Humanitext Reader

Septuagint · Zechariah §5.1-5.11

Visions of the Flying Sickle and Woman in a Basket

Passage 5 of 14 · Greek

Summary

The prophet Zechariah witnesses a vision of a giant flying sickle representing a curse upon wickedness, followed by a measuring basket containing a woman who symbolizes lawlessness. This basket is then carried away to the land of Babylon by two winged women.

§5.1Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα καὶ ἤρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδού δρέπανον πετόμενον.
And I turned and lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying sickle.
§5.2καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς μέ Τί σὺ βλέπεις; καὶ εἶπα Ἐγὼ ὁρῶ δρέπανον πετόμενον μήκους πήχεων εἴκοσι καὶ πλάτους πήχεων δέκα. §5.3καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς μέ Αὕτη ἡ ἀρὰ ἡ ἐκπορευομένη ἐπὶ πρόσαοπον πάσης τῆς γῆς· διότι πᾶς ὁ κλέπτης ἐκ τούτου ἕως θανάτου ἐκδικηθήσεται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἐπίορκος ἐκ τούτου ἐκδικηθήσεται. §5.4καὶ ἐξοίσω αὐτό, λέγει Κύριος Παντοκράτωρ, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κλέπτου καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ ὀμνύοντος τῷ ὀνόματί μου ἐπὶ ψεύδει, καὶ καταλύσει ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ, καὶ συντελέσει αὐτὸν καὶ τὰ ξύλα αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς λίθους αὐτοῦ. §5.5Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς μέ Ἀνάβλεψον τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου καὶ ἴδε τὸ ἐκπορευόμενον τοῦτο. §5.6καὶ εἶπα Τί ἐστιν; καὶ εἶπεν Τοῦτο τὸ μέτρον τὸ ἐκπορευόμενον. καὶ εἶπεν Αὕτη ἡ ἀδικία αὐτῶν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ. §5.7καὶ ἰδοὺ τάλαντον μολίβου ἐξαιρόμενον· καὶ ἰδοὺ μία γυνὴ ἐκάθητο ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ μέτρου.
And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a flying sickle, its length twenty cubits and its width ten cubits." And he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth; for everyone who steals shall be punished from now on with death according to it, and everyone who swears falsely shall be punished according to it." "I will send it out, says the Lord Almighty, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and consume it, both its timber and its stones." Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, "Lift up your eyes and see what this is that goes out." And I said, "What is it?" And he said, "This is the measure that goes out." And he said, "This is their iniquity in all the earth." And behold, a leaden cover was lifted; and behold, there was a woman sitting in the midst of the measure.
§5.8καὶ εἶπεν Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία· καὶ ἔριψεν αὐτὴν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ μέτρου, καὶ ἔριψεν τὸν λίθον τοῦ μολίβου εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς.
And he said, "This is wickedness." And he thrust her back into the midst of the measure, and cast the leaden weight upon its mouth.
§5.9καὶ ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ δύο γυναῖκες ἐκπορευόμεναι, καὶ πνεῦμα ἐυ ταῖς πτέρυξιν αὐτῶν, καὶ αὗται εἶχον πτέρυγας ἔποπος· καὶ ἀνέλαβον τὸ μέτρον ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς γῆς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward, with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a hoopoe, and they lifted up the measure between earth and heaven.
§5.10καὶ εἶπα πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον τὸν λαλοῦντα ἐν ἐμοί Ποῦ αὗται ἀποφέρουσιν τὸ μέτρον; §5.11καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς μέ Οἰκοδομῆσαι αὐτῷ οἰκίαν ἐν γῇ Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ἑτοιμάσαι, καὶ θήσουσιν αὐτὸ ἐκεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑτοιμασίαν αὐτοῦ.
Then I said to the angel who talked with me, "Where are they taking the measure?" And he said to me, "To build a house for it in the land of Babylon, and to prepare it; and they will set it there upon its base."

Notes

  1. 5.3ἐκ τούτου — The pronoun τούτου is neuter singular, referring conceptually to "the curse" (ἡ ἀρά) or functioning directionally to mean "from here." Here it is interpreted as expressing the means or standard of punishment, meaning "according to it" or "by this."
  2. 5.4καταλύσει — Although the verb καταλύω commonly means "to destroy," in the Septuagint (LXX) it frequently means "to lodge" or "to abide." To avoid redundancy with the subsequent verb συντελέσει ("consume/destroy"), it is best interpreted here as meaning "to abide" or "to lodge" in the midst of the house.
  3. 5.8εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς — The pronoun αὐτῆς is feminine singular, which grammatically can refer back to "the woman" (γυνή) meaning "her mouth," or conceptually to "the measure" (μέτρον, which is grammatically neuter but translates the feminine Hebrew 'ephah) meaning "its mouth/opening." Given the Hebrew source referring to the opening of the container, it is best understood as the mouth of the vessel.
  4. 5.11οἰκοδομῆσαι — The infinitives οἰκοδομῆσαι and ἑτοιμάσαι function adverbially to express purpose ("in order to build... and prepare"), dependent on the verb ἀποφέρουσιν ("they carry away") in the preceding verse.

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Zechariah §5.1-5.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg046.humanitext-grc1:5.1-5.11

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