Zechariah 4 commentary

ZECHARIAH 4 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees
1 Then the angel who talked with me returned
and woke me up, like someone awakened from
sleep.
BAR ES, "The angel came again - The angel (as before Zec_2:3) had gone forth
to receive some fresh instruction from a higher angel or from God.
And awakened me - As a man is awakened out of sleep. Zechariah, overwhelmed by
the greatness of the visions, must have sunk down in a sort of stupor, as after the vision
of the ram and he-goat, as Gabriel was speaking with him, Daniel says, “I was in a deep
sleep on my face toward the ground, and he touched me and set me upright” Dan_8:18;
and again at the voice of the angel, who, after his three weeks’ fast Dan_10:9, came to
declare to him Dan_10:21 the scripture of truth; and at the Transfiguration, “Peter and
they that were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they were awake, they saw His
glory.” Luk_9:32. Osorius: “Wondrous and stupendous mysteries were they which were
shown to the divine man. He saw the Branch of the Lord; he saw His invincible might;
he saw His brightness of Divine Intelligence and Providence; he saw the amplitude of
beauty and dignity. Nailed then and struck still with amazement, while he revolved these
things in his mind, sunk in a sort of sleep, he is borne out of himself and, mantled
around with darkness, understands that the secret things of Divine Wisdom cannot be
perfectly comprehended by the mind of any. This then he attained that, his senses being
overpowered, he should see nothing, save that wherein is the sum of wisdom, that this
immensity of the divine excellence cannot be searched out. By this sleep he was seized,
when he was roused by the angel to see further mysteries.”
CLARKE, "The angel - came again, and waked me - Abp. Newcome considers
this vision as represented on the same night, Zec_1:8, with the preceding ones. See the
latter part of Zec_1:10, compared with Zec_3:9. After some interval the prophet,
overpowered with the vision which had been presented to him, was awakened from his
prophetic trance as from a sleep.
GILL, "And the angel that talked with me,.... See Zec_1:9,

came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep; into
which he fell, after he had had the former vision; see Dan_8:18.
HE RY, "Here is, I. The prophet prepared to receive the discovery that was to be
made to him: The angel that talked with him came and waked him, Zec_4:1. It seems,
though he was in conference with an angel, and about matters of great and public
concern, yet he grew dull and fell asleep, as it should seem, while the angel was yet
talking with him. Thus the disciples, when they saw Christ transfigured, were heavy
with sleep, Luk_9:32. The prophet's spirit, no doubt, was willing to attend to that which
was to be seen and heard, but the flesh was weak; his body could not keep pace with his
soul in divine contemplations; the strangeness of the visions perhaps stupefied him, and
so he was overcome with sleep, or perhaps the sweetness of the visions composed him
and even sung him asleep. Daniel was in a deep sleep when he heard the voice of the
angel's words, Dan_10:9. We shall never be fit for converse with spirits till we have got
clear of these bodies of flesh. It should seem, the angel let him lose himself a little, that
he might be fresh to receive new discoveries, but then waked him, to his surprise, as a
man that is wakened out of his sleep. Note, We need the Spirit of God, not only to make
known to us divine things, but to make us take notice of them. He wakens morning by
morning, he wakens my ear, Isa_50:4. We should beg of God that, whenever he speaks
to us, he would awaken us, and we should then stir up ourselves.
JAMISO , "Zec_4:1-14. Fifth Vision. The golden candlestick and the two olive trees.
The Temple shall be completed by the aid of God’s Spirit.
waked me — The prophet was lying in a state of ecstatic slumber with astonishment
at the previous vision. “Came again, and waked me,” does not imply that the angel had
departed and now returned, but is an idiom for “waked me again.”
K&D 1-3, "Zec_4:1. “And the angel that talked with me returned and waked me, like a
man who is waked out of his sleep.” After the prophet has seen four visions one after
another, probably with very short intervals, and has heard the marvellous interpretation
of them, he is so overpowered by the impression produced by what he has seen and
heard, that he falls into a state of spiritual exhaustion resembling sleep, just as Peter and
his companions were unable to keep awake at the transfiguration of Christ (Luk_9:32).
He has not only fallen back into the state of ordinary human consciousness, but his
ordinary spiritual consciousness was so depressed that he resembled a man asleep, and
had to be waked out of this sleep-like state by the mediating angel, in order to be
qualified for further seeing. It is evident from the expression ‫ב‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ָ ַ‫ו‬ (and he returned) that
the angelus interpres had left the prophet after the termination of the previous visions,
and now came back to him again. The fresh vision which presents itself to his spiritual
intuition, is described according to its principal features in Zec_4:2 and Zec_4:3. Zec_
4:2. “And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I see, and behold a candlestick all
of gold, and its oil-vessel up above it, and its seven lamps upon it, seven pipes each for
the lamps upon the top of it. Zec_4:3. And two olive trees (oil trees) by it, one to the
right of the oil-vessel, and one to the left of it.” The second ‫ויאמר‬ (chethib) in Zec_4:2
might, if necessary, be explained in the way proposed by L. de Dieu, Gusset., and
Hofmann, viz., by supposing that the mediating angel had no sooner asked the prophet

what he saw, than he proceeded, without waiting for his answer, to give a description
himself of what was seen. But this is at variance with the analogy of all the rest of the
visions, where the visions seen by the prophet are always introduced with ‫י‬ ִ‫ית‬ ִ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ or ‫ה‬ ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ר‬ ֶ‫א‬ָ‫ו‬
followed by ‫ה‬ֵ ִ‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬ (cf. Zec_1:8; Zec_2:1, Zec_2:5; Zec_5:1; Zec_6:1), and it remains quite
inflexible; so that we must accept the keri ‫ר‬ ַ‫ּמ‬‫א‬ָ‫,ו‬ which is adopted by the early translators,
and found in many codd., as being the true reading, and pronounce ‫ויאמר‬ a copyist's
error. On the combination ָ ֻⅴ ‫ב‬ ָ‫ה‬ָ‫ז‬ ‫ת‬ ַ‫נוֹר‬ ְ‫,מ‬ in which the last two words are construed as a
relative clause in subordination to me
nōrath, see Ewald, §§332, c.
The visionary candlestick, all of gold, with its seven lamps, is unquestionably a
figurative representation of the seven-branched golden candlestick in the tabernacle,
and differs from this only in the three following additions which are peculiar to itself: (1)
That is has its gullâh ( ָ ֻ for ‫ה‬ ָ‫ת‬ ָ ֻ, with the feminine termination resolved; cf. Hos_13:2,
and Ewald, §257, d), i.e., a can or round vessel for the oil, which was omitted altogether
from the candlestick of the holy place, when the lamps were filled with oil by the priests,
“at the top of it” ( ָ‫ּאשׁ‬‫ר‬‫ל־‬ ַ‫;)ע‬ (2) That it had seven mūtsâqōth (pipes) each for the lamps,
that is to say, tubes through which the oil poured from the gullâh into the lamps, or was
conducted to them, whereas the candlestick of the tabernacle had no pipes, but only
seven arms (qânım), for the purpose of holding the lamps, which of course could not be
wanting in the case of the visionary candlestick, and are merely omitted from the
description as being self-evident. The number of the pipes is also a disputed point, viz.,
whether ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ means seven and seven, i.e., fourteen, or whether it is to be taken
distributively, seven each for the lamps, i.e., seven for each lamp, and therefore forty-
nine for the seven. The distributive view is disputed by Hitzig and Koehler as at variance
with the usage of the language: the former proposing to alter the text, so as to obtain
seven pipes, i.e., one for each lamp; and the latter, on the other hand, assuming that
there were fourteen pipes, and inferring from the statement “seven and seven,” instead
of fourteen, that the second seven are to be sought in a different place from the first, that
is to say, that the first seven led from the oil-vessel to the seven different lamps, whilst
the second seven connected the seven lamps with one another, which would have been a
very strange and perfectly useless provision. But there is no foundation whatever for the
assertion that it is at variance with the usage of the language. For although a distributive
relation is certainly expressed as a rule by the simple repetition of the number without
any connecting Vav, such passages as 2Sa_21:20 and 1Ch_20:6 show quite indisputably
that the repetition of the same number with the Vav cop. between is also to be taken
distributively. When, for example, it is stated in 2Sa_21:20, with regard to the hero of
Gath, that the fingers of his hands and the fingers (toes) of his feet were “shēsh vâshēsh,
four-and-twenty in number,” it is evident that shēsh vâshēsh cannot mean “six and six,”
because six and six do not make twenty-four; and a division of the shēsh between the
hands and feet is also untenable, because his two hands had not six fingers on them, but
twelve, and so his two feet had not six toes on them, but twelve. Consequently shēsh
vâshēsh must be taken distributively: the fingers of his (two) hands and the toes of his
(two) feet were six each; for it is only 2 + 2 (= 4) x 6 that can give 24. This is shown still

