B². Vision Six: The Curse of the Flying Scroll (5:1-4)

The two visions of ch. 5 deal with persistent lawlessness in Judah and correspond to the second and third visions (cf. introduction). The scroll (m^egillâ) Zechariah saw is related to ancient documentation procedures in which sheets of parchment were stitched together, rolled up, and stored in jars or on shelves (Meyers and Meyers, 278). But in the prophet’s vision, the scroll was “flying” like an unfurled flag, as large as a billboard for all to see. The dimensions of the scroll have led some commentators to make comparisons with those given for the tabernacle in Ex 26:15-28, or the porch of Solomon’s temple in 1Ki 6:3 (Mitchell, 169; Petersen, 247). The best explanation of the scroll is that it represents the law and is a curse ('ālâ) because it has been broken. Stealing and invoking God’s name in false witness are the seventh and third commandments respectively. As such, they are symbolic of the two “tablets” of law (Ex 32:15), and they summarize duty to one’s neighbor and to God. In the form of this flying scroll, the law will bring justice where the corrupt judicial system has been ineffectual, in the privacy of the guilty party’s home.