Zechariah 4

Then the angel who had been talking with me came back and woke me up, the way you wake a man out of his sleep.

1And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,

NoteThis is one of a linked series of night visions running through chapters 1–6, and the same angel has been guiding Zechariah through all of them. Being "woken" suggests the state between visions was something like sleep or a trance rather than ordinary rest.

2He said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I have looked, and I see a lampstand made entirely of gold. It has a bowl on top of it, seven lamps set on it, and seven spouts feeding the seven lamps on top.

2And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

NoteThe lampstand is the type that stood in Israel's sanctuary: a stand of solid gold holding seven oil lamps. A lamp of the period was a small open container of olive oil with a wick at its lip, not a candle, the King James "candlestick" is misleading. The "spouts" (King James "pipes") are the channels through which oil ran from the bowl to feed each flame. The Hebrew is compressed and may mean seven spouts in all, or seven to each of the seven lamps.

3There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left."

3And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

NoteOlive oil was the fuel these lamps burned. Trees standing beside the lampstand would supply it directly, with no picking, pressing, or storing in between.

4So I spoke up and asked the angel who was talking with me, "What are these, my lord?"

4So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Note"My lord" here is ordinary polite address to a superior, the way one would speak to an official, not a title for God.

5The angel who was talking with me answered, "Don't you know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord."

5Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

6Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, and not by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Armies.

6Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

NoteZerubbabel was a grandson of Jehoiachin, one of the last kings of Judah. Under Persian rule he was appointed governor of the province of Judah and led the community that had returned from exile in Babylon; rebuilding the temple was his responsibility. "LORD" printed in capitals stands for God's personal name in Hebrew, which Jewish tradition avoided pronouncing aloud. "LORD of Armies" renders the older "LORD of hosts": "hosts" meant armies, here the armies of heaven, not human troops.

7Who are you, great mountain? In front of Zerubbabel you will flatten out into level ground. And he will bring out the top stone of the building while people shout, 'Grace, grace to it!'"

7Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

NoteA "great mountain" is a figure for an obstacle too big to move; flattening it into level ground means clearing the way. The "top stone" (King James "headstone") is the last stone set in place, the one whose laying marked a building as finished; the ceremony was public and noisy. "Grace, grace to it" is a shout of acclamation over that stone. The word translated "grace" means favor or goodwill, something given freely rather than earned.

8Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said:

8Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

9"Zerubbabel's hands laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.

9The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

Note"This house" is the temple in Jerusalem. The earlier temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC; the returned exiles laid a foundation for its replacement around 536 BC, and then the work stalled for roughly sixteen years. Zechariah is speaking around 520 BC, when building had just restarted.

10For who has looked down on the day of small beginnings? They will be glad when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand, those seven. They are the eyes of the LORD, which range back and forth across the whole earth."

10For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Note"The day of small things" points to how modest the new temple looked beside the one it replaced; older people who remembered the first building are said to have wept at the sight of the new foundation. A plumb line is a weighted stone hung on a cord, used by builders to check that a wall is going up truly vertical. Holding one means the work is actually in hand. The Hebrew phrase is literally "the stone, the tin," and its exact sense is uncertain. "Those seven" is left unexplained; the Hebrew sentence is compressed and its parts can be linked in more than one way, so it is not certain whether the seven eyes are the ones who rejoice, or what they are watching.

11Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left side?"

11Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

12I asked him again, "What are these two olive branches, beside the two gold pipes that pour out the golden oil?"

12And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

Note"Golden oil" is literally "the gold" in Hebrew, olive oil is golden in color, and the phrase runs the color and the substance together.

13He answered me, "Don't you know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord."

13And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

14Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth."

14Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.

Note"Anointed ones" is literally "sons of oil." Pouring olive oil over someone's head was the ceremony that installed him in office; kings and high priests were installed this way, which is why the word carries the sense of an officially commissioned man. The text does not say who the two are. The two leading figures in Zechariah's own day were Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, who appears in chapter 3.