What Does Zechariah 4:5 Mean in the King James?
Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The first clear sight in the vision is an honest admission that what is shown is not yet understood.
THE MEANING
What is shown can remain unclear to you without being covered over by a claim of understanding. Your “No, my lord” gives that limit a truthful voice within the encounter.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Not understanding means the encounter has failed. Here, the speaker’s honest “No” is still part of the encounter.
THE ROOT
יָדַעְתָּ
yādaʿta
GROWS FROM
י־ד־ע
y-d-ʿ
To know, perceive, or recognize.
“Knowest” in this verse is yādaʿta. The question uses yada for knowing what is in front of the speaker: whether he perceives what the vision shows. This root can carry knowing through encounter, so his “No” honestly names the limit of his perception.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: Knowledge, perception.
דַּעַת
This noun from the same root shows knowing as something perceived, echoing the messenger’s question about what is before the speaker.
yōdēaʿ: One who knows or perceives.
יֹדֵעַ
This form turns the root into a person who knows, keeping the verse’s focus on perception rather than information alone.
הַדֹּבֵר
ha-dōvēr
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
To speak; from the same root, davar can mean word, matter, or thing.
“talked” in this verse is ha-dōvēr. The messenger is described as the one speaking with the speaker, and that verb shares its root with davar, “word” or “matter.” Speech and the matter spoken belong to one word-family: the messenger’s question is itself a word that brings the gap in understanding into the open.
ALSO GROWS
dāvār: Word, matter, thing.
דָּבָר
The shared root links the messenger’s speech to the matter the speaker is asked to perceive.
dibbēr: Spoke, declared.
דִּבֵּר
This speaking form shares the root of the participle describing the messenger, making his speech central to the scene.
THE PATTERN
Naming what is not yet understood leaves room for the next thing to be shown.
Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.THE THREAD
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.“Knowest” in Zechariah and “known” in this verse share the root yada (י־ד־ע, y-d-ʿ: know, perceive). The root reaches from an honest admission of not perceiving the vision to being known through searching and encounter.
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