Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 4:2

"And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and, behold, a candlestick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top thereof;" — Zechariah 4:2 (ASV)

This visionary candlestick differed in four points from the original of the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple—namely, in having “a bowl,” “pipes,” and “olive trees” on each side of it, and “two golden spouts.”

With a bowl upon the top of it.—This is better than the margin, her bowl—that is, its bowl—because this was one (a) of the points of difference between the visionary candlestick and its original.

But the “seven lamps,” on the other hand, were in agreement with the original; therefore the prophet says, “and his seven,” that is, its seven lamps, namely, the seven lamps proper to it. So, again, when he comes to the next point of difference, (b) the pipes, he does not say “his pipes,” nor does he (Zechariah 4:3) say (c) “his two olive-trees.”

Seven pipes.—Better, seven pipes apiece. There were, then, forty-nine pipes, but as the candlestick is only visionary, we do not need to trouble ourselves about the difficulties of its construction. The number seven in the original candlestick was, perhaps, mystical, in which case the forty-nine pipes in the vision would be so too.

At any rate, it would seem that a great number of pipes is mentioned to indicate the unlimited nature of the supply of oil: “My strength is sufficient for thee.” The distributive use of the numerals in this passage has been much disputed, but we have, we think, satisfactorily established it in our Hebrew Student’s Commentary, on this passage. The only other admissible interpretation is that of Koehler—namely, that the number is “seven and seven,” not “fourteen,” because one group of seven lamps was for supplying the lamps from the reservoir, and the other group of seven to connect the seven lamps.

The English version follows the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, in omitting the first word “seven.” Hitzig cancels the numeral before “its lamps,” and renders, “and its lamps upon it were seven, and there were seven pipes to the lamps,” etc. But all such emendations are arbitrary and unnecessary. Pressel thinks that “seven” is repeated on account of its importance, as corresponding to “the seven eyes of the Lord;” he renders, “seven was the number of its lamps above the same—seven—and seven the number of its pipes.”