Zechariah 4:2

4:1-7 The prophet's spirit was willing to attend, but the flesh was weak. We should beg of God that, whenever he speaks to us, he would awaken us, and we should then stir up ourselves. The church is a golden candlestick, or lamp-bearer, set up for enlightening this dark world, and holding forth the light of Divine revelation. Two olive trees were seen, one on each side the candlestick, from which oil flowed into the bowl without ceasing. God brings to pass his gracious purposes concerning his church, without any art or labour of man; sometimes he makes use of his instruments, yet he needs them not. This represented the abundance of Divine grace, for the enlightening and making holy the ministers and members of the church, and which cannot be procured or prevented by any human power. The vision assures us that the good work of building the temple, should be brought to a happy end. The difficulty is represented as a great mountain. But all difficulties shall vanish, and all the objections be got over. Faith will remove mountains, and make them plains. Christ is our Zerubbabel; mountains of difficulty were in the way of his undertaking, but nothing is too hard for him. What comes from the grace of God, may, in faith, be committed to the grace of God, for he will not forsake the work of his own hands.

That is, after he was awake, and had looked about him: And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold; such an one as was in the tabernacle of Moses, only with this difference; that had no bowl on the top, nor seven pipes to it, nor two olive trees on each side of it, with two pipes to them, Exodus 25:31 such a candlestick was never in being, only in vision; and is an emblem of the church of Christ, into which the light of the Gospel is put by Christ, and held forth by it, and especially by its ministers; see Revelation 1:12 for the light put into this candlestick, the church, is not the light of nature or reason, which is "the candle of the Lord searching into the inward parts" of man; by which he may discern somewhat the being and perfections of God in his works, and of moral good and evil; but it is too dim to direct and guide him in the affair of salvation: nor the law of Moses, said to be a light, and a lamp; by which men might come to the knowledge of sin, but not of a Saviour from it: but the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, which was like a candle lighted up in the evening of the Jewish dispensation, and placed in the Christian church; and gave light, not only to the saints in Judea, but in all parts of the world, whither it has been carried; for this candlestick is portable, and has been removed from place to place; and wherever it is set, it gives light, and removes the darkness of error, infidelity, and immorality; and is useful to direct th

And said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a {a} lamp stand all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps, and seven {b} pipes to the seven lamps, which were upon the top of it: (a) Which was ever in the midst of the temple, signifying that the graces of God's Spirit would shine, here in most abundance, and in all perfection. (b) Which conveyed the oil that dropped from the trees into the lamps, so that the light never went out: and this vision was to strengthen and encourage the faithful that God had sufficient power in himself to continue his graces, and to bring his promise to pass even though he had no help from man.

What seest thou? what dost thou discern, of that thou didst before, half asleep half awake, see, but didst not observe? I have looked; since awakened and roused, I have very diligently viewed and observed, and I see. A candlestick: by God’s appointment there was a candlestick to be made, as an utensil and ornament of the temple, Exodus 25:31 . All of gold; so was the candlestick to be for the temple, all of pure gold, Exodus 37:17 . A bowl, or basin, or round and large oil cruet, capable of so much oil as would suffice to feed all the lamps in the candlestick. Upon the top of it; on the highest part of the candlestick, on the top of the candlestick on the top of the shaft, or on the head of the candlestick. Seven lamps; either so many, because the temple candlestick had just so many, or because of some perfection supposed to be in this septenary number. Seven pipes; one pipe to each lamp, the mouth of which pipe joined to the bowl or basin, and received oil from it; the other end of the pipe fastened to the lamp conveyed oil into the lamp. To the seven lamps; so each of the seven lamps had a pipe reaching from it to the bowl or basin. On the top thereof: these lamps were so set as to stand somewhat higher than the body of the candlestick.

2 . I have looked ] Rather, I have seen, the word being the same as in the Angel’s question, What seest thou? A candlestick all of gold ] The word here used for candlestick (though not restricted to that, 2 Kings 4:10 ) is always used of the candlestick in the Tabernacle. That too, like this, was “all of gold.” Exodus 25:31 . “It has been calculated to have been worth £5,076, exclusive of workmanship.” Dict. of Bible , Art. Candlestick. In Solomon’s Temple there were ten candlesticks ( 1 Kings 7:49 ; 2 Chronicles 4:7 ; comp. Jeremiah 52:19 ), either in addition to, or instead of, the one in the Tabernacle. In Zerubbabel’s Temple one candlestick only again was seen, as we learn from this passage and 1Ma 1:23 ; 1Ma 4:49 ; as well as from the sculpture on the Arch of Titus. a bowl ] Rather, its bowl, or reservoir. The candlestick in the Tabernacle had no bowl of this kind. The “bowls” which it had ( Exodus 25:31 ; Exodus 25:33-34 ; Exodus 37:17 ; Exodus 37:19-20 ;—quite a different Heb. word from that here used, and rendered cups in R. V.) were ornaments like scallop-shells, or the calix of a flower, on the shaft and branches of the candlestick. The lamps were trimmed daily by the priests ( Exodus 27:21 ). “They were each supplied with cotton and half a log of the purest olive-oil (about two wine-glasses) which was sufficient to keep them burning during a long night.” Dict. of Bible .

