Zechariah 5:11

Zec 5:11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

Ver. 11. To build it an house in the land of Shinar] That is, of Babylon, Gen 10:10; Gen 11:2, where various of the Jews still remained in wilful exile, as loth to leave their houses and gardens, which they had builded and planted there, Jer 29:5, preferring captivity before liberty, see 1Ch 4:22-23. Hence, upon their final dispersion by the Romans, various of them resorted there for entertainment. There Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, had collected an elected Church, 1Pe 5:13, and thence he writeth his epistle to the sojourning Jews scattered through those eastern parts, 1Pe 1:1, from whence also those kings of the east, Rev 16:12, the converted Jews (as some expound it), are expected. And who can tell whether this land of Shinar be not the same with that land of Sinim? Isa 49:12; confer Isa 11:16 Zec 10:11. Or, by the land of Shinar here, may be meant exilium totius orbis, their general rejection by all nations; the whole world being to them Shinar, that is, a land of excussion.

And it shall be established, &c.] This denoteth the diuturnity or perpetuity of their punishment.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:11 Idolatry is potently and aggressively evil; it cannot be confined, but must be shipped back to its source (Babylonia) by God’s decree. This symbolism indicates that God is able to purge his people of all the various forms of wickedness that separated them from him. • The land of Babylonia was the land of Hebrew captivity (Mic 4:10). The prophets condemn it as wicked and idolatrous (Isa 46–47; Jer 50–51). In the New Testament, Babylon represents the evil Roman Empire (Rev 17:5; 18:2; see 1 Pet 5:13).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To remove the iniquity and affliction that came for the same from Judah, to place it forever in Babylon.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

To build . . . house in . . . Shinar--Babylonia (Gen 10:10), the capital of the God-opposed world kingdoms, and so representing in general the seat of irreligion. As the "building of houses" in Babylon (Jer 29:5, Jer 29:28) by the Jews themselves expressed their long exile there, so the building of an house for "wickedness" there implies its permanent stay.

set . . . upon her own base--fixed there as in its proper place. "Wickedness" being cast out of Judah, shall for ever dwell with the antichristian apostates (of whom Babylon is the type), who shall reap the fruit of it, which they deserve.

Next: Zechariah Chapter 6

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. To build it a house in the land of Shinar] The land of Shinar means Babylon; and Babylon means Rome, in the Apocalypse. The building the house for the woman imprisoned in the ephah may signify, that there should be a long captivity under the Romans, as there was under that of Shinar or Babylon, by which Rome may here be represented. That house remains to the present day: the Jewish woman is still in the ephah; it is set on its own base-continues still as a distinct nation; and the talent of lead-God's displeasure-is still on the top. O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) Land of Shinar.—Where mankind had first organised a rebellion against God (Gen_12:2); it was also the land of the Captivity of the Jews (Babylonia).

This vision is a circumstantial symbolisation of the promise given in Zec_3:9 : “I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day.” While it is a promise of the remission of the punishment of their iniquity (for in Hebrew, “iniquity” often means punishment), it serves also as an exhortation to the returned exiles to leave in Babylon the iniquity which had been the cause of their being transported thither.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. To build it a house] The word “it” is feminine (lit. her), and may refer either to the ephah or to the woman, as the words, on her own base, at the end of the verse may also do. It is perhaps simplest to understand the reference in both cases to be to the woman, whose destination was by implication asked in the prophet’s question, Zec_5:10. The house may be either a dwelling-place, or possibly a temple, “as Dagon (1Sa_5:2-5), or Ashtaroth (Ib. 1Sa_5:10), or Baal (2Ki_10:23), had their houses or temples, a great idol temple in which the God of this world should be worshipped.” Pusey.

in the land of Shinar] i.e. Babylonia, with a reference perhaps to “that first attempt to array a world-empire against God,” which took place in “the land of Shinar.” Gen_11:2.

it shall be established] i.e. the house.

and set there] Rather, and she (the woman) shall be made to rest there. The whole verse will then read, as in R. V., To build her an house in the land of Shinar: and when it is prepared, she shall be set there in her own place.

