Zakharia 4:2-10

4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, ¹  “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps. 4:3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.” ²  4:4 Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, “What are these, ³  sir?” 4:5 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” So I responded, “No, sir.” 4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ ⁴  says the Lord who rules over all.”

Oracle of Response

4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? ⁵  Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple ⁶  capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ ⁷  because of this.” 4:8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me as follows: 4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ⁸  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. 4:10 For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes ⁹  will joyfully look on the tin tablet ¹⁰  in Zerubbabel’s hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)

[4:2]  ¹ tc The present translation (along with most other English versions) follows the reading of the Qere and many ancient versions, “I said,” as opposed to the MT Kethib “he said.”

[4:3]  ² sn The vision apparently describes two olive trees providing olive oil by pipes to a large basin atop the menorah. From this basin two pipes extend to each of the seven lamps of the menorah, for a total of fourteen pipes in all. See vv. 11-12.

[4:4]  ³ sn Here these must refer to the lamps, since the identification of the olive trees is left to vv. 11-14.

[4:6]  ⁴ sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).

[4:7]  ⁵ sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).

[4:7]  ⁶ tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).

[4:7]  ⁷ sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).

[4:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “these seven.” Eyes are clearly intended in the ellipsis as v. 10b shows. As in 3:9 the idea is God’s omniscience. He who knows the end from the beginning rejoices at the completion of his purposes.

[4:10]  ¹⁰ tn This term is traditionally translated “plumb line” (so NASB, NIV, NLT; cf. KJV, NRSV “plummet”), but it is more likely that the Hebrew בְּדִיל (bÿdil) is to be derived not from בָּדַל (badal), “to divide,” but from a root meaning “tin.” This finds support in the ancient Near Eastern custom of placing inscriptions on tin plates in dedicatory foundation deposits.