Zechariah 4:5

5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.

Zechariah 4:5 in Other Translations

5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

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

5 “Don’t you know?” the angel asked. “No, my lord,” I replied.

5 The Messenger-Angel said, "Can't you tell?" "No, sir," I said.

5 "Don't you know what they are?" replied the angel who was speaking with me. 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 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.

6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.

7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”

Cross References

• 1. S Zechariah 1:9