more clearly in 1Ch_20:6 : “and his fingers were shēsh vâshēsh, four-and-twenty.” It is in
this distributive sense, which is thus thoroughly established, so far as the usage of the
language is concerned, that ‫מוּץ‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ is to be taken: seven pipes each for the lamps,
i.e., forty-nine for the seven lamps; inasmuch as if fourteen pipes were meant, it would
be impossible to imagine any reason why “seven and seven” should be written instead of
fourteen. And we cannot be shaken in this conviction, either by the objection “that if
there was any proportion between the pipes and the size of the oil-vessel, such a number
of pipes could not possibly (?) spring from one oil-can” (Koehler), or by the statement
that “forty-nine would be quite as much at variance with the original as fourteen, since
that had only one pipe for every lamp” (Hitzig). For the supposed original for the pipes
had no existence, inasmuch as the Mosaic candlestick had no pipes at all; and we can
form no opinion as to the possibility of forty-nine pipes issuing from one oil-vessel,
because we have no information as to the size either of the oil-vessel or of the pipes. (3)
The third peculiarity in the visionary candlestick consists in the olive trees on the right
and left of the oil-vessel, which supplied it with oil, and whose connection with the
candlestick is first described in Zec_4:12. These three additions which were made to the
golden candlestick seen by Zechariah, as contrasted with the golden candlestick of the
tabernacle, formed the apparatus through which it was supplied with the oil required to
light it continually without the intervention of man.
CALVI , "Another vision is narrated here, — that a candlestick was shown to the
Prophet, on which there were seven lights. He says that the candlestick was formed
all of gold: and he says that to the seven lamps there were as many cruses, (infusoria
— pourers,) or, as some think, there were seven cruses to each lamp: but the former
view is what I mostly approve, that is, that every lamp had its own cruse. He further
says, that there were two olive-trees, one on the right, the other on the left hand, so
that there was no deficiency of oil, as the olive-trees were full of fruit. Since then
there was a great abundance of berries, the oil would not fail; and the lamps were
continually burning. This is the vision, and the explanation is immediately added,
for God declares that his Spirit was sufficient to preserve the Church without any
earthly helps, that is, that his grace would always shine bright, and could never be
extinguished.
There is, moreover, no doubt but that God set forth to Zechariah a figure and an
image suitable to the capacities of the people. The candlestick in the temple, we
know, was made of gold; we know also, that seven lamps were placed in the
candlestick, for it had six branches; and then there was the trunk of the candlestick.
As then the seven lamps shone always in the temple on the golden candlestick, it was
the Lord’s design here to show that this ceremonial symbol was not superfluous or
insignificant; for his purpose was really to fulfill what he exhibited by the
candlestick: and such analogy is to be seen in many other instances. For it was not
the Lord’s purpose simply to promise what was necessary to be known; but he also
designed to add at the same time a confirmation by ceremonial types, that the Jews
might know that their labor was not in vain when they lighted the lamps in the
temple; for it was not a vain or a deceptive spectacle, but a real symbol of his favor,
which was at length to be exhibited towards them. But we may more fully learn the

design of the whole, by considering the words, and each part in order.
He says that the Angel returned; by which we understand that God, without any
request or entreaty on the part of the Prophet, confirmed by a new prophecy what
we have already observed; for the Prophet confesses that he was as it were overcome
with astonishment, so that it was necessary to awake him as it were from sleep. The
Prophet was not therefore able to ask any thing of God when under the influence of
amazement; but God of his own free will came to his aid, and anticipated his
request. We hence see that the faithful were not in one way only taught to entertain
confidence as to the restoration of the Church; but as there was need of no common
confirmation, many visions were given; and it must at the same time be added, that
though no one interposed, yet God was of his own self solicitous about his Church,
and omitted nothing that was necessary or useful to support the faith of his people.
And farther, as the Prophet says that he was awakened by the Angel, let us learn,
that except God awakens us by his Spirit, torpor will so prevail over us, that we
cannot raise our minds above. Since God then sees that we are so much tied down to
the earth, he rouses us as it were from our lethargy. For if the Prophet had need of
such help, how much more have we, who are far below him in faith? ay, if he was
earthly, are we not altogether earth and ashes? It must yet be observed, that the
Prophet was not so overwhelmed with drowsiness as with astonishment; so that he
was hardly himself, as it is the case with men in an ecstasy.
COFFMA , "This is the fourth of Zechariah's eight visions, the central features of
which are the seven branched golden candlestick and the two olive trees, one on
each side of it. Fortunately, we do not need to rely upon the subjective guesses of
liberal commentators for the interpretation of this vision, which in the light of
related passages of the Bible appears simple and easily understood. The golden
candlestick from the very first appearance of it in the ancient tabernacle typified the
word of God by virtue of its being the only light in the sanctuary representing both
Israels of God.
Zechariah's vision adds a significant detail to the metaphorical candlestick of the
tabernacle, namely, the two olive trees; but that merely changed the symbolism to
show the source of the Word of God, the olive trees, which undoubtedly stand for
the Old and the ew Testaments.
We reject the near-unanimous opinion of present-day exegetes who boldly claim
that Joshua and Zerubbabel are the two olive trees; for such an interpretation
makes Joshua and Zerubbabel the source of God's Word, involving us in an
interpretation that makes Zerubbabel speak to himself in the vision, which we
cannot accept. There is another significant difference. The tabernacle candlestick
was in the sanctuary, symbolizing it as the source of light to God's people; but the
absence of any enclosure in this vision emphasizes that the light is provided for all
the world, the only true light the world has ever had. Since that light is diffused for
the benefit of mankind by God's people only, the candlestick in this wonderful
vision becomes thereby a symbol of Israel, the Theocracy, or the Jewish church (as
called by some), particularly in this vision a symbol of the returnees from Babylon.

in keeping with this expanded meaning of the candlestick, the apostle John's vision
represents the seven-branched golden candlestick as a symbol of the whole church
of Jesus Christ in the present dispensation, fulfilling the type as indicated in its
application to the old Israel. (See Revelation 1 and Revelation 11).
The Messianic thrust of all of these visions is demonstrated and confirmed by the
appearance of two olive trees, undoubtedly symbolizing the Word of God as
supplied to the whole world throughout both the Mosaic and Christian
dispensations, that is, the Old Testament and the ew Testament. The specific
reasons for these interpretations will appear in the following notes on the chapter.
Zechariah 4:1
"And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is
wakened out of his sleep."
Apparently all eight of these visions came in a single night; and it appears that
Zechariah, wearied by the excessive excitement, had fallen asleep; and the angel
came "again," a second time, to arouse him from his slumber. This was not the first
time he had fallen asleep during that momentous chain of events.
TRAPP, "Verse 1
Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a
man that is wakened out of his sleep,
Ver. 1. And the angel that talked with me] {See Trapp on "Zechariah 1:9"}
Came again] After some absence, as it may seem; and a new vision or revelation
received from God to be imparted to the prophet.
And waked me, as a man that is wakened, &c.] It fared with the prophet
(notwithstanding the former visions) as with a drowsy person; who though
awakened and set to work, is ready to fall asleep at it. So Peter, James, and John
(those pillars, as they are called, Galatians 2:9), fell asleep at their very prayers,
Matthew 26:40, such dull metal are the best men made of; and so weak is the flesh,
be the spirit never so willing; so ill disposed is our most noble and immortal part,
the soul, to supernal and supernatural employments. Meditation and prayer are the
creatures of the Holy Ghost, 1:20; and that we may not run out into extravagancies,
or put up yawning petitions, we must watch and pray, Matthew 26:41, yea, watch
while we are praying, meditating, &c., against corruption within (the sin that doth
so easily beset us, Hebrews 12:1) and temptations without, whether from the world,
the things whereof are so near us and so natural to us, or from the devil, who is ever
busiest with the best, as flies are with sweetmeats, and with the best part of their
best performances, as in the end of their prayers, when the heart should close up
itself with most comfort.

ELLICOTT, "(1) Came again, and waked.—Better, possibly, again waked me, the
construction being similar to that of Zechariah 5:1. But it is not impossible that the
angel had gone forth, as before (Zechariah 2:3), to receive some fresh instruction
from a higher angel, or from God, and that now he came back again. From this
verse it would appear that between some of the visions the prophet fell into a state of
lethargy, and that the angel roused him; or it may be that all the visions are seen in
a dream, and that he only seemed in his dream to be woke up. (See ote on
Zechariah 1:8.)
BE SO , "Verses 1-3
Zechariah 4:1-3. And the angel came again, and waked me — This seems to
indicate, that the prophet’s attention was very deeply engaged by the foregoing
vision; that all the powers of his mind were wholly engrossed by it; so that he had
even fallen into a kind of trance, or ecstasy, when he was roused again by the angel,
to attend to what follows. And said unto me, What seest thou? — Thus the angel still
further excites his attention. And I said, Behold a candlestick of gold — This
represented the church of God, Jewish and Christian, set up for the enlightening of
this dark world, by diffusing the light of divine truth. The candle, or lamp, is God’s,
the church is but the candlestick; but it is all of gold, signifying the great worth of
the church, composed of the excellent of the earth. This golden candlestick had
seven lamps, branching out from it by so many sockets, in each of which was a
burning and shining light. The Jewish Church was but one; and though the Jews
that were dispersed had probably synagogues in other countries, yet they were but
as so many lamps belonging to one candlestick; but now, under the gospel, Christ is
the centre of unity, and not Jerusalem, or any one place; and, therefore, seven
particular churches are represented, not as seven lamps, but as seven several golden
candlesticks, Revelation 1:20. This candlestick had one bowl, or common receiver,
on the top, into which oil was continually dropping; and from it, by seven pipes or
conduits, it was conveyed to the seven lamps; so that without any further care, they
received oil as fast as they wasted it, and so were kept always burning. And the bowl
too was continually supplied, without any care or attendance of man, from two
olive-trees, (Zechariah 4:3,) one on each side of the candlestick, which were so fat
and fruitful, that, of their own accord, they poured plenty of oil continually into the
bowl. So that nobody needed to attend to this candlestick, to furnish it with oil; it
tarried not for man, nor waited for the sons of men: the scope of which is to show,
that God easily can, and often doth, accomplish his gracious purposes concerning
his church by his own wisdom and power, without any art or labour of man. And
though sometimes he makes use of instruments, yet he neither needs them, nor is
confined to them, but can do his work without them, and will, rather than it shall
remain undone.
COKE, "Introduction
CHAP. IV.
By the golden candlestick is foreshewed the good success of Zerubbabel's
foundation: by the two olive-trees the two anointed ones.

