So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Parallel translations
- WEB I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
- BSB “What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
- NKJV So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
- NASB Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
- NLT Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?”
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 interpreting angel what these things mean. He humbly seeks understanding rather than presuming.
Overview
Once again the prophet does not assume he grasps the vision but asks for explanation. This humility before God's symbolic revelation models the right posture toward Scripture's deeper meaning. It reminds us that spiritual understanding is received as a gift from God, not manufactured by human cleverness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Matt 13:36Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
- Zech 1:9Then 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.
- Zech 6:4Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
- Dan 12:8And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
- Zech 1:19And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
- Zech 5:6And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
- Zech 4:12–14And 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?
- Dan 7:16–19I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
- Rev 7:13–14And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 4:4 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.