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Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
Zechariah 1:9 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
  • KJV Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
  • BSB “What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
  • NKJV Then I said, “My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”
  • NLT I asked the angel who was talking with me, “My lord, what do these horses mean?” “I will show you,” the angel replied.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Zechariah asks the meaning of the vision, and an interpreting angel offers to explain. The prophet models humble dependence on God's revelation.

Overview

Throughout these visions an angel guides Zechariah, showing that spiritual realities must be interpreted by God, not guessed at by human insight. Zechariah's question, 'My lord, what are these?', expresses teachable humility. This pattern reminds believers that understanding God's purposes comes through His gracious self-disclosure, fully given in the revelation of Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Zech 4:4–5I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
  • Rev 7:13–14One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?”
  • Zech 2:3Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him,
  • Zech 5:5Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing.”
  • Dan 9:22–23He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding.
  • Zech 1:19I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
  • Gen 31:11The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’
  • Dan 10:11–14He said to me, Daniel, you man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for am I now sent to you. When he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.
  • Dan 8:15–16When I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
  • Rev 19:9–10He said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” He said to me, “These are true words of God.”
  • Zech 6:4–5Then I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
  • Dan 7:16I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
  • Zech 4:11Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?”
  • Rev 17:1–7One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
  • Rev 22:8–16Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Zechariah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Zechariah 1:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ZechariahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.

How Zechariah 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.