Before Christ 519.
I this chapter the prophet is called upon to contemplate a fifth vision, of the most
sublime and mysterious import. He sees a candlestick of pure gold, with its seven
lamps communicating by seven pipes with a bowl at the top, which serves for a
reservoir, and is constantly supplied with oil from two olive-trees standing on each
side of the candlestick. He inquires into the meaning, and receives an answer, which,
though it may in some sort apply to the circumstances of the temple then in
building, yet from the solemnity of the manner, and the terms in use, must be
concluded to point to something far higher, no less than the final and complete
establishment of Christ's holy church, not by human means, but by the power of the
Holy Spirit, surmounting all obstacles thrown in its way. Annexed is a special
prediction, that Zerubbabel, who had begun, should have the honour of finishing
the material building of the temple; the accomplishment of which is made a sign or
proof of the divine mission. The meaning of the seven lamps is then explained, and
also of the two overhanging branches of the olive-trees on each side of the
candlestick.
Verse 1
Zechariah 4:1. And waked me— And roused me. It should seem as if the prophet
was plunged into a deep reverie, musing on what he had already seen, when he was
roused again by the angel to give his attention to what follows.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "Verses 1-14
THE FIFTH VISIO : THE TEMPLE CA DLESTICK A D THE TWO OLIVE
TREES
Zechariah 4:1-14
As the Fourth Vision unfolded the dignity and significance of the High Priest, so in
the Fifth we find discovered the joint glory of himself and Zerubbabel, the civil head
of Israel. And to this is appended a Word for Zerubbabel himself. In our present
text this Word has become inserted in the middle of the Vision, Zechariah 4:6-10 a;
in the translation which follows it has been removed, to the end of the Vision, and
the reasons for this will be found in the notes.
The Vision is of the great golden lamp which stood in the Temple. In the former
Temple light was supplied by ten several candlesticks. [1 Kings 7:49] But the
Levitical Code ordained one seven-branched lamp, and such appears to have stood
in the Temple built while Zechariah was prophesying. The lamp Zechariah sees has
also seven branches, but differs in other respects, and especially in some curious
fantastic details only possible in dream and symbol. Its seven lights were fed by
seven pipes from a bowl or reservoir of oil which stood higher than themselves, and
this was fed, either directly from two olive-trees which stood to the right and left of
it, or, if Zechariah 4:12 be genuine, by two tubes which brought the oil from the
trees. The seven lights are the seven eyes of Jehovah-if, as we ought, we run the

second half of Zechariah 4:10 on to the first half of Zechariah 4:6. The pipes and
reservoir are given no symbolic force; but the olive-trees which feed them are called
"the two sons of oil which stand before the Lord of all the earth." These can only be
the two anointed heads of the community-Zerubbabel, the civil head, and Joshua,
the religious head. Theirs was the equal and co-ordinate duty of sustaining the
Temple, figured by the whole candelabrum, and ensuring the brightness of the
sevenfold revelation. The Temple, that is to say, is nothing without the monarchy
and the priesthood behind it; and these stand in the immediate presence of God.
Therefore this Vision, which to the superficial eye might seem to be a glorification of
the mere machinery of the Temple and its ritual, is rather to prove that the latter
derive all their power from the national institutions which are behind them, from
the two representatives of the people who in their turn stand before God Himself.
The Temple so near completion will not of itself reveal God: let not the Jews put
their trust in it, but in the life behind it. And for ourselves the lesson of the Vision is
that which Christian theology has been so slow to learn, that God’s revelation under
the old covenant shone not directly through the material framework, but was
mediated by the national life, whose chief men stood and grew fruitful in His
presence.
One thing is very remarkable. The two sources of revelation are the King and the
Priest. The Prophet is not mentioned beside them. othing could prove more
emphatically the sense in Israel that prophecy was exhausted.
The appointment of so responsible a position for Zerubbabel demanded for him a
special promise of grace. And therefore, as Joshua had his promise in the Fourth
Vision, we find Zerubbabel’s appended to the Fifth. It is one of the great sayings of
the Old Testament: there is none more spiritual and more comforting. Zerubbabel
shall complete the Temple, and those who scoffed at its small beginnings in the day
of small things shall frankly rejoice when they see him set the top-stone by plummet
in its place. As the moral obstacles to the future were removed in the Fourth Vision
by the vindication of Joshua and by his cleansing, so the political obstacles, all the
hindrances described by the Book of Ezra in the building of the Temple, shall
disappear. "Before Zerubbabel the great mountain shall become a plain." And this,
because he shall not work by his own strength, but the Spirit of Jehovah of Hosts
shall do everything. Again we find that absence of expectation in human means, and
that full trust in God’s own direct action, which characterize all the prophesying of
Zechariah.
"Then the angel who talked with me returned and roused me like a man roused out
of his sleep. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I see, and lo! a
candlestick all of gold, and its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps on it, and
seven pipes to the lamps which are upon it. And two olive-trees stood over against it,
one on the right of the bowl, and one on the left. And I began and said to the angel
who talked with What be these, my lord? And the angel who talked with me
answered and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, o, my lord! And
he answered and said to me, These seven are the eyes of Jehovah which sweep
through the whole earth. And I asked and said to him, What are these two olive-

trees on the right of the candlestick and on its left? And again I asked and said to
him, What are the two olive-branches which are beside the two golden tubes that
pour forth the oil from them? And he said to me, Knowest thou not what these be?
And I said, o, my lord! And he said, These are the two sons of oil which stand
before the Lord of all the earth."
"This is Jehovah’s Word to Zerubbabel, and it says: ot by might, and not by force,
but by My Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts. What art thou, O great mountain? Before
Zerubbabel be thou level! And he shall bring forth the top-stone with shoutings,
Grace, grace to it! And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, The hands of
Zerubbabel have founded this house, and his hands shall complete it, and thou shalt
know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to you. For whoever hath despised the day
of small things, they shall rejoice when they see the plummet in the hand of
Zerubbabel."
PARKER 1-2, "The Complete Temple
Zechariah 4
"And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is
wakened out of his sleep" ( Zechariah 4:1).
Here is the mystery of repetition. Even angels cannot deliver the whole message of
God at once, or if they could do Song of Solomon , it is not in the power of man to
receive the divine revelation in one gift. Moreover, we see different aspects of the
same revelation. This mystery of aspect is often overlooked in estimating the
orthodoxy of men. Zechariah did not see all the visions at once. Suppose that some
other man came after him and saw the first vision whilst Zechariah was looking at
the third, Zechariah was not at liberty to upbraid that man with indifference or
ignorance or heterodoxy. All men must pass through their own visions; each man
sees his own aspect of God, and realises his own theory of life and responsibility and
destiny, and if so be the man be incorruptibly sincere God will see to it that his
education is completed in his own way.
"And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a
candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon,
and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof" ( Zechariah
4:2).
The candlestick is the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle; yet what
variations are introduced for the purpose of showing that while God may retain the
central or substantial truth, he reserves to himself the liberty and the right
constantly to vary all the outbranchings and all the outshining of the candlesticks. It
has been noted that the first variation here is the bowl on the top of the candlestick,
containing the oil; then we have the pipes to conduct the oil into each lamp; then we
have the two olive trees on either side of the bowl. All this multiplication of conduits
shows that the action of the Lord in the Church is not an action once for all, but is

continually proceeding, and continually varying. The candlestick itself was never
changed, but many mechanical accidents pertaining to its construction and use were
continually being Revelation -arranged. So it is with the truth of God and its whole
ministry. Is the progress of the world, then, to be determined by the continually-
changing ingenuities of man? The answer Isaiah , that these changes were not made
by human ingenuity, but were the result of divine appointment. Besides this, there is
the sublime answer in the sixth verse, " ot by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." God will have everything his own way. God never
vacates his own throne. Yet God uses the candlestick as well as the sun, the oil of
human manufacture as well as the spark of uncreated glory. We are to look for the
Spirit of God, when we have done the work of God. The Spirit could not be withheld
from us, except God were to be unfaithful to his own government, when we have
honourably and lovingly rendered obedience to his will. If you have prepared your
work, God will do his part; if you have not prepared your work, you have no right
to expect the Spirit of God to complete what has been left undone through
indolence.
MACLARE , "THE SOURCE OF POWER
Zechariah 4:1 - Zechariah 4:10.
THE preceding vision had reference to Joshua the priest, and showed him restored
to his prerogative of entrance into the sanctuary. This one concerns his colleague
Zerubbabel, the representative of civil power, as he of ecclesiastical, and promises
that he shall succeed in rebuilding the Temple. The supposition is natural that the
actual work of reconstruction was mainly in the hands of the secular ruler.
Flesh is weak, and the Prophet had fallen into deep sleep, after the tension of the
previous vision. That had been shown him by Jehovah, but in this vision we have the
same angel interpreter who had spoken with Zechariah before. He does not bring
the vision, but simply wakes the Prophet that he may see it, and directs his attention
to it by the question, ‘What seest thou?’ The best way to teach is to make the learner
put his conceptions into definite words. We see things more clearly, and they make a
deeper impression, when we tell what we see. How many lazy looks we give at things
temporal as well as at things eternal, after which we should be unable to answer the
Angel’s question! It is not every one who sees what he looks at.
The passage has two parts-the vision and its interpretation, with related promises.
The vision may be briefly disposed of. Its original is the great lamp which stood in
the tabernacle, and was replaced in the Solomonic Temple by ten smaller ones.
These had been carried away at the Captivity, and we do not read of their
restoration. But the main thing to note is the differences between this lamp and the
one in the tabernacle. The description here confines itself to these: They are three-
the ‘bowl’ or reservoir above the lamp, the pipes from it to the seven lights, and the
two olive-trees which stood on either side of the lamp and replenished from their
branches the supply in the reservoir. The tabernacle lamp had no reservoir, and
consequently no pipes, but was fed with oil by the priests. The meaning of the
variations, then, is plain. They were intended to express the fuller and more
immediately divine supply of oil. If the Revised Version’s rendering of the somewhat
doubtful numerals in Zechariah 4:2 be accepted, each several light had seven pipes,

