Zechariah 1:9

"Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”"

Key Reflection

Zechariah 1:9 marks the beginning of Zechariah’s visions and his dialogue with an angel, who acts as a divine interpreter. In first-century Jewish culture, when an individual encountered supernatural beings like an angel, it was common for them to ask questions out of reverence and to seek clarification. The original audience would have understood this interaction as part of a revelatory process, where the angel provides insight into prophetic messages or future events that would significantly impact Israel's understanding of God’s plans.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

What are these? -He asks, not who, but what they import. The angel that talked with me -Literally, “spake in me.” The very rare expression seems meant to convey the thought of an inward speaking, whereby the words should be borne directly into the soul, without the intervention of the ordinary outward organs. God says to Moses, “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make Myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak (literally) in him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so - In him will I speak mouth to mouthNumbers 12:6-9;” and Habakkuk says of the like inward teaching, “I will watch to see, what He will speak in me” .

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