Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.”
Parallel translations
- WEB and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.”
- KJV And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
- BSB There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”
- NASB also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.”
- NLT And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.”
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
Two olive trees stand beside the lampstand, one on each side. They are the source supplying the lamps with oil.
Overview
The olive trees continuously feed oil to the lampstand, picturing an unfailing supply that keeps the light burning. This detail emphasizes that the lamp's shining depends on a source outside itself. The image points to God's provision through His Spirit and His anointed servants, explained later in the vision.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Rev 11:4These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands, standing before the Lord of the earth.
- Rom 11:17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree;
- Zech 4:14Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
- Zech 4:11–12Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?”
- Judg 9:9“But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop producing my oil, with which they honor God and man by me, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?’
- Rom 11:24For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
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 4:3 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.