Then the angel who had been speaking with me returned and woke me, like a person who is awakened from his sleep.
Parallel translations
- WEB The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
- KJV And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
- BSB Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep.
- NKJV Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
- NLT Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep.
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 angel rouses Zechariah as from sleep for another vision. The prophet is awakened to receive fresh revelation.
Overview
Being wakened 'as a man out of his sleep' suggests the weight and wonder of the visions, which leave the prophet spent. God graciously stirs him to attentiveness for the next message. The detail underscores that prophetic revelation is God's initiative, requiring the recipient's alert, dependent reception.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Dan 8:18Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.
- Jer 31:26On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
- Zech 1:9Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
- 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.”
- Zech 2:3Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him,
- Luke 9:32Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.
- Luke 22:45–46When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief,
- 1 Kgs 19:5–7He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat!”
- Zech 1:13Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
- Dan 10:8–10So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
- Zech 3:6–7Yahweh’s angel protested to Joshua, saying,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:1 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.