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What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
Zechariah 4:7 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’”
  • KJV Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
  • NKJV ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
  • NASB ‘What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
  • NLT Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”

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

Every obstacle ('great mountain') before Zerubbabel will become level ground, and he will set the capstone amid shouts of grace. God removes all hindrances to His work.

Overview

The 'great mountain' represents the opposition and difficulties facing the temple project, which God will flatten. Placing the final capstone with cries of 'Grace, grace!' celebrates that the whole accomplishment is by God's favor, not human merit. This points to the gospel truth that God's work, from foundation to completion, rests on grace alone.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 35

  • Jer 51:25“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.
  • Zech 4:9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.
  • Ps 118:22The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
  • Mic 4:1In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
  • Ps 114:4the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
  • 1 Pet 2:7To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
  • Isa 41:15Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
  • Ps 114:6O mountains, that you skipped like rams, O hills, like lambs?
  • Acts 4:11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
  • Hag 2:6–9For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
  • Hag 2:21–23“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth:
  • Zech 14:4–5On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.
  • Nah 1:5–6The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
  • Dan 2:34–35As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
  • Isa 28:16So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
  • Ezra 3:11–13And they sang responsively with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; for His loving devotion to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD had been laid.
  • Rom 11:6And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
  • Job 38:6–7On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,
  • Mic 1:4The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
  • Eph 2:4–8But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
  • Isa 40:3–4A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
  • Luke 20:17But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
  • Eph 2:20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
  • Rev 19:1–6After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
  • Luke 3:5Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.
  • Ezra 6:15–17And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
  • Jer 33:11the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.
  • Matt 21:42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
  • Rev 16:20Then every island fled, and no mountain could be found.
  • Rev 5:9–13And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
  • Matt 21:21“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
  • Eph 1:6–7to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
  • Hab 3:6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
  • Isa 64:1–3If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
  • Mark 12:10Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 4:7YouTube · 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 4:7 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.