The two winged women in Zechariah 5

Question

Angels are often portrayed as winged women. Even aside from the fact that those who are clearly angels in the Bible do not appear as winged women, I have not seen any evidence that the winged women that appear in the Bible are supposed to be angels. Zechariah 5:9-11 reads,

⁹Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.

¹⁰“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel.

¹¹He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.” (NLT)

It seems that these winged women are sinning by apparently building a temple of sorts to a symbol the angel has already named "Wickedness" (verse 8). Am I wrong? Is there reason to suppose these women are angels? If not, where might such a belief have arisen from? Is there any kind of indication what kind of being these angels are, or what they represent?

Answer 1

This prophecy concerns the problems encountered in rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is closely connected with the story in Ezra 4.

The wicked woman in the "eiphah" measure (bushel or barrel) represents one or more of the enemies of Israel, primarily the Samaritans and the Edomites, who harassed the builders after being excluded from the rebuilding project. Similar language of wickedness in Malachi 1:4. The eiphah is a standard dry measure and a symbol of justice. The word is used here to indicate that the iniquity of the enemies has reached full measure. This is a possible alliteration to the language of Genesis 15:16 [me].

The women angels in verse 9 possibly represent Judah and Benjamin (as in Ezra 4:1) or the Jerusalem and Samaria returnee communities who were rebuilding the Temple. In this prophecy they are removing the wicked from the land. They are the antitheses of the two women in Ezekiel 23:1 who brought wickedness into the land [Mordecai Zer-Kavod, Daat Mikra].

That there are angels in the form of women is according to Midrash Breishit Rabbah 21 (at the end) and Midrash Shmot Rabbah 25:2, also Maimonedes Guide to the Perplexed part I chapter 49, see also the Don Isaac Abarbanel on this verse.

The stork is a long-haul migratory bird with powerful wings. The power of the wings represents the stamina of the returnee community to deal with the harassment and send off their enemies far away. Similar Hebrew for the female forms with wings here in verse 9, clause 3 can be seen in Ezekiel 1:5-6 ("v'lhena c'nafayim"). The Hebrew here in verse 9 clause 2 is "v'ruah b'canfeihem", (with wind in their wings) where "ruah" can mean either wind or spirit. In this case the probable intent is "ruah hakodesh", the holy spirit, indicating that these women are indeed angels on a holy mission [A.S. Hartum, student of M.D. Cassuto].

The house for the wicked in the land of Shinar (Babylon) is saying that the enemies who are harassing the builders of the Temple in Jerusalem will eventually be worn out and will go back to build their own temples in their own lands. This probably refers to the Samaritans, who were exiled to Samaria by the Assyrians after the fall of the northern kingdom. The prophet is saying that these foreign implants will return to their former homes. In fact some did, but those who remained eventually built their own temple on mount Grizim. Mordecai Zer-Kavod posits that there is a parallel to Isaiah 49:17, "those who destroyed you will depart".

That is the simple meaning of the prophecy according to the approach of the ibn Ezra (1089 — 1164) that this particular prophecy was not escatological but like pre-exilic prophecy, was an interpretation of current events at the time of the prophet. (See Bernhard Anderson's Introduction to the Old Testament chapter 7 for an explanation of non-escatological prophecy.)

There is a difficult moral and religious dilemma behind this prophecy and Ezra 4. It is how to maintain the purity of the service of God and at the same time allow participation of non-Israelites. Should or could the returnee community have done more to allow non-Israelite participation? Or was it the case that the request to participate was a ruse or otherwise not sincere? Is this prophecy hinting that the returnees should pay off their enemies?

Answer 2

From a Christian perspective prophets after the return from the Babylonian exile are often citing visions about the days of Messiah. However there is no evidence that ancient rabbinic sources understood Zechariah 5 as referring to the end times. Therefore, it seems purely a Christian view that equates this chapter to those times.

Under that view, the woman in the basket is viewed as a filthy woman that is like a harlot, who has been unfaithful to God. God sending his people away in a container they cannot escape from with a heavy lid. The forces (women) that carry her away must hold on both sides as it is heavy and need broad wings to maintain lift. These women seem neutral, with the female gender only there to match the contents of the basket. The other possibility is that they represent unclean woman (like Gentile nations) as the bird like wings that they had may have been an ‘unclean bird’.

That they have a house built for them speaks the permanent nature of her exile into a world without God, Babylon, the ancient location of the tower of Babel.

The interpretation is then applied to signify God’s longstanding punishment upon his people for rejecting their Messiah, being scattered into unclean parts of the earth, by unclean nations, for a very longs time.

The fulfillment of this prophecy would be the experience of Israel shortly after Jesus was crucified.