Chapter 4 of Zechariah opens with the angel awakening the prophet from his sleep. The Malbim explains that the prophet did not understand the previous vision and did not grasp the full meaning of what was said to him, "Behold, I will engrave its engraving with seven eyes" - and as a result, he fell into a deep sleep. This sleep and slumber symbolize that the matter was concealed from him: like someone asleep, he did not comprehend the message or know what the words were meant to convey. Therefore, the angel arrives, awakens him, and shows him a new vision - a vision that serves entirely as an explanation of the first one. Everything seen now concerning the menorah is an elucidation of what was previously told to him regarding the stone and the seven eyes.
וַיָּשָׁב הַמַּלְאָךְ הַדֹּבֵר בִּי וַיְעִירֵנִי כְּאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יֵעוֹר מִשְּׁנָתוֹ׃ - And the angel who spoke with me returned and woke me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי מָה אַתָּה רֹאֶה, וָאֹמַר רָאִיתִי וְהִנֵּה מְנוֹרַת זָהָב כֻּלָּהּ וְגֻלָּהּ עַל רֹאשָׁהּ וְשִׁבְעָה נֵרֹתֶיהָ עָלֶיהָ, שִׁבְעָה וְשִׁבְעָה מוּצָקוֹת לַנֵּרוֹת אֲשֶׁר עַל רֹאשָׁהּ׃ - And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a menorah all of gold, with a bowl on top of it, and its seven lamps upon it, and seven and seven pipes to the lamps which are on its top.'
The angel asks, "What do you see?" - meaning, what you see now will serve as an explanation of what you saw previously. The prophet replies: a golden menorah, and atop it - above it - a kind of large bowl from which a spring flows into the branches of the menorah. "Gulah" (bowl) is related to "springs of water" (gullot mayim), springs from which water emerges and flows out. On the menorah are seven lamps, which are the receptacles into which the oil is poured and where the wick is kindled. "Seven and seven pipes" - each lamp has seven channels pouring oil into it from the bowl, from the spring within the upper vessel. Thus, a total of forty-nine pipes pour into the seven lamps.
The menorah alludes to the light of Hashem that illuminates the entire world with His glory, and when the glory of Hashem shines - "and all will walk by its light." The fact that it is completely whole and entirely gold teaches that the glory of Hashem will be revealed in majesty and splendor, for honor and glory, without any deficiency. The bowl on top of it alludes to the supernal spring from which the Holy One, Blessed be He, pours forth blessing and abundance to the seven lamps. These seven lamps represent the seven supernal middot (attributes) of Atzilut: Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut, through which Hashem guides His world. Through these middot He watches over, directs, and pours out the good oil from the supernal spring, corresponding to the river flowing out of Eden to water the garden - the divine abundance flowing from above to water the entire garden below.
The Malbim explains that each of the middot contains all seven within itself, hence the seven pipes for each lamp. This is readily understood by anyone familiar with the kavanot (intentions) of Sefirat HaOmer: when speaking of the sefirah of Chessed, it is subdivided into Chessed of Chessed, Gevurah of Chessed, Tiferet of Chessed, Netzach of Chessed, Hod of Chessed, Yesod of Chessed, and Malchut of Chessed - seven sefirot that comprise Chessed. Then Gevurah: Chessed of Gevurah, Gevurah of Gevurah, Tiferet of Gevurah, Netzach of Gevurah, and so forth through all the middot, totaling forty-nine. This is precisely what we focus on each day during Sefirat HaOmer. So too here: each lamp represents a sefirah, drawing from the seven internal sefirot within that same sefirah.
In the words of the Malbim: each of the middot is incorporated with all of them - whether for kindness (chessed), whether for the rod of correction (shevet), or whether for mercy (rachamim). Kindness is Chessed, the rod is Gevurah, and mercy is Tiferet, for mercy exists only within judgment, as was explained at length previously.
Through this, the Holy One, Blessed be He, shows him that in the future the celestial order will not rule. The celestial order is also like a seven-branched menorah - the seven classical planets, known by the acronym Shatza"m Chanaka"l - which illuminate, channel influence, and bring down abundance. However, that menorah is not made of gold; it is lesser in stature, and there is no bowl atop it. "A bowl on its top" means that Hashem's providence is immediate, close at hand, and directly connected. In the menorah of the planetary order, there is no bowl on its top, and therefore its source is unreliable and the oil atop it is lacking - the opposite of what is written, "and oil on its top" - for it is distant from the source of abundance. In the future, however, the pure menorah, a menorah of gold, will shine: Hashem will appear in His holy sanctuary, illuminate and pour forth the holy oil from above through the bowl, and engrave its engravings - the seven eyes of Hashem, which are the seven supernal lamps upon the cornerstone - and the earth will shine with their glory. This was what He wished to intimate to him in the previous prophecy, and now He explains it in detail.
