ZECHARIAH 5:3 ~ The CURSE of the FLYING SCROLL

Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

Now, this verse has some strange wording in it in the Hebrew  . . and thus, it has been open to extrapolated translations --- translations with words and concepts added into this verse ---  according to the mind-set of the ones translating it. 

Here is the LITERAL HEBREW of Zechariah 5:3. 

And then he was saying unto me, “This (she) is The Curse going forth over the faces of all the earth, for all stealing was purged out from here, like her, and all swearing [ swearing on himself 7 times ] was purged  out from here, like her.” 

HEBREW GRAMMAR ANALYSIS: 

And then he was saying unto me = 

This common phrase in Hebrew is found throughout the Old Testament and is translated in the past. 

Literally, it is Qal IMPERFECT form, which means the action has NOT been completed.

This (she) = feminine singular ; properly “this” as a demonstrative pronoun but also translated as “she” , according to Strong’s #2063. 

The FEMININE gender of this particular “this” is lost to English readers unless a Feminine pronoun is included, hence “she” in parenthesis. The Feminine pronoun is required to make sense to English readers  for the translation of the rest of this verse.

[ is ] = the “understood” verb in this grammatical construction

The Curse = Feminine singular 

going forth = Qal active participle, Feminine singular   

over the faces of all the earth = “faces” is plural but traditionally , translators have rendered it in the plural, for some reason. 

for all stealing = Qal active  participle, MASCULINE singular. This participle has "the" affixed to the beginning of it. 


The trouble is, this participle is singular, yet the word "ALL" indicates more than one in English thought and idiom. Its form in Hebrew is singular, though.

Hence, the verbs referring to "all the stealing [ ones] " are in the singular form , as well.

 

on this side according to it; = not in the Hebrew text

In this place in the verse, six words were added by extrapolation to the English translation of  this verse, but they are NOT in the Hebrew text. 

Instead, the Hebrew text at this place has TWO words, loosely called prepositional phrases: MiZZeH  KaMOh-Ha 

Here is what those two words mean:

The FIRST word is MiZZeH.  It is composed of a beginning preposition attached to the word: M- and that means “from” . 

The preposition “from-“ is attached to ZeH. 

ZeH has two meanings. One meaning is "this"; the other meaning is   “here”, an adverb.

The FIRST meaning, much more common for ZeH = “this”.  However, this particular “this” is a masculine singular demonstrative pronoun.  Being in MASCULINE FORM causes a problem in this verse.

ZeH, being a masculine pronoun, can NOT then be in reference to the Curse nor to the Flying Scroll because BOTH of those nouns are Feminine.

  

Thus, we CANNOT use ZeH as "this"  in this verse.

  

The ADVERB MEANING  of "ZeH"  MUST BE USED TO KEEP THE INTEGRITY OF THE GRAMMAR. So, ZeH is literally translated as :   “from here” ( place or location ) or “henceforth” ( time-wise) for MiZZeH . 

from here or henceforth    [ Some English translators “henceforth” in the place of “from here”, establishing a time element instead of a place or location. ] [ SEE: pg. 262, Paragraph 6, Section e; The New BDB- Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon, Hendrickson, 1979.]

like her ~

 This phrase comes from the second word in this phrase, coming directly after “from here” or “henceforth”.  

This second word in the Hebrew phrase is KaMOh-Ha.  KaMOh means “as, like, or when.” Some translate KaMOh as “according to”, but it MEANS “as, like, or when”. [ SEE: pg. 455,  The New BDB Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon, Hendrickson, 1979. ] 

This word has a FEMININE ending on it = “-Ha” . Which, when translated literally, means: “ like her” .

This makes sense because the “her” Feminine ending refers grammatically  back to the Curse --- which is also Feminine --- in the beginning of this verse.

was purged out = Nif’al, PERFECT, 3^rd person masculine singular. 

This traditionally refers to the one stealing who is listed  three words previously in the same verse. Thus, the one stealing, he shall be cut off.

 Nif’al’s are passive. The problem with “shall be cut off” is that this English translation does NOT necessarily reflect a completed, “perfect” action which is  indicated in the Hebrew verb form. 

However, translators call a PERFECT verb in a prophetic passage a “prophetic Perfect” and take the liberty to translate that verb into the FUTURE instead of the past, as all completed actions would be translated. 

Translators put such a “prophetic Perfect” verb into the future tense, like this:  shall be cut off   for English readers, even though the Grammar states it in the completed form ( i.e., past ) like this: was purged out.

The LITERAL translation of a Passive Perfect ( Nif’al) would be : was purged out .

and all swearing by himself ; to seven oneself, i.e., to swear by oneself = Nif’al participle, masculine, singular

from here, like her = The Curse ( Feminine antecedent); Hebrew Grammar same as above phrases.

on that side according to it = not in the Hebrew text.

Hebrew does have a few words which mean “side”, but they are not used here. Instead, there is the same  phrase as found earlier in this verse. 

So, the LITERAL translation should be something like this: 

And then he was saying unto me, “ This [she] is the Curse going forth over the faces of all the earth , for all [ everyone ] stealing  WAS PURGED OUT from  here [ henceforth ] like her [ the curse ] and all  [ everyone ] swearing by himself  WAS PURGED OUT  from here [ henceforth ] like her [ the curse ].”

The next question is, then, WHERE did all the ones stealing and swearing by themselves GO  when they were purged out ? 

Furthermore, if “henceforth” is selected as the translation instead of “from here” ( a location ) , there is a TIME element added because “henceforth” means from this time on.

+  +  +

JESUS saith unto him, 

I+, I AM,  the Way, the Truth, and the Life: 

no man cometh unto THE FATHER,

 but by ME+. 

John 14:6