What Does Zechariah 5:11 Mean in the King James?
And 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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The sealed figure is not erased; wickedness is given an address, a structure, and a base in Shinar.
THE MEANING
A thing held under a lid is not thereby erased. In this vision, the figure called Wickedness is given a house in Shinar and set on a base of her own; containment becomes settlement, with a place and footing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that sealing something away means it has ceased to exist dissolves here: the figure is relocated and established, not erased.
THE ROOT
וְהוּכַן
wə-hûḵan
GROWS FROM
כון
kûn
To be firm, established, or prepared.
English separates “established” from “base,” but the Hebrew forms come from the same root: what is made firm and the place on which it stands belong to one word-family. Wickedness is not merely carried away; she is given a prepared place and her own footing.
ALSO GROWS
mekûnâ: A base, stand, or established place.
מְכוּנָה
The verse’s “own base” comes from the same root as “established,” joining her stability to the ground beneath her.
hēkîn: To prepare or establish something.
הֵכִין
This branch gives “established” the added shade of being made ready and set in place.
וְהֻנִּיחָה
wə-hunnîḥāh
GROWS FROM
נוח
nûaḥ
To rest, settle, or be brought to rest.
English’s “set” sounds static, but this Hebrew form belongs to the root of resting and settling. The figure is placed in a destination; the vision’s final movement is arrival and emplacement.
ALSO GROWS
hēnîaḥ: To place something down or cause it to rest.
הֵנִיחַ
This verb form makes the verse’s placement concrete: she is set down in a particular place.
menûḥāh: A place of rest or settling.
מְנוּחָה
This branch echoes the destination in the verse: Wickedness is settled somewhere with a house and a base.
THE PATTERN
What is contained can still be given a dwelling, and what is given a dwelling can become an established order.
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.THE THREAD
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.Genesis uses the same root בנה (bānâ, “build”) as Zechariah’s “to build,” and the surrounding passage places that building in Shinar. Genesis shows people constructing a city and tower there; Zechariah’s vision gives Wickedness a house there, joining the two passages through both root and place.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us