The Eighth Vision. The Four Chariots, Zec_6:1-8. In this vision four chariots appear to the prophet coming upon the scene, along the valley or defile between two mountains of brass or copper, Zec_5:1. The chariots are drawn by horses of different colours, Zec_5:2-3. In answer to the prophet’s enquiry, Zec_5:4, the Interpreting Angel informs him that these chariots represent the four spirits or winds of heaven, which are coming forth from the immediate presence of God, charged with the commands which He had there laid upon them, Zec_5:5. Of three of these chariots, distinguishing them by the colours of the horses which are yoked to them, the angel then announces the destination. Passing by the first chariot to which red horses were attached, he says that the second which had black horses was on its way to “the north country,” the land of Babylon, to be followed thither by the third which was drawn by white horses. The fourth chariot, with its speckled, or piebald horses, was about to visit “the south country,” Zec_5:6; but inasmuch as its horses were specially “strong,” their commission was extended, and the whole earth granted them for their course, Zec_5:7. Upon this the Interpreting Angel cries aloud to the prophet in the name of Jehovah, that by the mission of these His messengers of wrath, His sore displeasure (chap. Zec_1:15) against His enemies and the enemies of His people in the north country is appeased, and His spirit quieted, Zec_5:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar,.... That is, in the province of Babylon, as the Targum paraphrases it; for Babel, or Babylon, was in the land of Shinar, Gen 10:10 whither the Jews were carried captive, Dan 1:2 Isa 11:11, and the bearing of the "ephah" thither may denote the cause of their captivity, the measure of sins filled up by them: though this some understand of the like injuries, oppressions, and vexations, brought upon the Chaldeans in the land of Shinar, which they before exercised towards and upon the Jews; and others of the rejection of wicked men from among the Jews, by Ezra and Nehemiah, transporting them as it were back to Babylon again: others of the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, who chiefly settled after that in the eastern parts of the world; though indeed the whole world was a land of Shinar, or "shaking out" (n) unto them; they being shook out of their own land, and scattered about everywhere; which dispersion has been long and lasting, notorious and conspicuous; and they are now settled upon their own base, established upon their former principles of legality and self-righteousness, and rejection of the true Messiah; or rather this may be understood of the transfer of the ephah, or whole measure of iniquity, into mystical Babylon. The antichristian church of Rome is called Babylon; she is represented as a sink of sin, a mystery of iniquity, Rev 17:5 and a house being built for this man of sin, antichrist, denotes the continuance of him; and being established on its own base, shows the false foundation on which the church of Rome is built, and her carnal security. So Cocceius, by the "two women", understands the two kingdoms or powers of antichrist, the civil and ecclesiastical powers; which support the man of sin, lift him up, and give him the highest place in the church, and fix his seat where idolatry and persecution reign, as formerly did in Babylon, in the land of Shinar. Though the whole may very well be applied to the last and everlasting punishment of sin and sinners, when the whole measure is filled up. The end of sin and sinners is death and everlasting destruction. The ephah, and the woman in it, are carried, not upwards to heaven, nor to the New Jerusalem, but to the land of Shinar, the land of shaking; to hell, where are utter darkness, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; where a house is built for them, which denotes their continuance there; and which, being established on its own base, shows their punishment shall forever remain; their worm never dies; their fire is not quenched; the smoke of it ascends for ever and ever; their destruction is an everlasting destruction.

(n) "terra excussionis", Menoch ins.

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John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To build it an house in the land of Shinar - The name of Shinar, though strictly Babylonia, carries back to an older power than the world-empire of Babylon; which now too was destroyed. “In the land of Shinar” Gen 11:2 was that first attempt to array a world-empire against God, ere mankind was ye dispersed. And so it is the apter symbol of the antitheist or anti-Christian world, which by violence, art, falsehood, sophistry, wars against the truth. To this great world-empire it was to be removed; yet to live there, no longer cramped and confined as within an Ephah, but in pomp and splendor. A house or temple was to be built for it, for its honor and glory; as Dagon 1Sa 5:2-5 or Ashtaroth 1Sa 31:10, or Baal 2Ki 10:23 had their houses or temples, a great idol temple, in which the god of this world should be worshiped.

