Zechariah 4:13 (KJV)

Passage

And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

Nearby Context

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

Zechariah 4:12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

Zechariah 4:13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

Zechariah 4:14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "And I answered again and said unto..." into verse 14's "Then said he These are the two...", so "answered" and "said" 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 "answered" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.