Zechariah 4:5

5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord."

Zechariah 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 4:5

Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto
me
Either to upbraid him with his ignorance and stupidity; or rather to quicken his attention, and that of others, to the interpretation of it he was about to give him: Knowest thou not what these be?
art thou ignorant of the design of them? or knowest thou not what is meant by them? and I said, No, my lord;
he made an ingenuous confession of his ignorance, joined with great respect unto, and veneration of, the angel that conversed with him.

Zechariah 4:5 In-Context

3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."
4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord."
6 Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerub'babel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerub'babel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'"
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.