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Zechariah 4
New American Standard Bible

The Golden Lampstand and the Olive Trees

4 Then (A)the angel who had been speaking with me returned and (B)woke me, like a person who is awakened from his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “(C)What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a (D)lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its (E)seven lamps on it with seven [a]spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; 3 also (F)two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.” 4 Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, “What are these, (G)my lord?” 5 So (H)the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “(I)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to [b]me, “This is the word of the Lord to (J)Zerubbabel, saying, ‘(K)Not by might nor by power, but by My (L)Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies. 7 ‘What are you, you great (M)mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with (N)shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

8 Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have (O)laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will (P)finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent me to [c]you. 10 For who has shown contempt for the day of (Q)small things? [d]But these (R)seven will rejoice when they see the [e](S)plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—they are the (T)eyes of the Lord (U)roaming throughout the earth.”

11 Then I said to him, “What are these (V)two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?” 12 And I responded the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive [f]branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” 13 So he answered me, saying, “(W)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, (X)my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two [g](Y)anointed ones, who are (Z)standing by the (AA)Lord of the whole earth.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 4:2 Or reeds
  2. Zechariah 4:6 Lit me, saying
  3. Zechariah 4:9 Lit you (plural)
  4. Zechariah 4:10 Or But they will rejoice when they see...Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the Lord
  5. Zechariah 4:10 Lit plummet stone
  6. Zechariah 4:12 Or clusters
  7. Zechariah 4:14 Lit sons of fresh oil
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Zechariah 4
Complete Jewish Bible

4 Then the angel that had been speaking with me returned and roused me, as if he were waking someone up from being asleep, 2 and asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I’ve been looking at a menorah; it’s all of gold, with a bowl at its top, seven lamps on it, and seven tubes leading to the lamps at its top. 3 Next to it are two olive trees, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 I then asked the angel speaking with me, “What are these, my Lord?” The angel speaking with me said, 5 “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my Lord.” 6 Then he answered me, “This is the word of Adonai to Z’rubavel: ‘Not by force, and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Adonai-Tzva’ot. 7 ‘What are you, you big mountain? Before Z’rubavel you will become a plain; and he will put the capstone in place, as everyone shouts, “It’s beautiful! Beautiful!”’ 8 This message from Adonai came to me: 9 ‘The hands of Z’rubavel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will also finish it.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot sent me to you. 10 For even someone who doesn’t think much of a day when such minor events take place will rejoice at seeing the plumbline in the hand of Z’rubavel. So these seven are the eyes of Adonai that range about over all the earth.”

11 I replied by asking him, “What are those two olive trees on the right and left sides of the menorah?” 12 Then I asked the question again: “What are those two olive branches discharging gold[-colored oil] through the two gold spouts?” 13 He replied, “Don’t you know what they are?” I answered, “No, my Lord.” 14 He said, “Those are the two who have been anointed with oil; they are standing with the Lord of all the land.”

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Zechariah 4
New English Translation

Vision Five: The Menorah

4 The angelic messenger[a] who had been speaking with me then returned and woke me, as a person is wakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied,[b] “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top. There are seven lamps at the top, with seven[c] pipes going to the lamps. 3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.”[d] 4 Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, “What are these,[e] sir?” 5 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” So I responded, “No, sir.” 6 Therefore he told me, “This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’[f] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Oracle of Response

7 “What are you, you great mountain?[g] Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple[h] capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’[i] because of this.” 8 Moreover, the Lord’s message came to me as follows: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple,[j] and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me to you. 10 For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes[k] will joyfully look on the tin tablet[l] in Zerubbabel’s hand. These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.”

11 Next I asked the messenger, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the menorah?” 12 Before he could reply I asked again, “What are these two extensions[m] of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?” 13 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” And I said, “No, sir.” 14 So he said, “These are the two anointed ones[n] who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 4:1 tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in 1:9.
  2. Zechariah 4:2 tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”
  3. Zechariah 4:2 tc The MT, supported by a Qumran manuscript, reads “seven and seven,” which would be fourteen. But Hebrew normally says “four and ten.” The LXX simply reads “seven,” suggesting the MT has a case of dittography.
  4. Zechariah 4:3 sn The vision apparently describes two olive trees providing olive oil by pipes to a large basin atop the menorah. From this basin two pipes extend to each of the seven lamps of the menorah, for a total of fourteen pipes in all. See vv. 11-12.
  5. Zechariah 4:4 sn Here these must refer to the lamps, since the identification of the olive trees is left to vv. 11-14.
  6. Zechariah 4:6 sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).
  7. Zechariah 4:7 sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).
  8. Zechariah 4:7 tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).
  9. Zechariah 4:7 sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).
  10. Zechariah 4:9 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).
  11. Zechariah 4:10 tn Heb “these seven.” Eyes are clearly intended in the ellipsis as v. 10b shows. As in 3:9 the idea is God’s omniscience. He who knows the end from the beginning rejoices at the completion of his purposes.
  12. Zechariah 4:10 tn This term is traditionally translated “plumb line” (so NASB, NIV, NLT; cf. KJV, NRSV “plummet”), but it is more likely that the Hebrew בְּדִיל (bedil) is to be derived not from בָּדַל (badal), “to divide,” but from a root meaning “tin.” This finds support in the ancient Near Eastern custom of placing inscriptions on tin plates in dedicatory foundation deposits.
  13. Zechariah 4:12 tn The usual meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁבֹּלֶת (shebolet) is “ears” (as in ears of grain). Here it probably refers to the produce of the olive trees, i.e., olives. Many English versions render the term as “branches,” but cf. NAB “tufts.”
  14. Zechariah 4:14 tn The usual word for “anointed (one),” מָשִׁיַח (mashiakh), is not used here but rather בְנֵי־הַיִּצְהָר (vene hayyitshar), literally, “sons of fresh oil.” This is to maintain consistency with the imagery of olive trees. In the immediate context these two olive trees should be identified with Joshua and Zerubbabel, the priest and the governor. Only the high priest and king were anointed for office in the OT and these two were respectively the descendants of Aaron and David.
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