2. Two oracles concerning Zerubbabel 4:6-10The writer inserted two oracles that Zechariah received from the Lord concerning Zerubbabel at this point because they help clarify the meaning of the vision. read more
A great mountain would become a plain before Zerubbabel. Mountains epitomize large obstacles (cf. Isaiah 40:4; Isaiah 41:15; Isaiah 49:11; Matthew 17:20; Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23; 1 Corinthians 13:2). They are also symbols of kingdoms (cf. Isaiah 41:15; Jeremiah 51:25; Daniel 2:35; Daniel 2:45; et al), but that is not the meaning here. The whole process of temple restoration seemed like a mountainous job to the few exiles who returned from captivity. In addition, there was much opposition to... read more
The Fifth VisionThe prophet’s thoughts now turn to the civil ruler Zerubbabel. The purpose of the fifth vision is to encourage him in the difficult task of rebuilding the Temple, 1-5, 11-14. The golden candlestick (i.e. the returned exiles) receives its supply of oil (i.e. the divine grace) through two channels (’pipes,’ Zechariah 4:12), viz. the spiritual and the temporal leaders, Joshua and Zerubbabel, through whose united efforts the prosperity of the nation would be accomplished. These are... read more
IV.FOURTH VISION.—THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK.(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... read more
A SERIES OF SEVEN VISIONS.Zechariah 1:7 to Zechariah 6:15. Between the commencement of Zechariah’s prophetic labours and the incidents recorded in Zechariah 1:7 to Zechariah 6:15, the Prophet Haggai received the revelation contained in Haggai 2:10-23. On the four-and-twentieth day of the eleventh month, just five months after the re-building of the Temple was resumed, Zechariah sees a succession of seven visions in one night, followed by a symbolic action (Zechariah 6:9-15). read more
(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... read more
(4) These does not refer merely to the olive-trees, though in Zechariah 4:11-12 they are shown to be the salient point in the vision, but to everything described in Zechariah 4:2-3. read more
(6) This . . . word.—The vision is called “the word,” as being a symbolical prophecy. (Comp. Zechariah 1:7.) As the golden candlestick was placed in the holy place of the Tabernacle (and the Temple) “before the LORD, as an everlasting statute for their generations on behalf of the children of Israel” (Exodus 27:21), so did the congregation on whose behalf (or as a symbol of which) was the candlestick, require a sanctuary in which to let their light shine before the Lord, and from which it might... read more
(7) O great mountain?—This is figurative of the colossal difficulties put in the way of the completion of the building of the Temple by the neighbouring powers. (Comp. Matthew 21:21.)Thou shalt become a plain.—This certainly gives the true meaning of the original, which, however, is singularly graphic, and consists of but one word—literally, to a plain: i.e., thou shalt become. LXX. mistake the word for an Aramaic infinitive, and render τοῦ κατορθῶσαι, “that thou shouldest bring it to a... read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Zechariah 4:6-7
The first oracle 4:6-7 read more