וּשְׁנַיִם זֵיתִים עָלֶיהָ, אֶחָד מִימִין הַגֻּלָּה וְאֶחָד עַל שְׂמֹאלָהּ׃ - And two olive trees are by it, one on the right of the bowl and one on its left.
"Two olive trees" - two olive trees upon which the olives grow, one on the right of the bowl and one on its left. The bowl (*gulah*), as mentioned, is the reservoir that channels the oil into the lamps. Rashi explains that the golden spouts mentioned later are like vats, basins in an olive press standing beside the olive trees. In this vision, the prophet is shown how the olives beat themselves into the spouts, where they warm up as in a ripening pit where olives heat up before oil extraction, and are pressed in the olive press. The oil then flows into the spouts, from the spouts into the bowl, and from the bowl into the conduits - the pipes that pour the oil into the lamps. These forty-nine conduits, Rashi says, allude to the light of the future to come, when the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of the seven days of Creation. The core idea, according to Rashi, is that these events occur entirely on their own: the oil is pressed on its own, and the olives drop down on their own. The Malbim explains more simply: two olive branches resting on the Menorah next to the bowl, one on the right and one on the left.
וָאַעַן וָאֹמַר אֶל הַמַּלְאָךְ הַדֹּבֵר בִּי לֵאמֹר, מָה אֵלֶּה אֲדֹנִי׃ - And I spoke up and said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying: What are these, my lord?
According to Rashi, the question is: Why are the olives harvested on their own, and why does the oil flow into the Menorah on its own? According to the Malbim, it is a broader question - I still do not understand what this entire vision signifies.
וַיַּעַן הַמַּלְאָךְ הַדֹּבֵר בִּי וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי, הֲלוֹא יָדַעְתָּ מָה הֵמָּה אֵלֶּה, וָאֹמַר לֹא אֲדֹנִי׃ - Then the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me: Do you not know what these are? And I said: No, my lord.
The angel says to him: The core subject itself - a Menorah and seven lamps - is well known to those initiated into the divine secrets, for the Menorah of the Beit HaMikdash also alludes to the seven Sefirot. The prophet replies, "No, my lord." His meaning, the Malbim explains, is: Although I know the secret of the Menorah - that it embodies the mystery of the seven Sefirot that pour forth divine flow and illuminate the world - I do not know specifically what you are alluding to with the Menorah you are showing me now. What phenomenon, what future event is being depicted here? This is what remains unclear to me.
וַיַּעַן וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי לֵאמֹר, זֶה דְּבַר ה' אֶל זְרֻבָּבֶל לֵאמֹר, לֹא בְחַיִל וְלֹא בְכֹחַ כִּי אִם בְּרוּחִי אָמַר ה' צְבָאוֹת׃ - Then he responded and said to me, saying: This is the word of Hashem to Zerubbabel, saying: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, said Hashem of Hosts.
Rashi continues along the line he began: Just as the olives are harvested on their own and the oil flows down on its own, so too the building of the Temple that you are now constructing will not be accomplished through might or power, but will, as it were, come about on its own. And what is meant by "by My spirit"? Rashi explains: I will place My spirit upon Darius, and he will command you to build the Temple and provide all the building materials from his own resources. Indeed, it is recorded that he himself gave great funds toward the building of the Second Temple, assisting them with wheat, wine, oil, and timber, as we learned in the Book of Ezra - so you will not need human assistance. Everything will happen "by My spirit," through My will, says Hashem, blessed be He, without great human effort.
The Malbim, on the other hand, applies these words to the ultimate Redemption. Alluded to in this Menorah is the promise Hashem made to Zerubbabel: when He brings "My servant, Tzemach" - this is the Mashiach, Menachem, who is destined to come and bring about the future Redemption - divine providence will operate without intermediaries. The intermediaries today are the celestial spheres and planets that govern the natural order of creation; but when Hashem is revealed and "Hashem alone shall be exalted on that day," there will be no intermediaries. The Holy One, blessed be He, will guide us directly, without mediators and without planetary bodies serving as middlemen between us and Him. It will not be through the natural system, where man must struggle and overcome obstacles through natural means - rather, everything will be "by My spirit."