thus expressing the perfection of its supplies.
ow, there can be no doubt about the symbolism of the tabernacle lamp. It
represented the true office of Israel, as it rayed out its beams into the darkness of
the desert. It meant the same thing as Christ’s words, ‘Ye are the light of the world,’
and as the vision of the seven golden candlesticks, in Revelation 1:12 - Revelation
1:13, Revelation 1:20. The substitution of separate lamps for one with seven lights
may teach the difference between the mere formal unity of the people of God in the
Old Testament and the true oneness, conjoined with diversity, in the ew Testament
Church, which is one because Christ walks in the midst. Zechariah’s lamp, then,
called to the minds of the little band of restored exiles their high vocation, and the
changed arrangements for the supply of that oil, which is the standing emblem for
divine communications fitting for service, or, to keep to the metaphor, fitting to
shine, signified the abundance of these.
The explanation of the vision is introduced, as at Zechariah 1:9, Zechariah 1:19, by
the Prophet’s question of its meaning. His angelic teacher is astonished at his
dullness, as indeed heavenly eyes must often be at ours, and asks if he does not know
so familiar an object. The Prophet’s ‘ o, my Lord,’ brings full explanation.
Ingenuously acknowledged ignorance never asks Heaven for enlightenment in vain.
First, the true source of strength and success, as shown by the vision, is declared in
plain terms. What fed the lamp? Oil, which symbolises the gift of a divine Spirit, if
not in the full personal sense as in the ew Testament, yet certainly as a God-
breathed influence, preparing prophets, priests, kings, and even artificers, for their
several forms of service. Whence came the oil? From the two olive-trees, which
though, as Zechariah 4:14 shows, they represented the two leaders, yet set forth the
truth that their power for their work was from God; for the Bible knows nothing of
‘nature’ as a substitute for or antithesis to God, and the growth of the olive and its
yield of oil is His doing.
This, then, was the message for Zerubbabel and his people, that God would give
such gifts as they needed, in order that the light which He Himself had kindled
should not be quenched. If the lamp was fed with oil, it would burn, and there
would be a Temple for it to stand in. If we try to imagine the feebleness of the
handful of discouraged men, and the ring of enemies round them, we may feel the
sweetness of the promise which bade them not despond because they had little of
what the world calls might.
We all need the lesson; for the blustering world is apt to make us forget the true
source of all real strength for holy service or for noble living. The world’s power at
its mightiest is weak, and the Church’s true power, at her feeblest, is omnipotent, if
only she grasps the strength which is hers, and takes the Spirit which is given. The
eternal antithesis of man’s weakness at his haughtiest, and God’s strength even in
its feeblest possessors, is taught by that lamp flaming, whatever envious hands or
howling storms might seek to quench it, because fed by oil from on high. Let us keep
to God’s strength, and not corrupt His oil with mixtures of foul-smelling stuff of our
own compounding.
ext, in the strength of that revelation of the source of might a defiant challenge is
blown to the foe. The ‘great mountain’ is primarily the frowning difficulties which
lifted themselves against Zerubbabel’s enterprise, and more widely the whole mass
of worldly opposition encountered by God’s servants in every age. It seems to bar all

advance; but an unseen Hand crushes it down, and flattens it out into a level, on
which progress is easy. The Hebrew gives the suddenness and completeness of the
transformation with great force; for the whole clause, ‘Thou shalt become a plain,’
is one word in the original.
Such triumphant rising above difficulties is not presumption when it has been
preceded by believing gaze on the source of strength. If we have taken to heart the
former words of the Prophet, we shall not be in danger of rash overconfidence when
we calmly front obstacles in the path of duty, assured that every mountain shall be
made low. A brave scorn of the world, both in its sweetnesses and its terrors, befits
God’s men, and is apt to fulfil its own confidences; for most of these terrors are like
ghosts, who will not wait to be spoken to, but melt away if fairly faced. or should
we forget the other side of this thought; namely, that it is the constant drift of
Providence to abase the lofty in mind, and to raise the lowly. What is high is sure to
get many knocks which pass over lower heads. To men of faith every mountain shall
either become a plain or be cast into the sea.
Then follows, on the double revelation of the source of strength and the futility of
opposition, the assurance of the successful completion of the work. The stone which
is to crown the structure shall be brought forth and set in its place amid jubilant
prayers not offered in vain, that ‘grace’-that is, the protecting favour of God-may
rest on it.
The same thought is reiterated and enlarged in the next ‘word,’ which is somewhat
separated from the former, as if the flow of prophetic communication had paused
for a moment, and then been resumed. In Zechariah 4:9 we have the assurance, so
seldom granted to God’s workers, that Zerubbabel shall be permitted to complete
the task which he had begun. It is the fate of most of us to inherit unfinished work
from our predecessors, and to bequeath the like to our successors. And in one
aspect, all human work is unfinished, as being but a fragment of the fulfilment of
the mighty purpose which runs through all the ages. Yet some are more happy than
others, in that they see an approximate completion of their work. But whether it be
so or not, our task is to ‘do the little we can do, and leave the rest with God,’ sure
that He will work all the fragments into a perfect whole, and content to do the
smallest bit of service for Him. Few of us are strong enough to do separate building.
We are like coral insects, whose reef is one, though its makers are millions.
Zerubbabel finished his task, but its end was but a new beginning of an order of
things of which he did not see the end. There are no beginnings or endings, properly
speaking, in human affairs, but all is one unbroken flow. One man only has made a
real new beginning, and that is Jesus Christ; and He only will really carry His work
to its very last issues. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. He is
the Foundation of the true Temple, and He is also the Headstone of the corner, the
foundation on which all rests, the apex to which all runs up. ‘When He begins, He
will also make an end.’
The completion of the work is to be the token that the ‘angel who spake with me’
was God’s messenger. We can know that before the fulfilment, but we cannot but
know it after. Better to be sure that the message is from God while yet the certainty
is the result of faith, than to be sure of it afterwards, when the issue has shattered
and shamed our doubts.
If we realise that God’s Spirit is the guarantee for the success of work done for God,

we shall escape the vulgar error of measuring the importance of things by their size,
as, no doubt, many of these builders were doing. o one will help on the day of great
things who despises that of small ones. They say that the seeds of the ‘big trees’ in
California are the smallest of all the conifers. I do not vouch for the truth of the
statement, but God’s work always begins with little seeds, as the history of the
Church and of every good cause shows. ‘What do these feeble Jews?’ sneered the
spectators of their poor little walls, painfully piled up, over which a fox could jump.
They did very little, but they were building the city of God, which has outlasted all
the mockers.
Men might look with contempt on the humble beginning, but other eyes than theirs
looked at it with other emotions. The eyes which in the last vision were spoken of as
directed on the foundation stone, gaze on the work with joy. These are the seven
eyes of ‘the Lord,’ which are ‘the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth’
[Revelation 5:6]. The Spirit is here contemplated in the manifoldness of His
operations rather than in the unity of His person. Thus the closing assurance, which
involves the success of the work, since God’s eyes rest on it with delight, comes
round to the first declaration, ‘ ot by might, not by power, but by My Spirit.’ ote
the strong contrast between ‘despise’ and ‘rejoice.’ What matter the scoffs of
mockers, if God approves? What are they but fools who look at that which moves
His joy, and find in it only food for scorn? What will become of their laughter at
last? If we try to get so near God as to see things with His eyes, we shall be saved
from many a false estimate of what is great and what is small, and may have our
own poor little doings invested with strange dignity, because He deigns to behold
and bless them.
PETT, "The Fifth Vision. The Living God Among His People - the Golden
Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees (Zechariah 4:1-14).
It will have been noted that the work of the Messiah has been connected with the
High Priest and not with Zerubbabel the Prince. Clearly the work of cleansing and
atonement was seen as being closely connected with the priesthood (compare Isaiah
52:15). ow, however, for the purpose of ensuring the building of the Temple
Zerubbabel comes to the fore. It is he who is the present prince of Judah and it is for
this that he has been raised up. But it should be noted that he does it in close
connection with the High Priest Joshua, for it is these two who are represented as
‘the sons of oil’.
Zechariah 4:1-2
‘And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me as a man who is
awoken from sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” ’
The idea here might be that Zechariah sees himself as being awoken to new truth.
He had been ‘asleep’ and now he is ‘awake’. But more probably it indicates his
awakening from his heavenly trance in which has been present at the heavenly
court. ow he has been brought down to earth. We note that he is now restored to
his old questioning self.

WHEDO , "Verses 1-3
1. In this vision the interpreting angel appears first.
Came again — The angel seems to have withdrawn temporarily; in the fourth vision
he appears — if at all — only in Zechariah 3:1. Perhaps “he came again and waked
me” is equivalent to “he waked me again,” to see a new vision. Evidently Zechariah
recognizes that his condition during the visions is not the same as during the
intervals that elapse between the separate visions.
Waked me — What the prophet has seen and heard has overpowered him; he has
become spiritually exhausted, and has fallen into a state resembling sleep (Luke
9:32); out of this condition the angel rouses him to show him the new vision.
What seest thou? — The angel addresses this question to the prophet as soon as he
opens his eyes (see on Amos 7:8; Amos 8:2; compare Jeremiah 1:11; Jeremiah 1:13).
The principal features of the new vision are described in Zechariah 4:2-3.
I have looked — R.V., “seen”; perhaps better, I see.
A candlestick all of gold — This candlestick may have been suggested by the
candlestick in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:31; 1 Chronicles 4:20), which was of gold,
but in some respects the candlestick in the vision differs from its prototype.
With a bowl upon the top of it — This means a reservoir for the oil used in the
lamps. The oil holder was absent from the candlestick in the tabernacle; there the
oil was supplied daily by the priests. However, the bowl may have been suggested by
the cups (Exodus 25:31; Exodus 25:33-34), though the Hebrew word used here is
entirely different, and the cups served only as ornaments.
Seven lamps — How they were attached is not stated.
Seven pipes — To supply oil from the reservoir. This is another feature absent from
the candlestick in the tabernacle. The Hebrew is literally “seven and seven pipes to
the lamps,” which admits of a twofold interpretation; either, fourteen pipes to the
seven lamps, that is, two to each, or, in a distributive sense, seven pipes to each one
of the seven lamps (so R.V.), a total of forty-nine. The Hebrew permits either
interpretation, and either is thinkable; the latter is more in accord with Hebrew
usage. o indication is given how or where the pipes were connected with the lamps.
LXX. and Vulgate omit one “seven” and read “seven pipes to the lamps,” that is,
one to each, which simplifies the picture and may be original.
Which are upon the top thereof — The meaning seems to be that the lamps are on
the top of the candlestick; the same statement is made concerning the oil holder,
which makes it very difficult to determine the exact relative position of the different
parts of the candlestick. Some commentators favor the omission of the words as an
erroneous repetition from the first part of the verse.

