Zechariah 4:9 (DBY)

Passage

The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; and his hands shall finish it: and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you.

Nearby Context

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!

Zechariah 4:8 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Zechariah 4:9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; and his hands shall finish it: and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you.

Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? Yea, they shall rejoice [even] those seven and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel: these are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro in the whole earth.

Zechariah 4:11 And I answered and said unto him, What are these two olive-trees on the right of the lamp-stand and on its left?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hands", "zerubbabel", "laid", "foundation", "house", "shall", and "finish". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hands" and "zerubbabel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And the word of Jehovah came unto..." into verse 10's "For who hath despised the day of...", so "hands" and "zerubbabel" 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 "hands" and "zerubbabel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.