Furthermore, it will not even be through angels. For even when He acts through miracles rather than through human might, an internal capacity is generally still required, as a miracle does not rest upon a void, as it is said, "Go with this strength of yours and save Israel." Here, however, it is "by My spirit" - Hashem's spirit alone will direct everything, and a miracle can occur even upon a void, without any prior preparation whatsoever. This is the allusion in the golden Menorah and the seven lamps: these are the seven eyes of Hashem that He will open upon the foundation stone, the headstone. They will no longer need seven physical eyes, which are the seven celestial bodies, but rather Hashem's providence will operate solely through the seven supernal Sefirot - and this is what you saw in the abundance flowing down from the bowl and emanating downward.
מִי אַתָּה הַר הַגָּדוֹל לִפְנֵי זְרֻבָּבֶל לְמִישֹׁר, וְהוֹצִיא אֶת הָאֶבֶן הָרֹאשָׁה תְּשֻׁאוֹת חֵן חֵן לָהּ׃ - Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'
When Zerubbabel goes forth, the great mountain will become a plain - nothing will stop him. And regarding whom are these words spoken? Targum Yonatan translates: "What do you consider yourself, foolish kingdom, before Zerubbabel? Are you not like a plain?" - referring to the coming of Mashiach: "And He shall reveal His anointed one whose name was spoken from long ago, and he shall rule over all kingdoms." When Mashiach comes, even the foolish kingdom, which considers itself a great mountain, will be reduced to nothing.
Rashi, and along similar lines the Radak, interpret this as referring to the Second Temple. For initially, when Cyrus gave permission, there were detractors who obstructed the work: Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions - they and their faction, along with Sanballat and his associates - wrote accusations and prevented the construction of the Temple, leading to a cessation of the building, as related in the Books of Ezra and Nechemiah. The prophet says to them: Now that I consent and grant permission through Darius for the Temple to be built, who are you, governors of Beyond the River? Who are you, Sanballat and his associates, to come and impede and halt the work? Now you shall become like a plain; you possess no dominion or greatness over him.
And what is "the headstone" (ha-even ha-roshah)? Rashi explains that the master builder will take the plumb stone in his hand to oversee the builders as the chief architect, and they will construct everything according to his direction, in a beautiful and magnificent edifice. This stone is a plummet, akin to a builder's level today: a weight suspended by a cord, lowered from above, by which they determine whether the wall is straight, ensuring it is built plumb from the outset, since a plumb line always hangs true. "Shouts of Grace, grace to it!" - teshu'ot denotes raising a loud voice, as in "full of clamor, a tumultuous city" (teshu'ot mele'ah ir homiyah), a resounding cry. Everyone will raise their voices and proclaim: "Grace, grace! How magnificent is this building erected by means of the plumb stone, a precise and glorious structure!"
Ibn Ezra explains "Who are you, great mountain" as addressing any ruler or king - not a specific individual, but anyone who might seek to obstruct the work. This approaches the perspective of Targum Yonatan, "What do you consider yourself, foolish kingdom," without specifying which kingdom. The Metzudat David explains that this refers to Gog and Magog and the future Redemption: Who are you, Gog and Magog? What power do you imagine you possess to stand before the King Messiah? Before him you shall become a plain; the King Messiah will flatten you, and you will have no strength to hinder the Redemption.
The Malbim continues along his consistent approach: in the End of Days, until the appointed time, the headstone - which is the Foundation Stone (Even HaShetiyah), the primary stone, the cornerstone - will remain embedded deep within Mount Moriah, as though a mountain stands atop it. And this is indeed the reality today: the Foundation Stone lies sunken down below, with earth and a mosque above it. When the time of Redemption arrives, they will seek to bring forth the stone, which would be difficult because it is buried deep. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, commands the mountain to become a plain, so that the stone will be revealed. This is the meaning of: Who are you, O great mountain, that stands before Zerubbabel and delays the retrieval of the headstone? I command you - and in the Malbim's view, this is literal, an actual mountain - to become a plain, so that the stone can be brought forth from there.