Two olive trees — Another feature absent from the tabernacle (compare Revelation
11:4). One was upon the left, the other upon the right side of the oil holder; in
Zechariah 4:11 it is said that they were beside the candlestick, which is equally true.
Two branches from these trees, one from each, supplied the oil for the lamps.
Verses 1-14
The fifth vision — the golden candlestick and the two olive trees, 1-14.
The fourth and fifth visions are closely connected; the former centers around the
person of the ecclesiastical head, Joshua, the high priest, the latter around that of
the civil head, Zerubbabel, the governor. In the vision Zechariah beholds a golden
candlestick with seven lamps; on top was a reservoir of oil connected with the lamps
by pipes. Beside it stood two olive trees; from the overhanging branches of these oil
flowed continually into the reservoir and from it into the lamps.
It may not be possible to determine the meaning of every feature of the vision, but
its general purpose is clear. (See p. 592.)
PULPIT, "Zechariah 4:1
The angel that talked with me. The interpreting angel is meant. Came again, and
waked me. It is thought that the angel, who is said (Zechariah 2:3) to have gone
forth, now rejoined the prophet and renewed his colloquy with him. But the
expression in the text is probably only equivalent to "aroused me again" (comp.
Genesis 26:18; 2 Kings 1:11, 2 Kings 1:13, etc.). Absorbed in awe and wonder at the
contemplation of the preceding vision, the prophet had fallen into a state of
exhaustion and torpor, as Daniel slept after his great visions (Daniel 8:18; Daniel
10:8, Daniel 10:9), and the apostles were heavy with sleep on the Mount of
Transfiguration (Luke 9:32). From this mental prostration the angel arouses him to
renewed attention. Or what is meant may be that the change wrought on the
faculties by the Divine influence was as great as that between natural sleeping and
waking.
BI 1-14, "Behold a candlestick all of gold
The candelabrum and olive trees
That by the candelabrum was symbolised the Israelitish community, the people of the
theocracy, may be regarded as generally conceded.
But Israel was itself a symbol and type; it was the visible manifestation of that invisible
spiritual community, the Church of the living God, which embraces the faithful of all
ages and places. But the light which the Church possesses is not from herself; it is light
communicated and sustained by influences from above. Hence in the vision the lamps
were supplied with oil, not by human ministration, but through channels and pipes from
the olive trees which stood beside and were over the candelabrum. Oil is the proper
symbol of the Holy Spirit’s influence. This is the oil by which the Church is sustained, is
made to shine, and is enabled to accomplish the work she has to do in the world. Apart
from the Divine Spirit the Church is dark and cold and feeble; but through the visitation

of the Spirit she is animated and invigorated, becomes luminous and glorious, and is
crowned with success as she labours to erect God’s temple on earth. They were taught by
this vision not to be discouraged, for it was not by human might or power that the work
was to be done, but by the Spirit of the Lord. Through His grace the light should be
sustained in them; their hands should be strengthened for their work; and ere long they
should see the consummation of that which had been so auspiciously begun. God
sustains His Church by His grace. But this grace comes to men through certain
appointed media. This was symbolised in the vision by the fruit-bearing branches of the
olive trees, and by the conduits and pipes through which the oil was conveyed to the
lamps. The branches represented the sacerdotal and civil authorities in Israel. (W. L.
Alexander, D. D.)
Man as a student of the Divine revelation and a doer of Divine work
I. As a student of the Divine revelations. “I have looked, and behold a candle stick all of
gold,” etc. The ideal Church is all this. The candlestick may, I think, fairly represent the
Bible, or God’s special revelation to man: that is golden, that is luminous, that is
supernaturally supplied with the oil of inspiration. In fact, in the passage the
interpreting angel designates this, candlestick, not as the Church, but as the “word of the
Lord unto Zerubbabel.” I make two remarks concerning this revelation—
1. It has in it sufficient to excite the inquiry of man as a student. “What are these, my
lord?” What wonderful things are in this Bible!
2. It has an Interpreter that can satisfy man as a student. The angel to whom the
prophet directed his inquiry promptly answered. The prophet here displays two of
the leading attributes of a genuine student of the Divine—
(1) Inquisitiveness. He inquires; and because he inquires he receives an answer.
The Bible is an unmeaning book to the great mass of mankind, because they do
not inquire into its significance. Truth is only got by genuine inquiry.
(2) Ingenuousness. The first reply of the interpreting angel to the prophet was,
“Knowest thou not what these things mean?” and he said, “No, my lord.” At once
he confesses his ignorance. The man who develops these two attributes in
relation to God’s Word has a Divine Interpreter at his side, namely, the Spirit of
God, who will lead us into all knowledge. This passage sets man before us—
II. As a doer of the Divine will Man has not only to study, but to work; not only to get
Divine ideas, but to work them out. The work of the prophet was to convey a message
from God to Zerubbabel, and the message he conveyed was a message to world. Man is
to be a “Worker together” with God. I offer two remarks concerning man as a worker out
of the Divine will
1. That though his difficulties may appear great, his resources are infinite.
Zerubbabel, in rebuilding the temple, had enormous difficulties. Those difficulties
hovered before him as mountains. But great as they were, he was assured that he had
resources more than equal to the task. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My
Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”
2. That though his efforts may seem feeble, his success will be inevitable.
(1) The feebleness of human efforts is here implied.

(a) It is common to despise small things.
(b) It is foolish to despise small things. All great things were small in their
beginnings.
(c) It is contemptible to despise small things. Truly great souls never do so.
(2) The success of feeble efforts is here guaranteed. The temple should certainly
be completed. So it will be with every true work to which a true man puts his
hand in the name of God. It will he finished; there will be no failures, success is
inevitable. (Homilist.)
The golden candlestick
1. The Church of God is composed of the most precious human material in the world.
The man who walks day by day with the “King Eternal, Immortal and Invisible,” is of
far more value to the world, and is regarded by God as of more worth, than the man
of the greatest intellectual attainments.
2. The Church is a light giver, because its power to give light is sustained from a
source outside itself. The life of the Church of God is not self-sustaining. Gad is the
sustaining power by which the Church is kept alive, and only as she is supplied from
Him with the holy off of the Divine Spirit can she give out that light which is the life
of men. The most perfect machinery without this life-sustaining force is useless to
accomplish the Divine purpose “of making the Church a blessing to the world. This
mysterious living principle is due to a life at the back of all that is apprehended by
the senses, a life which some call “the efficient cause,” but which we think it more
reasonable to call the “living God.”
3. Because of this all-sufficient source of life we are assured that small beginnings in
the kingdom of God will issue in great results. There is no such thing in nature as
instantaneous result. The blade comes before the ear. The law of the spiritual
kingdom is to begin with the small and end with the great. Connection with the
source of life ensures growth unto perfection. (Outlines by a London Minister.)
The vision of the candlestick
1. The temple here represents the Church to be enlightened by Christ, she being in
herself but dark, and void of light and comfort, till He come and appear in her, and
for her, and make her light.
2. The ministry appointed of Christ for the direction, edification, and comfort of the
Church are here represented by the candlestick, who should be pure, that they may
be precious in His sight as gold, and who ought to shine by purity and holiness of
life, and be instrumental in making the Church a shining light in a dark world.
3. The bowl upon the top of the candlestick which immediately receives the oil doth
fitly represent Christ as Mediator, the head and storehouse of the Church, to whom
is intrusted all fulness of gifts and graces for the Church’s behoof.
4. The variety and sufficiency of gifts communicate by Christ, for the good and
salvation of the Church is represented by seven lamps, all tending one common end
of burning and shining.

5. The way of deriving grace from Christ to His servants, by ordained and sanctified
means, especially by His covenant; our dependence, and the bands of communion
betwixt Him and His people, is represented by seven pipes going betwixt the bowl
and the lamps. (George Hutcheson.)
The candlestick
In order to make God’s meaning clearer the prophet was granted the vision of the
candlestick (lampstand), the gist of which was that the wick, though necessary to the
light, played a very inconsiderable part in its production. It had no illuminating power; it
could only smoke, and char, and smoulder. At the best it could only be a medium
between the oil in the cistern and the fire that burnt on its serried edge. Thus Zerubbabel
might be weak and flexible as a wick, but none of his deficiencies could hinder him
finishing the work to which he had been called, if only his spirit was kindled with the
Divine fire, and fed continually by the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit. The
candlestick was evidently fashioned on the model of that in the temple, the shape of
which is still preserved to us on the Arch of Titus. According to the R.V., there were
seven pipes to each lamp. Nor was this all. On either side of this massive candlestick
stood an olive tree, from the heart of which, by a golden pipe, the oil was continually
being poured into the reservoir; so that, even though it might be limited in its containing
power, there could be no failure in its ability to meet the incessant demands of the
lamps. So far as the Jews were concerned, the meaning of the vision was obvious. They
were represented in the candlestick, of which the many lamps and the precious metal of
its composition set forth their perfection and preciousness in the thought of God. Their
function was to shed the light of His knowledge on the world, as it lay under the power of
darkness; whilst, to aid them in fulfilling this mission, Divine supplies would be
forthcoming from a celestial and living source, and brought to them through the golden
pipes, of which one represented Joshua the priest, and the other Zerubbabel the prince.
These men, therefore, were but mediums for Divine communications. Their sufficiency
was not of themselves, but of God. The mission of Israel would be realised, not by them,
but by the Spirit of God through them. They might seem altogether helpless and
inadequate; but a living fountain of oil was prepared to furnish them with inexhaustible
supplies (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a
bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven
channels to the lamps.

BAR ES, "And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold -
The candlestick is the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle Exo_25:31, but with
variations purposely introduced to symbolize the fuller and more constant supply of the
oil, itself the symbol of God’s Holy Spirit, who:
“Enables with perpetual light
The dullness of our blinded sight.”
The first variation is “her bowl on the top of the candlestick,” containing the oil; then
(as dependent on this) the pipes to derive the oil into each lamp, “seven several pipes to
the seven lamps,” that is, seven to each; and the two olive trees on either side of the
bowl, whose extreme and fine branches poured through two golden pipes the golden oil
into the bowl which supplied the lamp. The multiplied conduits imply the large and
perfect supply of oil unceasingly supplied, the seven being symbolic of perfection or of
the reconciling of God (symbolized by 3) unto the world (symbolized by 4, its four
quarters); the spontaneous flow of the golden oil from the olive trees symbolizes the free
gift of God.
CLARKE, "A candlestick all of gold - This candlestick is formed in some measure
after that of the sanctuary, Exo_25:31, Exo_25:32 : but in that of the sanctuary there
was no bowl, nor seven pipes, nor seven lamps, nor the two olive trees. The two olive
trees were to supply the bowl with oil; the bowl was to communicate the oil to the seven
pipes; and the seven pipes were to supply the seven lamps. In general, the candlestick,
its bowl, pipes, lamps, and olive trees, are emblems of the pure service of God, and the
grace and salvation to be enjoyed by his true worshippers. The candlestick may,
however, represent the whole Jewish state, ecclesiastical and civil; the oil, producing the
light, the grace and mercy of God; and the two olive trees, the source of infinite love,
whence that grace proceeds. The pipes may signify all means of grace; and the seven
lamps, the perfection and abundance of the light and salvation provided. Some may take
them in the following way: -
1. The olive trees, the Divine goodness, yield the oil from the olive berry, which is its
fruit.
2. From each comes a pipe to convey the oil to the bowl.
3. This oil is collected in the bowl, which is supposed to represent Jesus, the great
Mediator, through whom alone all grace and mercy descend to man.
4. The seven pipes, the various means of grace - reading, hearing, prayer,
sacraments, etc. - through which Christ dispenses his grace and blessing to his
followers.
5. The seven lamps - the Spirit of God in its plentitude of graces, gifts, and light,
dispensed to the Christian Church.

