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Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Zechariah 4:14 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
  • KJV Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.
  • BSB So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
  • NKJV So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
  • NLT Then he said to me, “They represent the two anointed ones who stand in the court of the Lord of all the earth.”

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

The two olive trees are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. They represent God's appointed leaders, likely Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Overview

The 'two anointed ones' most naturally point to the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, the civil and religious leaders through whom God's Spirit blessed His people. They stand ready to serve the Lord of all the earth. Together they foreshadow Christ, who unites the offices of king and priest and is filled without measure by the Spirit.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Rev 11:4These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands, standing before the Lord of the earth.
  • Isa 61:1–3The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
  • Zech 3:1–7He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
  • Exod 40:15You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”
  • Dan 9:24–26Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
  • Zech 6:13even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
  • Mic 4:13Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass; and you will beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain to Yahweh, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
  • 1 Sam 16:12–13He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.”
  • Heb 1:8–9But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
  • 1 Sam 16:1Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.”
  • 1 Sam 10:1Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t Yahweh anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?
  • Josh 3:11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
  • Exod 29:7Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.
  • Deut 10:8At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
  • Jer 49:19“Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?”
  • 1 Kgs 17:1Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
  • Isa 5:1Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
  • Heb 7:1–2For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
  • Josh 3:13It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.”
  • Ps 89:20I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil,
  • Hag 1:1–12In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
  • Isa 54:5For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.
  • Zech 6:5The angel answered me, “These are the four winds of the sky, which go out from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
  • Ps 2:6“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
  • Lev 8:12He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
  • Luke 1:19The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.
  • Ps 110:4Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

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 4:14YouTube · 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 4:14 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.