Zechariah's vision of the ephah (Zech. 5:5-11)

Elie Assis

doi:10.1163/004249310x12597406253328

Zechariah's vision of the ephah (Zech. 5:5-11)

Elie Assis

The Zalman Shamir Department of Hebrew Bible at Bar-Ilan University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The vision of the ephah (Zech. 5:5-11) is probably the most obscure of all of Zechariah's visions. Its symbolic meaning is not mentioned, and the prophet himself does not comprehend it. Some commentators hold that the prophecy is a rebuke to the Judeans, others hold that the intention is to foretell the fall of Judah's enemies. All interpretations of the vision do not address the problem, namely that wickedness will be reestablished in Shinar and will not be eliminated as expected. Why would the prophet propose that a house be built for the sinner outside the land rather than inflict on wickedness the punishment prescribed in other biblical sources? The thesis advanced in this paper is that the vision of the ephah is an anti-Samaritan prophecy. The woman in the ephah represents the Samaritans; the vision foresees their return to their original home in Babylon, where their temple would be erected. This interpretation provides a full explanation of the tension between the reference to the woman as wickedness and her happy ending in her permanent home in the Land of Shinar. The prophet wanted to advance the theological argument that the ultimate solution of the dispute between the two groups would be for the Samaritans to build their own house, that is, their own separate temple, in Shinar-their original historical homelands, and far away from Yehud.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	15-32
Number of pages	18
Journal	Vetus Testamentum
Volume	60
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1163/004249310x12597406253328
State	Published - 1 Jan 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Los préstamos de China sólo exigían dos condiciones: su-ministro de petróleo y no reconocer a Taiwan. Es decir, a di-ferencia de los préstamos de organismos internacionales, como el Fondo Monetario Internacional o el Banco Mundial, China no exigía a Angola y otros países que recibían sus préstamos que cumplieran con las premisas del Consenso de Washington, sólo les imponía la condición de reconocer “Una sola China”, y desconocer a Taiwan.

Funding Information:
El desarrollo del comercio entre los dos países puede ob-servarse en el cuadro 2. En 2014 se comercializaron más de 37 millares de millones de dólares entre China y Angola, según los datos de la base de Comtrade: No obstante, la relación comercial entre China y Angola no es equilibrada; el volumen importado por China ha sido mucho mayor que lo que este país ha exportado a Angola, por lo que la balanza comercial ha sido negativa para China. Como se ob-serva en el cuadro 3, en el periodo 1992-2014, con excepción del año 1994, hubo un desequilibrio en la balanza comercial favorable a Angola, pero, a partir del 2000, el déficit de China au-mentó de manera exponencial.

Funding

Los préstamos de China sólo exigían dos condiciones: su-ministro de petróleo y no reconocer a Taiwan. Es decir, a di-ferencia de los préstamos de organismos internacionales, como el Fondo Monetario Internacional o el Banco Mundial, China no exigía a Angola y otros países que recibían sus préstamos que cumplieran con las premisas del Consenso de Washington, sólo les imponía la condición de reconocer “Una sola China”, y desconocer a Taiwan. El desarrollo del comercio entre los dos países puede ob-servarse en el cuadro 2. En 2014 se comercializaron más de 37 millares de millones de dólares entre China y Angola, según los datos de la base de Comtrade: No obstante, la relación comercial entre China y Angola no es equilibrada; el volumen importado por China ha sido mucho mayor que lo que este país ha exportado a Angola, por lo que la balanza comercial ha sido negativa para China. Como se ob-serva en el cuadro 3, en el periodo 1992-2014, con excepción del año 1994, hubo un desequilibrio en la balanza comercial favorable a Angola, pero, a partir del 2000, el déficit de China au-mentó de manera exponencial.

Funders
Banco Mundial, China
Fondo Monetario Internacional
negativa para China

Keywords

Ephah
Samaritans
Shinar
Temple
Yehud
Zechariah 5:5-11

Access to Document

10.1163/004249310x12597406253328

Cite this

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abstract = "The vision of the ephah (Zech. 5:5-11) is probably the most obscure of all of Zechariah's visions. Its symbolic meaning is not mentioned, and the prophet himself does not comprehend it. Some commentators hold that the prophecy is a rebuke to the Judeans, others hold that the intention is to foretell the fall of Judah's enemies. All interpretations of the vision do not address the problem, namely that wickedness will be reestablished in Shinar and will not be eliminated as expected. Why would the prophet propose that a house be built for the sinner outside the land rather than inflict on wickedness the punishment prescribed in other biblical sources? The thesis advanced in this paper is that the vision of the ephah is an anti-Samaritan prophecy. The woman in the ephah represents the Samaritans; the vision foresees their return to their original home in Babylon, where their temple would be erected. This interpretation provides a full explanation of the tension between the reference to the woman as wickedness and her happy ending in her permanent home in the Land of Shinar. The prophet wanted to advance the theological argument that the ultimate solution of the dispute between the two groups would be for the Samaritans to build their own house, that is, their own separate temple, in Shinar-their original historical homelands, and far away from Yehud.",

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author = "Elie Assis",

note = "Funding Information: Los pr{\'e}stamos de China s{\'o}lo exig{\'i}an dos condiciones: su-ministro de petr{\'o}leo y no reconocer a Taiwan. Es decir, a di-ferencia de los pr{\'e}stamos de organismos internacionales, como el Fondo Monetario Internacional o el Banco Mundial, China no exig{\'i}a a Angola y otros pa{\'i}ses que recib{\'i}an sus pr{\'e}stamos que cumplieran con las premisas del Consenso de Washington, s{\'o}lo les impon{\'i}a la condici{\'o}n de reconocer “Una sola China”, y desconocer a Taiwan. Funding Information: El desarrollo del comercio entre los dos pa{\'i}ses puede ob-servarse en el cuadro 2. En 2014 se comercializaron m{\'a}s de 37 millares de millones de d{\'o}lares entre China y Angola, seg{\'u}n los datos de la base de Comtrade: No obstante, la relaci{\'o}n comercial entre China y Angola no es equilibrada; el volumen importado por China ha sido mucho mayor que lo que este pa{\'i}s ha exportado a Angola, por lo que la balanza comercial ha sido negativa para China. Como se ob-serva en el cuadro 3, en el periodo 1992-2014, con excepci{\'o}n del a{\~n}o 1994, hubo un desequilibrio en la balanza comercial favorable a Angola, pero, a partir del 2000, el d{\'e}ficit de China au-ment{\'o} de manera exponencial.",

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Zechariah's vision of the ephah (Zech. 5:5-11)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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