GILL, "And said unto me, What seest thou?.... That is, after he was awake, and
had looked about him:
And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold; such an one as
was in the tabernacle of Moses, only with this difference; that had no bowl on the top,
nor seven pipes to it, nor two olive trees on each side of it, with two pipes to them, Exo_
25:31 such a candlestick was never in being, only in vision; and is an emblem of the
church of Christ, into which the light of the Gospel is put by Christ, and held forth by it,
and especially by its ministers; see Rev_1:12 for the light put into this candlestick, the
church, is not the light of nature or reason, which is "the candle of the Lord searching
into the inward parts" of man; by which he may discern somewhat the being and
perfections of God in his works, and of moral good and evil; but it is too dim to direct
and guide him in the affair of salvation: nor the law of Moses, said to be a light, and a
lamp; by which men might come to the knowledge of sin, but not of a Saviour from it:
but the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, which was like a candle lighted up in the
evening of the Jewish dispensation, and placed in the Christian church; and gave light,
not only to the saints in Judea, but in all parts of the world, whither it has been carried;
for this candlestick is portable, and has been removed from place to place; and wherever
it is set, it gives light, and removes the darkness of error, infidelity, and immorality; and
is useful to direct the saints in their walk and conversation, and render them more
capable of working with delight and pleasure; and will blaze out more brightly in the end
of the world, when it is about to be no more; and by the light of it lost sinners, like the
lost piece of silver, are looked up, strayed ones are brought back, and backsliders
restored; hypocrites and formalists, heretics and false teachers, and their doctrines, are
discovered and detected; and saints are enlightened, comforted, and directed: and this
candlestick being "all of gold" may denote the value of it; the true church of Christ, and
the real members of it, are highly esteemed by Christ; the precious sons of Zion are
comparable to fine gold, jewels, and precious stones; they are the excellent in the earth,
in whom is his delight: and likewise its brightness and purity, splendour and glory; its
members being possessed of the gifts and graces of the Spirit, of the pure and glorious
doctrines of the Gospel, and exercising holy discipline, and living holy lives and
conversations: and also the duration of it, which will be to the end of the world, the gates
of hell not being able to prevail against it; and which is continued, not by might or power
of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord, and his grace, which is sufficient for it, and with
which it is supplied; not by any natural or artificial means, but by a wonderful and
uncommon manner; signified by oil not pressed from the olive by the help of man, but
flowing from two olive trees, on both sides the candlestick, of itself, freely, and
constantly. This candlestick may primarily respect, and may be an emblem of, the then
present state of the Jewish church, when this vision was seen; and point at how it was
raised up, restored, and preserved; but has a further view to the church of God, under
the Gospel dispensation, unto the end of the world:
with a bowl upon the top of it; an oil vessel, or cruet, round, and large enough to
hold the oil, which supplied it, and each of its lamps, whereby its light was maintained
and continued; and this may intend, either the fulness of grace in Christ, which is as "a
fountain", as the word (l) here used signifies, Jos_15:19 to supply his church and people;
and from whence they have the oil of grace in measure, which is in him without measure,
whereby their lamps are filled, and their lights are kept burning; and who is fitly placed
as the Head of the church for this purpose, as this bowl was upon the top of the
candlestick: or rather, since this "bowl" is but a measure, though it may be a large one it
may signify that large portion of gifts and grace which is communicated to the church in

all ages, and abides in it, and is severally divided to the ministers and members of it, for
its profit and edification; to one one gift, to another another; to some greater, and others
less; and all for mutual good; and which are given forth from Christ and his Spirit; who,
as Capellus thinks, may be meant by the two olive trees, who of themselves, without
pressing, having all fulness of grace in them without measure, freely and liberally impart
it; and keep filling the bowl, so that there is constantly a supply of the Spirit, and grace
for the church and people of Christ in all ages; according to Isa_59:21 "my Spirit that is
upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy
mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed saith
the Lord, from henceforth, and for ever". Cocceius thinks the merit of Christ is meant by
this bowl or cup, by which he obtained the promise of the Spirit:
and his seven lamps thereon; on the candlestick; such a number of lamps were on
the candlestick in the tabernacle, Exo_25:37 and may design the many members of the
church bearing the lamps of profession; or rather the ministers of the Gospel, who are
the lights of the world, and bright and burning ones, that hold forth the word of life both
in doctrine and conversation; unless the gifts and graces of the Spirit, qualifying them
for such work, should be meant; see Rev_4:5 but rather ministers themselves are
designed, who are called lights and lamps, Mat_5:14 and the number seven, being a
number of perfection, may denote a fulness and sufficiency of Gospel ministers, which
Christ furnishes his church with, and will do unto the end of the world; he having a
perfection of gifts in his hands for them, to fit them for his service; just as these are
called the "seven pillars" of Wisdom's house, Pro_9:1. Cocceius thinks by these seven
lamps are intended the seven churches, or the seven states of the church under several
periods in the Gospel dispensation; the same with the seven churches of Asia, and the
seven golden candlesticks, in the midst of which Christ was seen by John, Rev_1:4,
and seven pipes to the seven lamps which were upon the top thereof; these
pipes, infusers or funnels, were at the bottom of the bowl, in which were so many holes,
that let out the oil into them, by which it was carried to the lamps; a pipe to every lamp.
In the Hebrew text it is, "seven and seven pipes" (m); that is, fourteen, two to every
lamp; which Fortunatus Scacchus (n) thinks, they being joined to one another, the one
put in the neck of the other, were for the better cleansing and purifying of the oil from
any dregs that might be in it. Jarchi is of opinion there were seven to every lamp, in all
forty nine, but without any foundation: by these are meant, not the seven sacraments, as
say the Papists; but either the various gifts of the Spirit, fitting ministers for their
service; or the various means they make use of to learn the mind of Christ in the
Scriptures, to know the Gospel, and more of it, that they may hold it forth to others;
such as reading, meditation, and prayer.
HE RY, "s to us, he would awaken us, and we should then stir up ourselves.
II. The discovery that was made to him when he was thus prepared. The angel asked
him, What seest thou? Zec_4:2. When he was awake perhaps he would not have taken
notice of what was presented to his view if he had not thus been excited to look about
him. When he observed he saw a golden candlestick, such a one as was in the temple
formerly, and with the like this temple should in due time be furnished. The church is a
candlestick, set up for the enlightening of this dark world and the holding forth of the
light of divine revelation to it. The candle is God's; the church is but the candlestick, but
all of gold, denoting the great worth and excellence of the church of God. This golden
candlestick had seven lamps branching out from it, so many sockets, in each of which
was a burning and shining light. The Jewish church was but one, and though the Jews

that were dispersed, it is probable, had synagogues in other countries, yet they were but
as so many lamps belonging to one candlestick; but now, under the gospel, Christ is the
centre of unity, and not Jerusalem, or any one place; and therefore seven particular
churches are represented, not as seven lamps, but as seven several golden candlesticks,
Rev_1:20. This candlestick had one bowl, or common receiver, on the top, into which oil
was continually dropping, and from it, by seven secret pipes, or passages, it was diffused
to the seven lamps, so that, without any further care, they received oil as fast as they
wasted it (as in those which we call fountain-ink-horns, or fountain-pens); they never
wanted, nor were ever glutted, and so kept always burning clear. And the bowl too was
continually supplied, without any care or attendance of man; for (Zec_4:3) he saw two
olive-trees, one on each side the candlestick, that were so fat and fruitful that of their
own accord they poured plenty of oil continually into the bowl, which by two larger pipes
(Zec_4:12) dispersed the oil to smaller ones and so to the lamps; so that nobody needed
to attend this candlestick, to furnish it with oil (it tarried not for man, nor waited for the
sons of men), the scope of which is to show that God easily can, and often does,
accomplish his gracious purposes concerning his church by his own wisdom and power,
without any art or labour of man, and that though sometimes he makes use of
instruments, yet he neither needs them nor is tied to them, but can do his work without
them, and will rather than it shall be undone.
JAMISO , "candlestick — symbolizing the Jewish theocracy; and ultimately, the
Church of which the Jewish portion is to be the head: the light-bearer (so the original is
of “lights,” Mat_5:14, Mat_5:16; Phi_2:15) to the world.
all ... gold — all pure in doctrine and practice, precious and indestructible; such is
the true ideal of the Church; such she shall be (Psa_45:13).
bowl upon the top — In the candlestick of the tabernacle the plural is used, bowls
(Exo_25:31). The Hebrew implies that it was the fountain of supply of oil to the lamps.
Christ at the head (“on the top”) of the Church is the true fountain, of whose fullness of
the Spirit all we receive grace (Joh_1:16).
his seven lamps — united in one stem; so in Exo_25:32. But in Rev_1:12 the seven
candlesticks are separate. The Gentile churches will not realize their unity till the Jewish
Church as the stem unites all the lamps in one candlestick (Rom_11:16-24). The “seven
lamps,” in Rev_4:5, are the “seven Spirits of God.”
seven pipes — feeding tubes, seven apiece from the “bowl” to each lamp (see
Margin) [Maurer and Calvin]; literally, “seven and seven”: forty-nine in all. The greater
the number of oil-feeding pipes, the brighter the light of the lamps. The explanation in
Zec_4:6 is, that man’s power by itself can neither retard nor advance God’s work, that
the real motive-power is God’s Spirit. The seven times seven imply the manifold modes
by which the Spirit’s grace is imparted to the Church in her manifold work of
enlightening the world.
CALVI , "The Prophet was also reminded to be attentive to the vision — What
seest thou? Then there was presented to him a sight which we have described; but
the Prophet by seeing could have seen nothing, had he not been instructed by the
Angel. We must also observe, that this tardiness of the Prophet is useful to us; for
we hence more surely conclude, that nothing was represented without a design; but
that the whole was introduced for his benefit, though he overlooked, as with closed
eyes, what God showed to him by the Angel. We then conclude that there was
nothing done by chance, but that the Prophet was really under a divine guidance, so

