Zechariah 4:4
in Zechariah 4“What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
KJV
So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
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This verse in Zechariah 4
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Osorius: “Awakened from his state of sleep, even thus the prophet seemed slowly to understand what was shown him. He asks then of the instructing angel. The angel, almost amazed, asks if he knowns it not, and when he plainly declares his ignorance, makes clear the enigma of the vision.”
This site's exposition
I asked the angel who was speaking with me
on Zechariah 4:4-5
Zechariah asks the plain question, “What are these, my lord?”, and the angel answers with a question of his own. That question, “Do you not know what they are?”, comes again before the chapter ends. Gill compares the visions of Daniel, which an interpreting angel also opens to the prophet.
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
The angel lets the prophet know, in general, that this vision was designed to illustrate a word which the Lord had to say to Zerubbabel, to encourage him to go on with the building of the temple. Let him know that he is a worker together with God in it, and that it is a work which God will own and crown.
So I answered, and spake to the angel that talked with me,.... The same that awoke him out of sleep, and asked him what he saw: saying, What are these, my lord? that is, what do they signify? what do they represent? or what are they emblems of? for he knew what they were; that they were a candlestick, and two olive trees; but he was desirous of knowing what the meaning of them were.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאַ֙עַן֙ | vaaan | and I answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וָֽאֹמַ֔ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמַּלְאָ֛ךְ | hamalakh | the angel | H4397 → | 213 times |
| הַדֹּבֵ֥ר | hadover | who was speaking | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בִּ֖י | bi | with me | ||
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מָה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אֵ֖לֶּה | ʾeleh | [are] these | H428 → | 746 times |
| אֲדֹנִֽי׃ | ʾadoni | O lord my | H113 → | 333 times |
וָאַ֙עַן֙and I answered
vaaanH6030 →331 times
וָֽאֹמַ֔רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמַּלְאָ֛ךְthe angel
hamalakhH4397 →213 times
הַדֹּבֵ֥רwho was speaking
hadoverH1696 →1141 times
בִּ֖יwith me
bi
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
מָה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
אֵ֖לֶּה[are] these
ʾelehH428 →746 times
אֲדֹנִֽי׃O lord my
ʾadoniH113 →333 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
Zechariah 6:4So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
it leads to
- Zechariah 1:9
“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 1:9
Through
Zechariah 1:9“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
it leads to
- Revelation 7:13–14
Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?”
- Zechariah 4:4–5
“What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
- Revelation 7:13–14
Through
Zechariah 1:19So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
it leads to
- Zechariah 1:21
“What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them…
- Zechariah 8:14
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Just as I resolved to bring disaster upon you when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the LORD of…
- Zechariah 2:2
“Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “and to determine its width and length.”
- Ezra 4:4
Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.
- Zechariah 1:21
Through
Daniel 12:8I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
it leads to
- Acts 1:7
Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
- Acts 1:7
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.