Zechariah 4:3
in Zechariah 4There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
KJV
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
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This verse in Zechariah 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseZechariah shows that the olive shadows forth the law of Moses, speaking thus: "And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and said to me, 'What do you see?'
This site's exposition
woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep
on Zechariah 4:1-3
He sees “a solid gold lampstand” with “a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it”, and “two olive trees beside it”. The lampstand recalls the tabernacle's own, while Keil takes the bowl and spouts as a continuous supply fed from the living trees.
This site's exposition
two olive trees beside it
Wesley read the two olive trees as the LORD's grace, oil flowing freely from living trees to the lamps. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown saw the Holy Spirit in the trees, the Spirit who filled Jesus at John 3:34. Both readings trace the oil to the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Awakening2 voices
Two olive-trees by it - All which is an emblem of the church, made of pure gold; to be a light in the world; to shine as lamps that continually burn, maintained with pure oil, distilled from the olive-trees, not pressed out by man, but continually, abundantly, and freely flowing from God.
And the two olive trees by it,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Holy Spirit in this His twofold power of applying to man the grace of the atonement, and that of sanctification, must in one point of view be meant by the two olive trees which supply the bowl at the top of the candlestick (that is, Messiah at the head of the Church); for it is He who filled Jesus with all the fulness of His unction (Joh 3:34).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
two olive trees--supplying oil to the bowl. The Holy Ghost, who fills with His fulness Messiah (the anointed: the "bowl"), from whom flow supplies of grace to the Church. by it--literally, "upon it," that is, growing so as somewhat to overtop it.
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2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁנַ֥יִם | ushenayim | and two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| זֵיתִ֖ים | zeitim | olive trees | H2132 → | 38 times |
| עָלֶ֑יהָ | ʾaleiha | [were] at it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֶחָד֙ | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| מִימִ֣ין | mimin | from [the] right [side] of | H3225 → | 140 times |
| הַגֻּלָּ֔ה | hagulah | the bowl | H1543 → | |
| וְאֶחָ֖ד | veechad | and one | H259 → | 971 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׂמֹאלָֽהּ׃ | semolah | left [side] its | H8040 → | 54 times |
וּשְׁנַ֥יִםand two
ushenayimH8147 →768 times
זֵיתִ֖יםolive trees
zeitimH2132 →38 times
עָלֶ֑יהָ[were] at it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
אֶחָד֙one
ʾechadH259 →971 times
מִימִ֣יןfrom [the] right [side] of
miminH3225 →140 times
הַגֻּלָּ֔הthe bowl
hagulahH1543 →
וְאֶחָ֖דand one
veechadH259 →971 times
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׂמֹאלָֽהּ׃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
Romans 11:17Now 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,
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 2:11–13
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Jeremiah 11:16
Through
Zechariah 4:14So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
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.
- Isaiah 61:1–3
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
- Revelation 11:4
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.
- Zechariah 4:11–14
Where this verse is studied
About Zechariah
This page draws on 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Methodius of Olympus, BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10:6.