that he might learn what he was afterwards faithfully to deliver to others.
The vision is then narrated — that a candlestick of God was shown to him. The
substance of the candlestick was intended to set forth a mystery. It is indeed true
that gold is corruptible; but as we cannot otherwise understand what exceeds the
things of the world, the Lord, under the figure of gold, and silver, and precious
stones, sets forth those things which are celestial, and which surpass in value the
earth and the world. It was for this purpose that God commanded a candlestick to
be made of gold for him, not that he needed earthly wealth or riches, or was pleased
with them as men are, whose eyes are captivated by the sight of gold and silver. We
indeed know that all these things are counted as nothing before God; but regard
was had in these symbols to this — that they might know that something sublime
and exalted was to be understood whenever they looked on the golden candlestick.
Hence by the gold the Prophet must have learnt, that what was here set forth was
not worthless or mean, but unusual and of great importance.
He afterwards says that there was a vessel, or some render it a pot; but it was a
round vessel, and it was on the top of the candlestick; for the lamps burned on the
very summit of the candlestick. ow there was a pot or bowl; and here there was a
little difference between the candlestick of the temple and that of which the Prophet
speaks now; for in the candlestick of the temple there were many pots or bowls, but
here the Prophet says that there was but one; and also that there were seven pourers
or postings; for by this term we may understand the very act of pouring, as well as
the instruments themselves. But it is better to refer this to the pourers, which
distilled the oil continually, that the wick might not become dry, but gather always
new strength. He says that there were seven pourers to the lamps on the top; (45)
and also that there were two olive-trees, which supplied new abundance, so that the
oil was always flowing.
COFFMA ,"Verse 2
"And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and, behold, a
candlestick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon;
and there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top thereof."
This does not conclude Zechariah's description of the vision, because it also
included the two olive trees mentioned in the same breath in the next verse. We may
consider the bowl and the pipes, whether seven, or seven and seven, or seven times
seven, as various versions describe them, due to uncertainties in the text, as more or
less inert ingredients of the vision, designed to call attention to the source of energy
making the light possible, a source identified in the next verse as the two olive trees.
"A candlestick all of gold ..." Although this candlestick varies in some particulars
from that in the ancient tabernacle, it must nevertheless be identified with it;
because. "The same word, [~menorath], is used in both cases (Exodus 25:31; 37:17,
etc.)."[1]
There is also mention of the golden candlestick of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:49),

which was looted and taken to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:19). This also should be
identified with the candlestick here, the ten branches probably being produced by
the elevation and division of the central branch into four arms. Such a supposition,
however, is dependent upon understanding the candlestick as being similar to the
one in Herod's temple, a replica of which is on the Arch of Titus in Rome. We are
not at all discouraged in this opinion by the fact that, "The seven-branched
candlestick pictured on Titus' arch in Rome, and still used by the Jews, the
menorah, is not known earlier than the first century B.C."[2] That only means, of
course, that it is not known by archeologists to have existed prior to the first century
B.C. Everything in the Bible points to the fact that God himself gave the design of
this candlestick, that it was unique; and the expectation of archeologists to the effect
that they ought to be able to dig up replicas of it is The fact that what they have dug
up is unlike the menorah is not, after all, a very significant fact. The traditional
Jewish impression of what that candlestick was like has more weight than all the
diggings of the last century.
Our confidence in seeing the seven branched candlestick and the ten branched
candlestick as one is derived partially from the amazing fact that in both there is an
amazing representation of the Bible itself. (See a full description of this in my
commentary on Hebrews, pp. 181-183.) The use made by the apostle John of this
same type of seven branched candlestick (Revelation 1) shows it to be one with what
is in view here; and there is no doubt that it was like the replica on Titus' arch.
Aside from all this, what Zechariah saw in this vision, a vision provided by God
Himself, would in no sense have been limited by any conformity to the type of lamps
in common usage in his day.
As for the meaning of this candlestick: "It symbolizes the Jewish Theocracy, and
ultimately the Church."[3] It also undoubtedly symbolizes "the Word of God," as
revealed in verse 6. The whole figure is that of the Jewish theocracy holding forth
the Word of God for all the world in the pre-Christian centuries. This vision placed
the candlestick, not in a sanctuary, but in the world, hence the necessary application
to the true Israel of God among the Jews. This also represents the Church, because
the first Israel was a type of the second Israel. Moreover, the function of the Church
today is the same as God's intended use of the old Israel to spread his truth and that
through them and by such means, "All the families of the earth should be blessed"
(Genesis 12:3).
Gill also understood the candlestick here to "represent the Word of God to
Zerubbabel, and through him, to the people";[4] and we understand this to be in
full harmony with the view of Jamieson, above.
TRAPP, "Verse 2
Zechariah 4:2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and
behold a candlestick all [of] gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps
thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which [are] upon the top thereof:

Ver. 2. What seest thou?] The sight was already in sight; but the prophet had not
seen it, or noted it, if the angel had not stirred him up to it. If the Lord give us not
sight as well as light, if he enlighten not both organ and object too, if he shine not
into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of himself in the face of Jesus
Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:5, seeing we shall see, but not perceive; with Hagar, we shall
not be able to discern the fountain that is just before us.
I have looked] Carefully viewed the sight. It is expected ut acti agamus; that having
a talent of grace we trade with it; that our will, which at first conversion was merely
passive, should be afterward active; that we, which once were darkness, but now are
light in the Lord, shall walk as children of light, Ephesians 5:8.
Behold a candlestick] That is, the Church, as Revelation 1:20.
All of gold] Pure gold as the candlestick in the tabernacle, Exodus 25:31, which is
therefore called the pure candlestick, Leviticus 24:4, Exodus 31:8, noting out the
Church’s purity in doctrine and manners. Chrysostom, that golden preacher,
testifieth of some saints in his time, that they were puriores caelo, purer than the
visible heaven. "Her azarites were purer than the driven snow, whiter than milk,
ruddier than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire," Lamentations 4:7.
With a bowl] Heb. gullah, an oil glass or oil cruse; a hollow round vessel, quod
pariter Latine recte gulam appellas, saith a Lapide; which you may not unfitly call a
gullet, or throat; for as the throat receiveth the food and transmitteth it to the
stomach, so did this vessel receive the oil to be transmitted to the lamps. It figured
Christ, in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell, Colossians 1:19,
for the Church’s use, John 1:16; John 3:34.
And his seven lamps thereon] Signifying the manifold graces and diversity of gifts in
the Church by the same Spirit of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:4; 1 Corinthians 12:6
"For of his fulness we all receive grace for grace," John 1:16.
And seven pipes to the seven lamps] Heb. seven and seven, that is, seven, I say seven,
by the figure anadiplosis, a repetition of the same word, saith Sanetius. This is a
better gloss than that of those that say the Hebrew text is corrupted; as having two
sevens for one. These seven pipes you must imagine to be in the bottom of the bowl,
to distribute the oil to each lamp; the grace of Jesus Christ to each Christian, that he
may shine as a lamp or luminary in the world, holding forth the word of life,
Philippians 2:15-16, as the hand doth the torch, or the watch tower the light, and so
the haven, to weather beaten mariners.

ELLICOTT, "(2) This visionary candlestick differed in four points from the
original of the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple—viz., in having “a bowl,”
“pipes,” and “olive trees” each side of it, and “two golden spouts.”
With a bowl upon the top of it.—This is better than the marg., her bowl—i.e., its
bowl—because this was one (a) of the points of difference between the visionary
candlestick and its original. But the “seven lamps,” on the other hand, were in
agreement with the original; therefore the prophet says, “and his seven,” i.e., its
seven lamps, viz., the seven lamps proper to it. So, again, when he comes to the next
point of difference, (b) the pipes, he does not say “his pipes,” nor does he (Zechariah
4:3) say (c) “his two olive-trees.”
Seven pipes.—Better, seven pipes apiece. There were, then, forty-nine pipes, but as
the candlestick is only visionary, we need not trouble ourselves about the difficulties
of its construction. The number seven in the original candlestick was, perhaps,
mystical, in which case the forty-nine pipes in the vision would be so too. At any
rate, it would seem that a great number of pipes is mentioned to indicate the
unlimited nature of the supply of oil: “My strength is sufficient for thee.” The
distributive use of the numerals in this passage has been much disputed, but we
have, we think, satisfactorily established it in our Hebrew Student’s Commentary,
in loc. The only other admissible interpretation is that of Koehler—viz., that the
number is “seven and seven,” not “fourteen,” because one group of seven lamps was
for supplying the lamps from the reservoir, and the other group of seven to connect
the seven lamps. The English version follows LXX., Syriac, and Vulg., in omitting
the first word “seven.” Hitzig cancels the numeral before “its lamps,” and renders
“and its lamps upon it were seven, and there were seven pipes to the lamps,” &c.
But all such emendations are arbitrary and unnecessary. Pressel thinks that “seven”
is repeated on account of its importance, as corresponding to “the seven eyes of the
Lord;” he renders “seven was the number of its lamps above the same—seven—and
seven the number of its pipes.”
CO STABLE, "Verse 2-3
The angel asked the prophet what he saw, and Zechariah replied that he saw a
golden lampstand with a bowl above it. Lampstands generally, and the lampstands
in the tabernacle and temple particularly, held removable lamps ( Exodus 25:31; 1
Kings 7:49). Their purpose was to support these light-bearers. Symbolically a
lampstand represents what supports whatever bears light (cf. Matthew 5:16;
Revelation 1:20; Revelation 2:5). This seems to be the figure in view in 1 Timothy
3:15 where Paul called the church the pillar and support of the truth. The purpose
of the church is to support individual Christians who bear the light of God"s truth
in a dark world (cf. Revelation 1:20). Ultimately the light is the Lord Himself ( John
1:8-9; 1 Timothy 3:16). In the case of the present vision the lampstand represents
the temple and the Jewish community, which were to hold the light of Israel"s
testimony to Yahweh up to the rest of the world. The bowl on top of this lampstand
contained oil that constantly replenished the lamps (cf. Zechariah 4:12).
"Lamp pedestals excavated from Palestine cities were ... cylindrical in shape,

