Zechariah 4:12

Zechariah 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
• New International Version (NIV)Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And a second time I answered and said to him, "What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”

Context of Zechariah 4:12

10Everyone should know that the day of small things is important. Men will see Zerubbabel. Then they will sing and they will be happy. They will see him with a line in his hand to measure the walls. The Lord sees everything in the whole earth. (The seven lights are the seven eyes of the Lord.) 11Then I said to the angel, ‘What are these two olive trees that stand on the right and on the left of the lampstand?’ A second time I spoke to the angel, ‘What are these two branches of the olive trees? They are next to the gold pipes and oil comes from those pipes.’ 13The angel replied, ‘Do you not know what these olive trees mean?’ ‘No, my lord,’ I said. 14So the angel said, ‘These are the two men that the Lord of all the earth has chosen to be his servants.’

Zechariah 4:12 word by word

וָאַ֣עַן שֵׁנִ֔ית וָאֹמַ֖ר אֵלָ֑יו מַה־שְׁתֵּ֞י שִׁבֲּלֵ֣י הַזֵּיתִ֗ים אֲשֶׁר֙ בְּיַ֗ד שְׁנֵי֙ צַנְתְּר֣וֹת הַזָּהָ֔ב הַֽמְרִיקִ֥ים מֵעֲלֵיהֶ֖ם הַזָּהָֽב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And I answeredעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
• againשֵׁנִיshênîy · secondH8145
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• oliveזַ֫יִתzayith · oliveH2132
• branchesשִׁבֹּ֫לֶתshibbôl shibbôleth · earH7641
• which throughיָדyâd · hand: toH3027
• goldenזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• pipesצַנְתְּרוֹתtsantârâh · pipeH6804
• emptyרִיקrûq · to emptyH7324

Cross-references for Zechariah 4:12

• Matthew 20:23Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will have pain and trouble like mine. But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. My Father God has chosen the people who will sit there. He has prepared the places for those people.’
• Revelation 11:4These servants are the two olive trees and the two lampstands. They stand in front of God who is the Lord of the earth.
• Haggai 1:1The Lord spoke his message to Haggai, his prophet. At that time, Darius was king of Persia. He had been king for 1 year and five months. On the first day of the next month, the Lord told Haggai to speak to Zerubbabel, Judah's ruler, and to Joshua, the leader of God's priests. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. Joshua was the son of Jehozadak. This was the Almighty Lord's message: ‘Judah's people say that this is not the right time to build a temple for me.’

Commentaries on Zechariah 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12What be these two olive branches - That is, two boughs laden with branches of olive berries.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12What are the two spikes of the olive? - Comparing the extreme branches of the olive-tree, laden with their fruit, to the ears of corn, which “were by or in the hand of the golden pipes, which empty forth the golden oil from themselves.” Zechariah‘s expression, in the hand of or, if so be, by the hand of the two pipes, shows that these two were symbols of living agents, for it is nowhere, used except of a living agent, or of that which it personified as…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-14Verses 11-14 Zechariah desires to know what are the two olive trees. Zerubbabel and Joshua, this prince and this priest, were endued with the gifts and graces of God's Spirit. They lived at the same time, and both were instruments in the work and service of God. Christ's offices of King and Priest were shadowed forth by them. From the union of these two offices in his person, both God and man, the fullness of grace is received and imparted. They built the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-14This vision shows that God, through his Spirit, would help Zerubbabel and Jeshua rebuild the temple.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 11-1211-12. Zechariah three times (Zec 4:4, 11, 12) asks as to the two olives before he gets an answer; the question becomes more minute each time. What he at first calls "two olive trees," he afterwards calls "branches," as on closer looking he observes that the "branches" of the trees are the channels through which a continual flow of oil dropped into the bowl of the lamps (Zec 4:2), and that this is the purpose for which the two olive trees stand beside the…Read the comment

Topics related to Zechariah 4:12

• Olive
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Angel
• Olivetree
• Wake
• Bible, the
• Branch ;bough
• Dead
• Joshua (3)
• Waterfall
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Zechariah 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings