Bible Strands
Zechariah 4:3
There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zechariah continues his vision report of a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top, noting the addition of two olive trees flanking it. He then turns to the angel who is speaking with him to ask for the meaning of these components.
The words — The Hebrew זֵיתִים (zeitim) means "olive trees," directly paired with שְׁנַ֥יִם (shnayim) for "two." These terms specify the exact number and type of vegetation positioned at the bowl's right and left sides.
The thread — The imagery resurfaces in Revelation 11:4 as the two olive trees and two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth. Zechariah 4:14 later identifies these same trees as the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of all the earth.
Why it lands — The passage first records a precise visual arrangement of trees beside a lampstand before any symbolic meaning is attached. Readers must note the described physical details before applying later interpretive identifications to them.
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
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
Cross-references
- Revelation 11:4 These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
- Zechariah 4:14 So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
- Romans 11:17 Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
- Zechariah 4:11 Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”
- Judges 9:9 But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’
- Romans 11:24 For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!