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Zechariah 5:1-3 (NKJV)

Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying scroll. And he said to me, "What do you see?" So I answered, "I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits."

Zechariah saw a flying scroll that was twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.

Then he said to me, "This [is] the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: 'Every thief shall be expelled,' according to this side of the scroll; and, 'Every perjurer shall be expelled,' according to that side of it."

Now he is told that the scroll is the curse that goes over the whole earth and it cuts off thieves and perjurers according to "this side of it" and "that side of it".

Since we are given the measurements of "this and that side" of it,

1) Is there any significance in these measurements?

2) if yes, why are these measurements significant? Is there some numerological message?

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Apparently the dimensions are similar to the Holy Place of the Tabernacle (Ex 26:1 ff) and to the porch of Solomon’s temple (1 K. 6:3). Perhaps an allusion to the Torah? Some commentators argue that the numbers are given to suggest the fact that the scroll is large and flying over the whole land so that all can see it and everyone can read it (Smith, J. E., The Minor Prophets (Zec 5:1-2), College Press, Joplin, Mo., 1992; also Fleming, D. C., Concise Bible commentary. Also published under title: The AMG concise Bible commentary, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, Tenn., 1994, p. 371). So there is not excuse. Interesting enough, the LXX is using here gr. δρέπανον, which is rather "a sickle". Christian commentators from an early age were making allusion to this in their discourse. So for instance Augustine, talking about a Roman consul Regulus. Regulus is given here as an example of someone who, even if pagan and completely ignoring both Jewish and Christian principles, still was able to adopt a wise standing by simply using his common sense. Augustine is saying that: "He [Regulus] had learned nothing about the sickle of Zechariah [lat. Zachariae falx]" (Ep CXXV to Alypius,3). In a like manner,Chrysostom is talking about this "flying sickle" as a sign of a God's judgment (Hom.Matth 3:7.4). Now, scroll or sickle, it seems that the meaning is related to God’s judgment on all those who choose to ignore God’s law.

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  • Thanks Constantine. For someone new to this site, this is a very good answer. +1
    – user20490
    Dec 18, 2017 at 13:19
  • The scroll isn't flying over the whole land but the "whole earth". Yet it has the measurements of the holy place. Does it mean that the judgement is meted out against gentiles using the measure (or standard) that applies to those who were under the mosaic covenant.
    – user20490
    Dec 18, 2017 at 13:22
  • To <user20490>: Yes indeed, difficult to say if heb."כָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ" is for "whole land" or "whole earth", isn't it. In LXX there is gr. "πάσης τῆς γῆς". Same ambiguity. Another ambiguity is in 5:3: should we translate heb. אָלָה, as “curse” or as "oath" - as in Deut 29:12 or various other places? Yet this last ambiguity could be of some help. {to be continued} Dec 18, 2017 at 17:47
  • To <user20490>: From a Deut point of view, in 5:3 we may find allusions to commandments 8 and 3 (Decalogue). If we can read: "according to the oath taken with respect to the covenant, anyone trespassing commandments 8 and 3 will so and so ..." - this implies that heb."כָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ" is for "whole land", therefore the judgement is not meted out against gentiles not under the mosaic covenant, but against those under the mosaic covenant only.{to be continued} Dec 18, 2017 at 17:47
  • To <user20490>:On the other hand, Augustine, when talking about Regulus and using "the sickle of Zechariah", he is doing so right because of the fact that the topic addressed in the letter is related to a false oath. And the letter is addressed to Alypius ("my partner in the priestly office" - as Augustine is calling him). However, from a Jewish perspective, both Augustine and Alypius were gentiles. {to be continued} Dec 18, 2017 at 17:49
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Lords's prayer on a matrix of 12x24 should reveal it to the discerning. The rows of 12 repeating down 24 x. The main message will appear as seals when folded (scrolled) around on itself. The rows must spiral into each other, 1st line descending across the page gradually diagonally so as to allow it to continue into second row seamlessly like the entire prayer on a helix ribbon circling every 12 letters of ANY size. Each letter is in a "cubit".
To create the cubits draw 11 lines down the page to create 12 rows. (For ease lets say 1 cm rows). Then across these rows draw horizontal lines at a spacing of 1 cm each dropping a full cm by the time it reaches the opposite (right) side of the page. This will need to be 24x. Now write the prayer of prayers across 12 letters at a time inside the cubits. Then word search using the standards of the institute of cryptology for 1st degree codes. Remember to scroll thematrix around on itself in order to search words sealing the joining edges. Thats all i can give away without revealing too much to keep it out of the wrong hands.

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    Welcome to Bible Hermeneutics SE and thank you for your contribution. The question is about the significance of the dimensions not about how to recreate the scroll. Also, when you get a chance, please take the tour to understand how the site works and how it is different than others.
    – agarza
    May 22, 2021 at 19:08

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