Zechariah 4:2
in Zechariah 4“What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and, behold, a candlestick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top thereof;
KJV
And 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:
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This verse in Zechariah 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA candlestick all of gold - This candlestick is formed in some measure after that of the sanctuary, Exo 25:31, Exo 25:32: but in that of the sanctuary there was no bowl, nor seven pipes, nor seven lamps, nor the two olive trees. The two olive trees were to supply the bowl with oil; the bowl was to communicate the oil to the seven pipes; and the seven pipes were to supply the seven lamps.
This site's exposition
waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep
on Zechariah 4:1-3
The angel returns and rouses the prophet as a man is roused from sleep, and what he sees is a lampstand of gold with a bowl on top feeding oil through seven pipes to seven lamps, with two olive trees standing beside it. The bench reads the lampstand as the tabernacle's own menorah, the church or the covenant people cast as a light bearer, but here supplied automatically from living trees rather than by a priest's hand pouring oil in morning by morning. Keil takes the bowl and pipes as a continuous, self-feeding supply, the picture the vision builds toward before the angel ever explains it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Behold the seven horns of the Lamb, the seven eyes of God -the seven eyes are the seven spirits of the Lamb; seven torches burning before the throne of God seven golden candlesticks, seven young sheep, the seven women in Isaiah, the seven churches in Paul, seven deacons, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven seals to the book, seven periods of seven days with which Pentecost is completed, the seven weeks in Daniel, also the forty-three weeks in Daniel; with Noah, seven of all clean things in the ark; seven revenges of Cain, seven years for a debt to be acquitted, the lamp with seven orifices, seven pillars of wisdom in the house of Solomon.
(V. 2 onwards.) And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a golden lampstand, and its lamp on top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven pipes to the lamps that are on top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the lampstand and one on its left.' Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, 'What are these, my lord?'
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And said unto me, What seest thou?....
It was by the same Spirit that the heart of Darius was inclined to favour and further that good work and that the sworn enemies of it were infatuated in their councils, so that they could not hinder it as they designed.
When he was awake perhaps he would not have taken notice of what was presented to his view if he had not thus been excited to look about him. When he observed he saw a golden candlestick, such a one as was in the temple formerly, and with the like this temple should in due time be furnished.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew implies that it was the fountain of supply of oil to the lamps. Christ at the head ("on the top") of the Church is the true fountain, of whose fulness of the Spirit all we receive grace (Joh 1:16). his seven lamps--united in one stem; so in Ex 25:32.
THE Prophet, as he tells us in the introduction to His vision, had to be awakened by the angel as one is awakened out of his sleep. His mind was dull and heavy. Perhaps he was weary and worn out. Do you not often feel a similar lethargy from which you need to be awakened before your mind is equal to the study of those Truths which God is revealing to your soul?
THE Prophet, as he tells us in the introduction to His vision, had to be awakened by the angel as one is awakened out of his sleep. His mind was dull and heavy. Perhaps he was weary and worn out. Do you not often feel a similar lethargy from which you need to be awakened before your mind is equal to the study of those Truths which God is revealing to your soul? May it not, then, be well, at the commencement of our meditation, to pray the Lord to awaken us as a man is awakened out of his sleep? A divinely mysterious power can brood over us and quicken us out of lethargy. Have you ever felt it? "Or ever I was aware my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib." I had been slow before, but when the Spirit came, then was fulfilled that ancient proverb, "Draw me and I will run after You." The touch of the Holy Spirit makes our faculties strong, our powers of thought are greatly enlarged and we get the key to mysteries which we never had been able to unlock before. Come, blessed Spirit, then, to each one of Your slumbering children at this good hour and awaken us, that we may see what You would set before us! Like young Samuel, whom You called in his sleep, we would, each one, heartily say, " Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears." Beloved Friends, we live in a world which is naturally shrouded in darkness. The "Prince of this world," "the Prince of the power of the air" is a dark spirit loving ignorance and sin! This darkness hovers over all the world as it did over Egypt—a darkness that might be felt is upon the souls of men! We sometimes fear that this gloom will thicken into an awful midnight.