"Shouts of Grace, grace to it!" - everyone will raise their voices extolling the stone's grace, and it will find favor in the eyes of all. This will not be like the Second Temple, which found favor in the eyes of only some: the elders who remembered the First Temple found no grace in it. In their eyes, it was an impoverished Temple, not at all comparable to what they had seen; moreover, five essential things were missing from it, and spiritually it stood on a lower plane, with the Shechinah not resting within it as before. Consequently, it did not find favor with everyone, but only with the younger generation who had never seen the Temple in its glory. But here it says, "Shouts of Grace, grace to it!" - the Third Temple will find favor in the eyes of all, bringing joy to all, and all will rejoice and celebrate in its construction.
וַיְהִי דְבַר ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃ יְדֵי זְרֻבָּבֶל יִסְּדוּ הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה וְיָדָיו תְּבַצַּעְנָה, וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי ה' צְבָאוֹת שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם׃ - The word of Hashem came to me, saying: The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this House, and his hands shall complete it; and you shall know that Hashem of Hosts has sent me to you.
"The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this House" - what you see now is merely a foundation for what is to come in the future. That same stone of seven eyes is the foundation for the future edifice, for what is now being built during the Second Temple era is not a final, complete structure: five essential elements were missing from it and it was destined for destruction, serving merely as a foundation and a beginning for the complete structure of the End of Days that Yechezkel saw in his prophecy. "And his hands shall complete it" - when the Third Temple is built, it will be the true completion of the structure. As the Sages teach, the Second Temple was built in a form partly resembling Solomon's Temple and partly resembling Yechezkel's future Temple, serving as an intermediate structure between the two, representing the conclusion of the First Temple and the beginning of the Third Temple - just as that stone serves as the foundation for the future Temple. "And you shall know that Hashem of Hosts has sent me to you."
The Malbim explains that tevatzenah ("shall finish it") denotes completion and conclusion. He adds that it can also be interpreted as referring specifically to the Temple he was building then - his hands would complete the Second Temple, not the Third. This phrasing is more precise, for had it referred to the Third Temple, Scripture would have had to say tashlemnah, as he explains in his commentary on Yeshayahu chapter 38, where that is the more fitting term.
כִּי מִי בַז לְיוֹם קְטַנּוֹת, וְשָׂמְחוּ וְרָאוּ אֶת הָאֶבֶן הַבְּדִיל בְּיַד זְרֻבָּבֶל שִׁבְעָה אֵלֶּה, עֵינֵי ה' הֵמָּה מְשׁוֹטְטִים בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ׃ - "For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet stone in the hand of Zerubbabel, even these seven; they are the eyes of Hashem, which run to and fro through the whole earth."
Today is a "day of small things": the building seems small in their eyes and they despise it in their hearts, as if to say, "Is this the Beit HaMikdash?" Says the prophet: whoever despises the day of small things now will rejoice in the future. Then they will see the seven eyes engraved upon the stone, as we saw: "upon one stone are seven eyes, behold, I will engrave its engraving." Presently, the allusion is to seven physical entities - the seven planets, the corporeal influences channeled through the heavenly spheres. But then they will see that the seven engraved on the stone are the eyes of Hashem, not the eyes of the stars and constellations; the eyes of Hashem without intermediaries, directly, running to and fro throughout the whole earth - miraculous Providence, individual divine oversight (hashgachah pratit).
And this is the explanation of what he saw in the Menorah: seven lamps allude to the seven golden lamps. For as we said, corporeal providence through the stars is also like a menorah - but not of gold. Now the golden Menorah is explained to him: Hashem will engrave the engravings of the headstone, which is the future Beit HaMikdash, and dwell in it permanently, watching over His people with seven supreme eyes, which are the seven divine attributes (middot) and sefirot. And whoever despises the Second Temple will rejoice in the time to come. For now it is truly a day of small things; providence operates only through the stars and not through direct divine oversight, and this is not a menorah of gold. Therefore he despises it, seeing that it is not what once was. But in the future he will see the plummet stone, the headstone with seven eyes, and he will see Hashem's direct Providence - and he will rejoice. Baz ("despised"), the Malbim explains, is related to tach, as in "their eyes are smeared (tachu) from seeing."
The Radak explains that ha'even habdil is the plummet stone in the builder's hand, used to align the building. The phrasing ha'even habdil is seemingly puzzling, and the Radak explains that the construct noun is omitted, as though it were written, "the stone, the stone of tin (plummet)."
וָאַעַן וָאֹמַר אֵלָיו, מַה שְּׁנֵי הַזֵּיתִים הָאֵלֶּה עַל יְמִין הַמְּנוֹרָה וְעַל שְׂמֹאולָהּ׃ וָאַעַן שֵׁנִית וָאֹמַר אֵלָיו, מַה שְׁתֵּי שִׁבְּלֵי הַזֵּיתִים אֲשֶׁר בְּיַד שְׁנֵי צַנְתְּרוֹת הַזָּהָב הַמְרִיקִים מֵעֲלֵיהֶם הַזָּהָב׃ - "Then I answered and said to him: 'What are these two olive trees upon the right of the Menorah and upon its left?' And I answered a second time and said to him: 'What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden pipes, that empty the golden oil out of themselves?'"
After the vision of the Menorah and the seven lamps was explained to him, the prophet inquires about additional details: What do the two olive trees represent? The Malbim explains that the olive trees begin level with the Menorah on either side, and the tops of their branches reach up to the bowl (gulah) on its head - so that they stand on both sides of the Menorah and also on both sides of the bowl. Anyone who has noticed, the emblem of the State of Israel depicts a Menorah with two olive branches on either side, which is based on this prophetic vision.
Yet as so often happens when secular society draws upon traditional sources to express an idea, the spiritual core is stripped away. "Let My people go" - but what happened to "that they may serve Me"? Shaved off, removed. "House of Jacob, come, let us walk" - the slogan of the Bilu movement; but what happened to "in the light of Hashem"? Excised and omitted. "Let us walk" - to where? So too here: they retained the two olive branches on the sides, but the source of bounty, which is the essential part - the bowl atop it, the river emerging from Eden, the spiritual source that empties its abundance into the seven lamps - that was erased from the image. There is no higher source channeling abundance; there is only a Menorah and olive branches on either side. Whether this was intentional or not, that is the end result.
And what are the golden conduits (tsanterot)? Unlike Rashi, who interpreted them as basins, the Malbim explains that the tsanterot are like pipes or conduits through which the oil from the olives flows and discharges into the bowl. Thus, the oil flows from the branches into the bowl, which is the upper vessel, like a spring - a wellspring flowing and emptying its oil into the Menorah. "Beside the two conduits" are two clusters of olives, meaning olives growing in a cluster resembling an ear of grain (shibbolet); for each pipe emptying into the bowl there was a cluster, a bunch of olives channeling oil into it, and the oil pressed from the cluster flows through the conduits into the bowl.
The olive trees and the clusters, says the Malbim, were not made of gold but were actual olive wood; only the pipes were of gold. And the oil flowing through the conduit into the bowl looked like gold, which is why it is written, "that empty the gold out of themselves" - for it appeared as gold. And why is this so? Because these two olive trees represent human beings: the Kohen Gadol and the king. Therefore, the vision does not depict them as gold but as an olive tree, for man is compared to a tree - "for man is a tree of the field." But the divine bounty that flows and descends through their deeds into the bowl via the golden conduits empties out gold, for through their actions they draw down divine favor and abundance, which is likened to gold. The prophet therefore continues with this imagery of gold descending and flowing from the upper conduits, downward from the olives into the bowl, which is the wellspring and the vessel that channels the bounty from there into the Menorah.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי לֵאמֹר, הֲלוֹא יָדַעְתָּ מָה אֵלֶּה, וָאֹמַר לֹא אֲדֹנִי׃ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶּה שְׁנֵי בְנֵי הַיִּצְהָר הָעֹמְדִים עַל אֲדוֹן כָּל הָאָרֶץ׃ - And he spoke to me, saying, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." And he said, "These are the two sons of oil [the anointed ones] who stand before the Lord of all the earth."
Let us conclude by mentioning the words of the Radak. He begins by noting that the meaning of the two olive trees, the two ears [clusters], and the two spouts was not explicitly explained as to what they were an allegory for, and then proceeds to explain according to his approach: The olive trees are an allegory for Zerubbabel and Yehoshua, the two channels of influence who led the people. The two ears issuing forth from them are an allegory for their deeds - which are like branches providing goodly abundance, and it was they who began rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash. And the two spouts are an allegory for Nechemiah and Ezra, who came after them. Through all four of them - Zerubbabel and Yehoshua who are the ears, and Nechemiah and Ezra who are the golden spouts - light and goodness came forth for Israel; this is the shining Menorah, which represents the Second Temple that was rebuilt at that time.