Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Zechariah 5:11 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 11. 11And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse names Shinar as the destination where a house and base will be prepared for the ephah.
Read It With
- Zechariah 5:5-11
Read Zechariah 5:11 with 5:5-11. This verse names Shinar as the destination where a house and base will be prepared for the ephah. The complete unit establishes this movement: The vision personifies community wickedness as a woman forcibly confined in a trade measure and removed to Shinar, locating evil away from the restored land without making women, commerce, or foreigners themselves evil.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The paired judgment visions move from specific offenses to a dramatic removal scene, preparing for the patrol cycle's conclusion. Within that movement, this verse names Shinar as the destination where a house and base will be prepared for the ephah.
Follow the Context
- The angel commands Zechariah to look at what goes forth.
- An ephah or commercial measure appears, with a difficult statement about its appearance or iniquity.
- A lead disk lifts to reveal a woman inside.
- The angel names the figure Wickedness and seals her under the lead.
- Two stork-winged women carry the ephah between earth and heaven.
- The destination is Shinar, where a house and base will be prepared.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Shinar does not identify modern Iraq, Babylon-themed institutions, migrants, or another religion as evil.
What Remains True
Wickedness is relocated away from the restored land to an emblematic imperial place.
How It Can Shape Life
- Remove corrupt practices without stigmatizing people associated with a geography.
Teach It Back
Explain Zechariah 5:11's contribution to Zechariah 5:5-11: names Shinar as the destination where a house and base will be prepared for the ephah. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Zechariah 5:5-11 — Wickedness Contained and Carried to ShinarSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Repository, rival shrine, ironic home, and imperial critique readings differ.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Zechariah 5:5-11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Zechariah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker changes, repeated formulas, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zech.xml, 5:5-11
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Zechariah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and canonical-reception notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Zechariah PDF, printed pp. 1792, translation and notes on 5:5-11
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Zechariah
Rex Mason
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, Persian and later horizons, literary boundaries, composition, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Mason, 'Zechariah,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 612-613, discussion of 5:5-11
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
Exploring Zechariah, Volume 2: The Development and Role of Biblical Traditions in Zechariah
Mark J. Boda
SBL Press, Ancient Near East Monographs 17, 2017
Supports: Inner-biblical allusion, vision traditions, Persian and Babylon imagery, leadership, burden headings, and shepherd units.
Exact location: Boda, Exploring Zechariah, Volume 2, printed pp. 17-38 and 83-100, chapters 2 and 5 on Persia, Babylon, and visionary traditions
Open source ↗