Zechariah 4:9 (DRB)

Passage

The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands shall finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to you.

Nearby Context

Zechariah 4:7 Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zorobabel? thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring out the chief stone, and shall give equal grace to the grace thereof.

Zechariah 4:8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Zechariah 4:9 The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands shall finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to you.

Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised little days? and they shall rejoice, and shall see the tin plummet in the hand of Zorobabel. These are the seven eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth.

Zechariah 4:11 And I answered, and said to him: What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof ?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hands", "zorobabel", "laid", "foundations", "house", "shall", and "finish". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hands" and "zorobabel", 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 the Lord came..." into verse 10's "For who hath despised little days and...", so "hands" and "zorobabel" 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 "zorobabel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.