hollow, and looked rather like a tree trunk. They were usually made of pottery, and
had a hole in the side, into which a spout could have been fixed.... Zechariah"s
lampstand (menora) was probably just a cylindrical column, tapered slightly
towards the top, on which was a bowl. Innumerable pottery versions of bowl lamps
show how the rim was pinched together to form a holder for the wick, the better the
light needed the more the places for wicks, seven being the most popular number....
The picture is of seven small bowls, each with a place for seven wicks, arranged
round the rim of the main bowl.... What would be unusual would be such a
lampstand in gold. With its seven times seven lights it would be both impressive and
effective." [ ote: Baldwin, pp119-20.]
The Hebrew text has "seven and seven pipes to the lamps." Most conservative
commentators understood the number of pipes (spouts) connecting the large upper
bowl to the individual lamps below to be distributive, indicating seven each for a
total of49 such pipes. This presents the picture of a somewhat "spaghetti-like
configuration" [ ote: Merrill, p148.] "with an excess of plumbing." [ ote: Leupold,
p85.] evertheless this interpretation seems to be truest to the text. Another view is
that there were two pipes connecting the bowl to each of the lamps for a total
of14pipes. The Septuagint simply omitted one of these sevens resulting in one pipe
connecting them for a total of seven. The large number of pipes probably stresses
the abundant supply of oil from the reservoir to each lamp.
There were seven lamps, one resting on each of the seven branches of the lampstand,
and each lamp had seven spouts (lips). Most such earthenware lamps that
archaeologists have found had only one spout for a wick. Here the picture is of a full
complement of lamps (seven) that manifested the full complement of light (seven
flames from each lamp).
There were also two olive trees, one standing on either side of the bowl. Human
maintenance of the lamps was unnecessary since the oil flowed from the trees to the
reservoir to the lamps. This important feature of the vision stresses God"s singular
provision of the oil (cf. Zechariah 4:6).
"The two olive trees represent Joshua and Zerubbabel, whose witness in that day is
the prototype of the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3-12. Actually no human being
can be the real source of the power that actuates God"s witness. It is only as Joshua
, Zerubbabel, or any other human being represents Christ, the true Priest-King, that
he fulfills this vision. In their fullest significance the two olive trees speak of Christ,
the LORD"s Priest-King (cp. Psalm 110:4)." [ ote: The ew Scofield ..., pp966-67.]
PETT, "Zechariah 4:2
-3 ‘And I said, “I have seen, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on
top of it and its seven lamps on it. There are seven lips to each of the lamps which
are on the top of it. And two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and
the other on the left side of it.” ’
The prophet sees a golden lampstand with seven lamps on it each of which has seven

lips in which the wicks would be placed. This must be seen as representing the
sevenfold lampstand in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:31-40) although it is very
different in design. There is a greater intensification of seven indicating its divine
perfection (for seven was seen as the number of divine perfection throughout the
ear East).
Similar lampstands have been found at Ugarit, Dan, Gezer and Lachish. The ones at
Ugarit had round bases with a bowl with seven spouts at the top.
In the tabernacle the lampstand was the representation of God as the light of Israel.
o man, apart from ‘the Priest’ once a year, could enter the Holiest where God
would sometimes reveal His presence in full glory. Thus the lampstand, sevenfold in
its divine perfection, was the reflection of that glory.
Here in Zechariah the lampstand signifies the presence of the living God, and the
all-knowingness of God (Zechariah 4:10). A man’s life was often called his ‘lamp’
(Job 21:17; Proverbs 20:20; Proverbs 24:20 see also 2 Samuel 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36),
and the lampstand, once removed, signified the death of the church (Revelation 2:5).
So the lampstand represents life. In that case the lampstand here represents the
living God, ‘the Lord of the whole earth’, fully present and fully aware. He is ‘the
Light of the world’, but it is a light that must first be known in Israel.
So the sevenfold lampstand indicates that God is present with His people and is
ready to show His power in a divinely perfect way. The two olive trees, rather than
feeding the lampstand, are themselves fed by it (‘golden oil’ for the golden lamp -
Zechariah 4:12). The lampstand indicates the presence of God’s Spirit ready to act
through the two ‘olive trees’ (Zechariah 4:6).
The olive trees in fact represent the two men who have been anointed with oil, the
two ‘sons of oil’ (Zechariah 4:14), the High Priest and the Governor who stand
beside the lampstand in the light of the omniscience and living power of God, just as
later we are told that the two ‘sons of oil’ stand by ‘the Lord of the whole earth’
(Zechariah 4:14).
This contradicts the common view that the lampstand represents God’s people as a
witness fed by the olive trees, but that view is not borne out by the narrative and the
applications actually given here. Here it is describing the Spirit as empowering
Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:6). It is true that the seven lampstands in Revelation
represent God’s witnesses (as the olive trees do here) but they have in the midst of
them the glorious Son of Man as the lampstand is in the midst here. Then the
church has become one with Him and is part of His revelation of Himself as the light
of the world. But that is progressive. Here the golden lampstand, the living God,
there the living Christ. Here the olive trees, the servants of God, there the
lampstands. The final idea is similar.
PULPIT, "Zechariah 4:2

What seest thou? The angel does not show the vision to the prophet, but makes him
describe it, and then explains its import. This vision of the candlestick, with its seven
lamps fed by two olive trees, signifies that the work of rebuilding the temple, and
preparing the way for the Church of the true Israel, was to be accomplished by
relying, not on human resources, but on Divine aid. Thus were Zerubbabel and his
people roused to perseverance and energy in their good work, of which the final
sucess is assured. I have looked; ἑώρακα, "I have seen." A candlestick all of gold.
The candelabrum as described differs in some particulars from that in the
tabernacle, though the same word, menorath, is used in both cases (Exodus 25:31;
Exodus 37:17, etc.). In Solomon's temple there were ten candelabra (1 Kings 7:49),
which were carried away to Babylon when Jerusalem was taken (Jeremiah 52:19).
The single candelabrum of Zerubbabel's temple is mentioned in 1 Macc. 1:21; 4:49,
50. The one sculptured on the arch of Titus may be a truthful representation of that
in Herod's temple, but probably is not the same as that in the second edifice (comp.
Josephus, 'Ant.,' 14:4, 4). The candelabrum in the vision differed from the original
one in three particulars: it had a central reservoir; it had also seven pipes; and it
was supplied with oil by two olive trees. With a (its) howl upon the top of it. The
"bowl" (gullah) is a reservoir for oil placed at the top of the candelabrum; and from
it tubes led the oil for the supply of the lamps. In the tabernacle each lamp was
separate, and trimmed and filled by the ministering priests; the mystic lamps
needed no human agency to keep them supplied. They were fed by the "bowl." The
word is translated in the Septuagint, λαµπάδιον: in the Vulgate, lampas; hence some
have supposed that, besides the seven lamps, there was another large light in the
centre; but the Greek and Latin rendering is mistaken, the word meaning "a
fountain" (Joshua 15:19), or "a ball" (1 Kings 7:41), or "a round bowl"
(Ecclesiastes 12:6). And seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top
thereof. The Hebrew is, literally rendered, seven and seven pipes to the lamps which
are upon its top. The LXX. translates, καὶ ἑπτὰ ἐπαρυστρίδες τοῖς λύχνοις τοῖς
ἐπάνω αὐτῆς, "And seven vessels for the lamps which are upon it;" so the Vulgate,
Septem infusoria lucernis, quae erant super caput ejus. These versions imply that
there was one supply pipe to each of the lamps, which seems most natural. In this
case, the first "seven" in the text must be an interpolation. Commentators who
regard the present reading as correct have taken various ways in explaining it. Some
multiply the number into itself, and make the pipes forty-nine; but this is
unwarranted by Hebrew usage (Henderson). Others add the numbers together,
making fourteen; but here again the copulative vav, which implies diversity, is an
objection. The Revised Version has, "There are seven pipes to each of the lamps,
taking the words distributively; but the number of tubes seems here to be
unnecessarily large. Dr. Wright considers that there were two pipes to each lamp,
one set connecting each to the central bowl, and one connecting the several lamps
together. One, however, does not see of what particular use the second set is. Dr.
Wright, p. 84, gives a drawing of the candelabrum with its appurtenances,
according to his notion of the vision. The Authorized Version seems to give the
correct idea of the passage, whether we arrive at it by rejecting the first "seven," or
by considering that it is repeated for emphasis' sake, as Cornelius Lapide and
Pressel think: "Seven are the lamps upon it—seven, I say, and seven the pipes."
Take it as we may, the point is that the oil is well and copiously supplied to the

several lights.
3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the
right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
GILL, "And the two olive trees by it,.... Which are explained in; see Gill on Zec_
4:14,
one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof;
in Zec_4:11 they are said to be on the right and left sides of the bowl or candlestick,
which is the same; for the situation of them was alike, with respect to the one and the
other: according to Fortunatus Scacchus, these two olive trees did not arise out of the
earth, and the top of the candlestick; but out of the base of the candlestick, one on the
right hand of the bowl, which hung in the middle of the candlestick; and the other on the
left (o), of which he has given the figure.
JAMISO , "two olive trees — supplying oil to the bowl. The Holy Ghost, who fills
with His fullness 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. For the
explanation of the “two” see Zec_4:12, Zec_4:14.
CALVI , "We must now then enquire the meaning of the vision. Many understand
by the candlestick the Church; and this may be allowed. At the same time I think
that God here simply testified to the Jews, that in having commanded them to set up
a candlestick, he did not appoint an empty, or a deceptive, but a real symbol. God
no doubt represented by the lamps the graces, or the various gifts of his Spirit; yet
the idea of a sevenfold grace is a mere fancy; for God did not intend to confine to
that number the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the variety of which is manifold, even
almost infinite. Hence the number seven designates perfection, according to the
common usage of Scripture. God then intended by placing the candlestick in the
midst of the temple, to show that the grace of his Spirit always shines in his Church,
not of one kind only, but so that there was nothing wanting as to its perfection.
Some think that teachers are represented by the lamps; but as I have already said, it
is better to take a simple view of the meaning than refinedly to philosophise on the
subject. There is indeed no doubt but that God pours forth his graces to illuminate
his Church by his ministers; this we find by experience; but what I have stated is

Zechariah 4 commentary

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