Zechariah 4:5

4:5 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” So I responded, “No, sir.”

Zechariah 4:12

4:12 Before he could reply I asked again, “What are these two extensions ¹  of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?”

Zechariah 5:2

5:2 Someone asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a flying scroll thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.” ² 

Zechariah 5:5

Vision Seven: The Ephah

5:5 After this the angelic messenger ³  who had been speaking to me went out and said, “Look, see what is leaving.”

¹ tn The usual meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁבֹּלֶת (shÿbolet) is “ears” (as in ears of grain). Here it probably refers to the produce of the olive trees, i.e., olives. Many English versions render the term as “branches,” but cf. NAB “tufts.”

¹ tn Heb “twenty cubits…ten cubits” (so NAB, NRSV). These dimensions (“thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide”) can hardly be referring to the scroll when unrolled since that would be all out of proportion to the normal ratio, in which the scroll would be 10 to 15 times as long as it was wide. More likely, the scroll is 15 feet thick when rolled, a hyperbole expressing the enormous amount and the profound significance of the information it contains.

¹ tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in 1:9.