Bible Strands
Zechariah 4:10
For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The angel speaks to Zechariah, addressing the contempt the returned exiles feel toward the modest temple Zerubbabel is rebuilding. This follows the declaration that Zerubbabel's hands will complete the house (v. 9).
The words — בַז (vaz, "to despise, scorn") is a strong verb of active contempt, not mere dislike. Its object, קְטַנּוֹת (ke.ta.nOt, "small things"), names precisely what the people are looking down on.
The thread — God choosing the lowly and despised to nullify the powerful echoes in 1 Corinthians 1:28. The image of the LORD's eyes scanning the earth parallels 2 Chronicles 16:9, and the modest-beginnings-to-flourishing arc appears in Job 8:7.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to name what they are currently despising as too small to matter. The verse asserts that God's attention is not calibrated to human estimates of scale.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Cross-references
- Job 8:7 Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.
- 1 Corinthians 1:28 He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
- 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”
- Matthew 13:31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field.
- Haggai 2:3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not appear to you like nothing in comparison?’
- Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Zechariah 3:9 See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
- Revelation 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
- Amos 7:7 This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand.