out over the whole land, cutting off the thief on the one side and the false swearer on the other, theft against neighbor and perjury against God's own name standing for the two tables of the law together. The curse does not merely condemn on paper; it enters the offender's house and consumes it with its own timber and stones, the same active, dwelling judgment Leviticus pictures in the house infected with leprosy. Henry reads the two sins as representative rather than exhaustive, covering the whole law under its two halves, duty to neighbor and duty to God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 5, verses 1 onwards) Then I turned and lifted up my eyes, and behold, a flying scroll! And he said to me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits." Then he said to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side.
The Reformation1 voice
Interpreters have touched neither heaven nor earth in their explanation of this prophecy, for they have not regarded the design of the Holy Spirit. Some think that by the volume are to be understood false and perverted glosses, by which the purity of doctrine had been vitiated; but this view can by no means be received.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But two sorts of sinners are here specified as the objects of this curse:-- (1.) Thieves; it is for every one that steals, that by fraud or force takes that which is not his own, especially that robs God and converts to his own use what was devoted to God and his honour, which was a sin much complained of among the Jews at this time, Mal. iii.
While they were in their strength and beauty they supported, sorely against their will, the sinner's pride and security; but, when they are consumed, their ruins will, to their satisfaction, be standing monuments of God's justice and lasting witnesses of the sinner's injustice. Note, Sin is the ruin of houses and families, especially the sins of injury and perjury.
); he imprecates the curse upon himself by his perjury, and so shall his doom be; God will say Amen to his imprecation, and turn it upon his own head. He has appealed to God's judgment, which is always according to truth, for the confirming of a lie, and to that judgment he shall go which he has so impiously affronted.
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3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
For more than two thousand years, ever since the Babylonian exile, the Jews have been free from idolatry; but the full accomplishment of the prophecy is yet future, when all sin shall be purged from Israel on their return to Palestine, and conversion to Christ.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will bring it forth - Out of the treasure-house, as it were; as he says, “He bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures” Jer 10:13; Jer 51:16; and, “Is not this laid up in store with Me, sealed up among My treasures?” To Me belongeth “vengeance and recompense” Deu 32:34-35. And it shall remain, literally, “lodge for the night,” until it has accomplished that for which it was sent, its utter destruction. Lap.: “So we have seen and see at this day powerful families, which attained to splendor by rapine or ill-gotten goods, destroyed by the just judgment of God, that those who see it are amazed, how such wealth perceptibly yet insensibly disappeared.” Chrys. on the statues 15. n. 13. p. 259. Oxford Translation: “Why doth it overthrow the stones and the wood of the swearer’s house? In order that the ruin may be a correction to all. For since the earth must hide the swearer, when dead, his house, overturned and become a heap, will by the very sight be an admonition to all who pass by and see it, not to venture on the like, lest they suffer the like, and it will be a lasting witness against the sin of the departed.” Paganism was impressed with the doom of him who consulted the oracle, whether he should foreswear himself for gain. “Swear,” was the answer, “since death awaits too the man, who keeps the oath; yet Oath hath a son, nameless, handless, footless; but swift he pursueth, until he grasp together and destroy the whole race and house.” “In the third generation, there was nought descended from him,” who had consulted about this perjury, “nor hearthstone reputed to be his. […]
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הוֹצֵאתִ֗יהָ | hotzetiha | I will send forth it | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| נְאֻם֙ | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| וּבָ֙אָה֙ | uvaah | and it will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַגַּנָּ֔ב | haganav | the thief | H1590 → | |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּ֛ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַנִּשְׁבָּ֥ע | hanishba' | the [one who] swears an oath | H7650 → | |
| בִּשְׁמִ֖י | bishmi | by name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| לַשָּׁ֑קֶר | lashaker | to <the> falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| וְלָ֙נֶה֙ | velaneh | and it will lodge | H3885 → | |
| בְּת֣וֹךְ | betokh | in [the] midst of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| בֵּית֔וֹ | beito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְכִלַּ֖תּוּ | vekhillatu | and it will destroy it | H3615 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵצָ֥יו | ʾetzav | wood<s> its | H6086 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲבָנָֽיו׃ | ʾavanav | stone<s> its | H68 → | 273 times |
הוֹצֵאתִ֗יהָI will send forth it
hotzetihaH3318 →1067 times
נְאֻם֙[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
וּבָ֙אָה֙and it will go
uvaahH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
הַגַּנָּ֔בthe thief
haganavH1590 →
וְאֶל־and into
veel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּ֛ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
הַנִּשְׁבָּ֥עthe [one who] swears an oath
hanishba'H7650 →
בִּשְׁמִ֖יby name my
bishmiH8034 →864 times
לַשָּׁ֑קֶרto <the> falsehood
lashakerH8267 →113 times
וְלָ֙נֶה֙and it will lodge
velanehH3885 →
בְּת֣וֹךְin [the] midst of
betokhH8432 →418 times
בֵּית֔וֹhouse his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
וְכִלַּ֖תּוּand it will destroy it
vekhillatuH3615 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
עֵצָ֥יוwood<s> its
ʾetzavH6086 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֲבָנָֽיו׃stone<s> its
ʾavanavH68 →273 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:11
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- James 5:8–9
Through
Proverbs 3:33The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:22
Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.
- Leviticus 26:14–46
If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Psalms 91:10
no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent.
- Psalms 37:22
About Zechariah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.