And it - - “The house,” “shall be established” firmly on its base, like the house of God, and it, (wickedness) shall be tranquilly rested on its base, as an idol in its temple, until the end come. In the end, the belief of those of old was, that the Jews would have great share in the antagonism to Christ and His empire. At the first, they were the great enemies of the faith, and sent forth, Justin says, , those everywhere who should circulate the calumnies against Christians, which were made a ground of early persecutions. In the end, it was believed, that antichrist should be from them, that they would receive him as their Christ, the last fulfillment of our Lord’s words, “I am come in My Father’s name and ye receive Me not; another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” Joh 5:43.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

the land of Sennaar, where Babel or Babylon was built; (Genesis ix.) where note that Babylon, in holy writ, is often taken for the city of the devil, (that is, for the whole congregation of the wicked) as Jerusalem is taken for the city and people of God. (Challoner) --- Antichrist will begin his reign at Babylon. (Worthington) --- Yet this is not clear. (Haydock) --- The Chaldeans are driven from the countries which they had seized, and confined to their own territory, by the Persians and Greeks; or, if we explain it of the Jews, many of them remained at Babylon, and did not return to defile their own country. Only those whose hearts were touched by God returned, 1 Esdras i. 5. (Calmet) --- Sennaar means "excussion." The Jews have been driven by the Chaldeans and Romans into all parts. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The angel gives him an answer fuller than his question, and first tells the prophet what was to be done with it.

To build it a house, not in mercy, but in judgment, as intending the next deportation should not be, as the first, for seventy years, but for ever they should never return.

In the land of Shinar; of Babylon, whither many of the Jews fled, and so by voluntary exile fulfilled this prophecy; Whither other’s of them were forced by the Romans.

It shall be established, and set there; there they shall be confined without hope of release.

Upon her own base; not on the foundation of God’s promise and covenant, but the base of their sins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To build it (her) a house. The LXX refers the pronoun to the ephah, but it seems more natural to refer it to a person, the woman. The feminine gender of the original would apply to either. She is carried away from Judaea to have a permanent dwelling in a land more suited to her. Pusey thinks that possibly a temple may be intended, "a great idol temple, in which the god of this world should be worshipped." In the land of Shinar; i.e. the ideal land of unholiness, where the world power first arrayed itself against God in the attempt at Babel. Septuagint, en gh Babulwnov , . (Gen_11:2, etc.) Shinar, equivalent to Sumer in the Assyrian monuments, denotes Lower or Southern Babylon; Accad, Upper or Northern Babylon. And it shall be established. The house shall be firmly fixed there. Others render, "when it is ready." And set there. The gender shows that the woman is meant, not the house: "And she shall be set there in her own place." Thus from the spiritual Zion all wickedness shall be abolished (Zec_3:9) and sent to its own place prepared for the enemies of God and holiness. Doubtless, too, a warning is here conveyed to those Jews who still lingered in Babylon, that they were dwelling in a land accursed of God, and were liable to be involved in the fate which pursues ungodliness. Orelli and some others see in these two visions an analogy to the two goats on the Day of Atonement, of which one was sacrificed for the sins of the people, and the other bore away their iniquity to the demons" abode, the wilderness (Leviticus 16).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To build - Not in mercy, but in judgment. Of Shinar - Of Babylon whither many of the Jews fled, and others of them were forced by the Romans. Set there - There they shall be confined without hope of release. Her own base - They are settled upon the lees of their own unbelief: their wickedness is established on its own bases.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Shinar

i.e. Babylonia. Dan 1:2

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

and it will be prepared, and they shall place it there And the house shall be prepared, and the ephah shall be placed there with the wicked that are within it.

there In that house.

on its base On its permanence and on its base. Here He hinted [to Zechariah] that, because of the iniquity of Israel, who measured out [so to speak] with the measure of sins and wickedness, they were punished with the same measure. And there came two nations that ruled together; they were Babylon and the Chaldeans - the army of Nebuchadnezzar - and exiled [Israel] to Babylon where [Israel] stayed fixed on a base, a base that was established for them. That is according to the completion of the seventy years until now, when they returned. This interpretation leans partially toward that of Jonathan. This [phrase] is interpreted in many [other] ways, but they are not satisfactory to me. Our Sages, however, explained and learned from here that the evil inclination was given into the hands of the men of the Great Assembly, and they cast it into a leaden cauldron and covered it with lead, because lead absorbs the sound, as is stated in tractate Sanhedrin (24a) and in tractate Yoma (69b). My interpretation of the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar as doubled - composed of two nations - I saw in Midrash Psalms (6:2, 18: 10), that the following four kingdoms that subjugated Israel were double: Babylon and the Chaldeans, Media and Persia, Greece and Macedon, Edom and Ishmael, and for this reason the Kalir composed (in Piyutim for Shemini Azereth), “It is the fourth; it is the eighth,” concerning Edom.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.