The use of the same word as here for the bowl of a hanging lamp, suspended from the ceiling by a “silver cord,” the giving way of which causes the lamp to fall to the ground and be shattered, Ecclesiastes 12:6 , has led some to think that the lamp in Zechariah’s vision was hanging also. This, however, is improbable. The addition of the bowl to the holy candlestick has its obvious meaning: “not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,” Zechariah 4:6 . No human agency is now needed. The bowl yields a ceaseless supply of oil. seven pipes to the seven lamps ] This has been variously interpreted to mean either one, two, or seven pipes connecting each lamp with the oil-bowl. The most natural interpretation of our present Hebrew text is, that each lamp of the candlestick was connected by seven pipes with the bowl which fed it with oil, and that the large and perfect number of pipes is intended to symbolise the plentifulness of the supply. There are seven pipes to each of the lamps . R. V.

2. candlestick—symbolizing the Jewish theocracy; and ultimately, the Church of which the Jewish portion is to be the head: the light-bearer (so the original is of "lights," Mt 5:14, 16; Php 2:15) to the world. all … gold—all pure in doctrine and practice, precious and indestructible; such is the true ideal of the Church; such she shall be (Ps 45:13). bowl upon the top—In the candlestick of the tabernacle the plural is used, bowls (Ex 25:31). The Hebrew implies that it was the fountain of supply of oil to the lamps. Christ at the head ("on the top") of the Church is the true fountain, of whose fulness of the Spirit all we receive grace (Joh 1:16). his seven lamps—united in one stem; so in Ex 25:32. But in Re 1:12 the seven candlesticks are separate. The Gentile churches will not realize their unity till the Jewish Church as the stem unites all the lamps in one candlestick (Ro 11:16-24). The "seven lamps," in Re 4:5, are the "seven Spirits of God." seven pipes—feeding tubes, seven apiece from the "bowl" to each lamp (see Margin) [Maurer and Calvin]; literally, "seven and seven": forty-nine in all. The greater the number of oil-feeding pipes, the brighter the light of the lamps. The explanation in Zec 4:6 is, that man's power by itself can neither retard nor advance God's work, that the real motive-power is God's Spirit. The seven times seven imply the manifold modes by which the Spirit's grace is imparted to the Church in her manifold work of enlightening the world.

Verse 2. - What seest thou? The angel does not show the vision to the prophet, but makes him describe it, and then explains its import. This vision of the candlestick, with its seven lamps fed by two olive trees, signifies that the work of rebuilding the temple, and preparing the way for the Church of the true Israel, was to be accomplished by relying, not on human resources, but on Divine aid. Thus were Zerubbabel and his people roused to perseverance and energy in their good work, of which the final sucess is assured. I have looked; ἑώρακα (Septuagint), "I have seen." A candlestick all of gold . The candelabrum as described differs in some particulars from that in the tabernacle, though the same word , menorath , is used in both cases ( Exodus 25:31 ; Exodus 37:17 , etc.). In Solomon's temple there were ten candelabra ( 1 Kings 7:49 ), which were carried away to Babylon when Jerusalem was taken ( Jeremiah 52:19 ). The single candelabrum of Zerubbabel's temple is mentioned in 1 Macc. 1:21 1 Macc. 4:49, 50. The one sculptured on the arch of Titus may be a truthful representation of that in Herod's temple, but probably is not the same as that in the second edifice (comp. Josephus, 'Ant.,' 14:04, 4). The candelabrum in the vision differed from the original one in three particulars: it had a central reservoir; it had also seven pipes; and it was supplied with oil by two olive trees. With a ( its ) howl upon the top of it.

The "bowl" ( gullah ) is a reservoir for oil placed at the top of the candelabrum; and from it tubes led the oil for the supply of the lamps. In the tabernacle each lamp was separate, and trimmed and filled by the ministering priests; the mystic lamps needed no human agency to keep them supplied. They were fed by the "bowl." The word is translated in the Septuagint, λαμπάδιον : in the Vulgate, lampas ; hence some have supposed that, besides the seven lamps, there was another large light in the centre; but the Greek and Latin rendering is mistaken, the word meaning "a fountain" ( Joshua 15:19 ), or "a ball" ( 1 Kings 7:41 ), or "a round bowl" ( Ecclesiastes 12:6 ). And seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof. The Hebrew is, literally rendered, seven and seven pipes to the lamps which are upon its top. The LXX. translates, Καὶ ἑπτὰ ἐπαρυστρίδες τοῖς λύχνοις τοῖς ἐπάνω αὐτῆς , "And seven vessels for the lamps which are upon it;" so the Vulgate, Septem infusoria lucernis, quae erant super caput ejus . These versions imply that there was one supply pipe to each of the lamps, which seems most natural. In this case, the first "seven" in the text must be an interpolation. Commentators who regard the present reading as correct have taken various ways in explaining it. Some multiply the number into itself, and make the pipes forty-nine; but this is unwarranted by Hebrew usage (Henderson).

And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold - The candlestick is the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle Exodus 25:31 , but with variations purposely introduced to symbolize the fuller and more constant supply of the oil, itself the symbol of God's Holy Spirit, who: "Enables with perpetual light The dullness of our blinded sight." The first variation is "her bowl on the top of the candlestick," containing the oil; then (as dependent on this) the pipes to derive the oil into each lamp, "seven several pipes to the seven lamps," that is, seven to each; and the two olive trees on either side of the bowl, whose extreme and fine branches poured through two golden pipes the golden oil into the bowl which supplied the lamp. The multiplied conduits imply the large and perfect supply of oil unceasingly supplied, the seven being symbolic of perfection or of the reconciling of God (symbolized by 3) unto the world (symbolized by 4, its four quarters); the spontaneous flow of the golden oil from the olive trees symbolizes the free gift of God.