Zechariah 4:11
in Zechariah 4Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then 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?
KJV
Then 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?
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This verse in Zechariah 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
What are the two olive trees on the right
on Zechariah 4:11-12
The prophet asks, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?” He asks about “the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours”. The trees supply the lampstand with no human hand refilling it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11 and following) And I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right and the left side of the lampstand?' And I answered the second time and said to him, 'What are these two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, from which the golden oil pours out?' And he said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' And he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.'
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the L ORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the L ORD of hosts. 7 Who 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.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v6-7
Then answered I, and said unto him,.... To the angel that talked with him, Zec 4:1, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof? in Zec 4:2 they are said to be on each side of the bowl. The mystery of the candlestick being explained to Zechariah by the angel, the prophet desires to know the meaning of the two olive trees that were on the right and left of it, one on one side, and the other on the other side.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
What are these two olive trees - See on Zec 4:2 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I answered and said - The vision, as a whole, had been explained to him. The prophet asks as to subordinate parts, which seemed perhaps inconsistent with the whole. If the whole imports that everything should be done by the Spirit of God, not by human power, what means it that there are these two olive-trees? And when the Angel returned no answer, to invite perhaps closer attention and a more definite question, he asks again;
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
What are these two olive trees? What do they symbolize, and what do the two olive branches ( troches in Old French) symbolize? [They are] a cluster of olives on a branch, as if a type of ear of grain.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
beside the two golden vats i.e., beside the two golden vats, as in (II Sam.:30): “See, Joab’s field is near mine.”
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאַ֖עַן | vaaan | and I answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וָאֹמַ֣ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֑יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| שְּׁנֵ֤י | shenei | [are] [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| הַזֵּיתִים֙ | hazeitim | the olive trees | H2132 → | 38 times |
| הָאֵ֔לֶה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְמִ֥ין | yemin | [the] right [side] of | H3225 → | 140 times |
| הַמְּנוֹרָ֖ה | hamenorah | the lampstand | H4501 → | |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׂמֹאולָֽהּ׃ | semolah | left [side] its | H8040 → | 54 times |
וָאַ֖עַןand I answered
vaaanH6030 →331 times
וָאֹמַ֣רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֑יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
שְּׁנֵ֤י[are] [the] two
sheneiH8147 →768 times
הַזֵּיתִים֙the olive trees
hazeitimH2132 →38 times
הָאֵ֔לֶה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְמִ֥ין[the] right [side] of
yeminH3225 →140 times
הַמְּנוֹרָ֖הthe lampstand
hamenorahH4501 →
וְעַל־and at
veal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׂמֹאולָֽהּ׃left [side] its
semolahH8040 →54 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 11:4These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
it leads to
- Zechariah 4:11–14
Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”
- Zechariah 4:2–3
“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.
- Jeremiah 11:16
The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.
- Psalms 52:8
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
- Isaiah 54:5
For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Zechariah 4:11–14
Through
Zechariah 4:3There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”
it leads to
- Revelation 11:4
These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
- Zechariah 4:14
So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
- Romans 11:17
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
- Revelation 11:4
Where this verse is studied
About Zechariah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.