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold - The candlestick is the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle Exo 25:31, but with variations purposely introduced to symbolize the fuller and more constant supply of the oil, itself the symbol of God’s Holy Spirit, who: “Enables with perpetual light The dullness of our blinded sight.” The first variation is “her bowl on the top of the candlestick,” containing the oil; then (as dependent on this) the pipes to derive the oil into each lamp, “seven several pipes to the seven lamps,” that is, seven to each; and the two olive trees on either side of the bowl, whose extreme and fine branches poured through two golden pipes the golden oil into the bowl which supplied the lamp. The multiplied conduits imply the large and perfect supply of oil unceasingly supplied, the seven being symbolic of perfection or of the reconciling of God (symbolized by 3) unto the world (symbolized by 4, its four quarters); the spontaneous flow of the golden oil from the olive trees symbolizes the free gift of God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
with its oil - bowl on top of it as in (Josh.:19): “The upper springs”. This is an expression for a spring, [hence] a sort of large round bowl.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מָ֥ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| רֹאֶ֑ה | roeh | seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וָאֹמַ֡ר | vaiyomer | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| רָאִ֣יתִי׀ | raiti | I see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| מְנוֹרַת֩ | menorat | a lampstand of | H4501 → | |
| זָהָ֨ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| כֻּלָּ֜הּ | kulah | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| וְגֻלָּ֣הּ | vegulah | and a bowl | H1543 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹאשָׁ֗הּ | roshah | top its | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וְשִׁבְעָ֤ה | veshivah | and seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| נֵרֹתֶ֙יהָ֙ | neroteiha | lamps its | H5216 → | |
| עָלֶ֔יהָ | ʾaleiha | [are] on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שִׁבְעָ֤ה | shivah | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| וְשִׁבְעָה֙ | veshivah | and seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| מֽוּצָק֔וֹת | mutzakot | pipes | H4166 → | |
| לַנֵּר֖וֹת | lanerot | [belong] to the lamps | H5216 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [are] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֹאשָֽׁהּ׃ | roshah | top its | H7218 → | 599 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
מָ֥הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
אַתָּ֖ה[are] you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
רֹאֶ֑הseeing
roehH7200 →1300 times
וָאֹמַ֡רand I said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
רָאִ֣יתִי׀I see
raitiH7200 →1300 times
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
מְנוֹרַת֩a lampstand of
menoratH4501 →
זָהָ֨בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
כֻּלָּ֜הּall of it
kulahH3605 →5413 times
וְגֻלָּ֣הּand a bowl
vegulahH1543 →
עַל־[is] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֹאשָׁ֗הּtop its
roshahH7218 →599 times
וְשִׁבְעָ֤הand seven
veshivahH7651 →394 times
נֵרֹתֶ֙יהָ֙lamps its
neroteihaH5216 →
עָלֶ֔יהָ[are] on it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
שִׁבְעָ֤הseven
shivahH7651 →394 times
וְשִׁבְעָה֙and seven
veshivahH7651 →394 times
מֽוּצָק֔וֹתpipes
mutzakotH4166 →
לַנֵּר֖וֹת[belong] to the lamps
lanerotH5216 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עַל־[are] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֹאשָֽׁהּ׃top its
roshahH7218 →599 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 4:5From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven Spirits of God.
it leads to
- Revelation 11:19
Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake,…
- Revelation 8:5
Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; and there were peals of thunder, and rumblings, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
- Revelation 1:4
John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne,
- Revelation 5:6
Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven…
- Revelation 16:17–18
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, “It is done!”
- Revelation 11:19
Through
Revelation 1:12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,
it leads to
- Exodus 25:37
Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it.
- Revelation 1:20
This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands…
- Revelation 1:13
and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash around His chest.
- Exodus 25:37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
About Zechariah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1569: “The Golden Lamp and Its Goodly Lessons” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Victorinus of Pettau, On the Creation of the World.