Zechariah 4:4

4:4 Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, “What are these, ¹  sir?”

Zechariah 4:11

4:11 Next I asked the messenger, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the menorah?”

Zechariah 4:13

4:13 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” And I said, “No, sir.”

Zechariah 5:10-11

5:10 I asked the messenger who was speaking to me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 5:11 He replied, “To build a temple ²  for her in the land of Babylonia. ³  When it is finished, she will be placed there in her own residence.”

Zechariah 6:4

6:4 Then I asked the angelic messenger ⁴  who was speaking with me, “What are these, sir?”

Zechariah 11:15

11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ⁵ 

Zechariah 13:6

13:6 Then someone will ask him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’ ⁶  and he will answer, ‘Some that I received in the house of my friends.’

[4:4]  ¹ sn Here these must refer to the lamps, since the identification of the olive trees is left to vv. 11-14.

[5:11]  ² tn Heb “house” (so NIV, NRSV, CEV).

[5:11]  ³ sn The land of Babylonia (Heb “the land of Shinar”) is another name for Sumer and Akkad, where Babylon was located (Gen 10:10). Babylon throughout the Bible symbolizes the focus of anti-God sentiment and activity (Gen 11:4; 14:1; Isa 13–14; 47:1-3; Jer 50–51; Rev 14:8; 17:1, 5, 18; 18:21).

[6:4]  ³ tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in 1:9.

[11:15]  ⁴ sn The grammar (e.g., the incipient participle מֵקִים, maqim, “about to raise up,” v. 16) and overall sense of vv. 15-17 give the incident a future orientation. Zechariah once more is role-playing but this time he is a “foolish” shepherd, i.e., one who does not know God and who is opposed to him (cf. Prov 1:7; 15:5; 20:3; 27:22). The individual who best represents this eschatological enemy of God and his people is the Antichrist (cf. Matt 24:5, 24; 2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

[13:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “wounds between your hands.” Cf. NIV “wounds on your body”; KJV makes this more specific: “wounds in thine hands.”