Zechariah 4:5 (DBY)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Zechariah 4:3 and two olive-trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl, and the other on the left of it.

Zechariah 4:4 And I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Zechariah 4:5 And the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord.

Zechariah 4:6 And he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts.

Zechariah 4:7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [thou dost become] a plain; and he shall bring forth the head-stone with shoutings: Grace, grace unto it!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "angel", "talked", "answered", "said", "knowest", "thou", and "lord". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "angel" and "talked", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And I answered and spoke to the..." into verse 6's "And he answered and spoke unto me...", so "angel" and "talked" belong inside that flow. In Zechariah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "angel" and "talked" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.