The WOMAN in The BASKET ~ ZECHARIAH 5:7

And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead:

and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the EPHAH.

 [* The Ephah: a measuring-basket for grains,  used in Commerce ]

LITERAL HEBREW:

And behold,  a KIKKAR of lead, (a round weight and / or a  LARGE unit of money**), was being lifted up and this (she) was one woman --- a collective, unified “one” --- sitting in the midst of the measuring- basket.

** Early Christian writers interpreted KIKKAR as a unit of money. Hence, the KJV translators used "talent" in their version. See note on KIKKAR at the end of this analysis.

  וְהִנֵּ֛ה כִּכַּ֥ר עֹפֶ֖רֶת נִשֵּׂ֑את וְזֹאת֙ אִשָּׁ֣ה אַחַ֔ת יֹושֶׁ֖בֶת בְּתֹ֥וךְ הָאֵיפָֽה׃

ANALYSIS 

All the nouns in this verse are Feminine singular : Kikkar, lead, woman, measuring-basket.  

The verbs are in participial form and they are both Feminine singular: was being lifted up ( a Niphal , which indicates passive voice )  and sitting ( a Qal, simple , active ). 

The adjective “one” is also written in the Feminine form. It is singular but is a COLLECTIVE adjective, derived from the root: unify. 

 ** Note on KIKKAR: Courtesy of BIBLEHUB.COM

 https://www.biblehub.com/hebrew/3603.htm

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

** b. a particular unit of weight, talent, usually of gold or silver: — זָהָבּ׳כ 2 Samuel 12:30; 2 Kings 9:14 18t.; כֶּסֶף ׳כ 1 Kings 20:39; 2 Kings 5:5 21t.; but also of iron, בַּרְזֶל 1 Chronicles 29:7, and bronze נְחשֶׁת Exodus 38:29; 1 Chronicles 29:7. — The weight of the talent was 58.944 kilograms (= 129.97 lbs.) according to older (Babylonian) standard, later 49.11 king (= 108.29 lbs.) and less; see Benz^{Archaeology 187 ff.}194Now^{Archaeology i. 208 f.} — See also שֶׁקֶל.

INTERPRETATION

There are TWO distinct pictures Zechariah envisioned in this ONE VERSE.

The first one was a MOVING picture .  In MOVEMENT was a round weight of lead and / or a unit of money and it was simply there, and being lifted up in readiness, it seems.  

It does not state EXACTLY WHERE this Kikkar was coming from, but it was indeed MOVING right along. Scripture does not state WHAT or WHO was causing it to move.

 Perhaps it was being lifted up from the earth because the Hebrew word for “lead” is not just a simple noun. It is an active participle, Feminine, used as a noun. 

See Strong’s 5777.  It comes from the root “to be dust ,” Strong’s 6080 and 6083. 

There is a strong earthly connection between this kikkar of lead with its root of dust, gray dust, earth, or mud. 

The second event Zechariah saw  and related in this verse is that of a woman . . . ONE woman, a female “Echad” ( in Feminine form: echat ). 

The word, ECHAD adds a PECULIAR DETAIL to the picture of a woman inside a basket. 

The root of ECHAD is to unify. 

That is: parts are acting as a whole unit. This is the reason the Feminine Echad, “echat” is singularly and peculiarly used for this creature, personified as a woman. 

She was not just “a” woman; Hebrew has no indefinite articles ( i.e., no “a” or “an” ). 

She was being described as a collective noun, an entity made of several parts, unified together in the appearance as a whole, as a UNIT. 

Why would Scriptures describe this woman-creature as being a collective , unified “one” ?

Has the earth seen evidence 

of this “collective” woman-creature  yet . . . 
in the global activity of COMMERCE   ?

+  +  +

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