These are the two anointed: These may be expanded to say “These branches,” as in Contemporary English Version. For two anointed, the Hebrew says literally “two sons of oil” (Revised Version). This expression is generally understood to mean two men “consecrated with oil” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible) and most English versions express this with the word anointed (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation expands here to make the meaning more precise, and says, “These are the two men whom God has chosen and anointed.” Commentators in general agree that the two men intended are Joshua the high priest, who has already been mentioned in the previous vision, and Zerubbabel the governor. If the rearrangement of the text as in Good News Translation is accepted, Zerubbabel is mentioned in more detail in verses 6b-10a, which immediately follow verse 14. These are the two anointed may be expanded to “These represent the two men….” To “anoint” means to pour olive oil on a person to set him aside for a high office or for some special work (Lev 8.30; 1 Sam 10.1; 1 Sam 16.12-13; 1 Kgs 1.39; 1 Kgs 19.15-16.) In the present context it carries the symbolic meaning of “setting apart” or “appointing” someone, not just pouring oil on him. So translators may express this clause as “These represent the two men that God has chosen and appointed [or, set aside] to serve him,” or more simply, “… the two chosen leaders” (Contemporary English Version).
Some commentators have said that if the lamps represent the eyes of the LORD (verse 10b) and the lampstand as a whole represents the LORD himself, it is unthinkable for the olive trees, which represent mere men, to supply fuel for the lamps (verse 12). This would make God dependent upon men. However, this view seems to see too much meaning in the vision. There is no need to force an interpretation upon every detail, especially when the Hebrew text does not do so.
Who stand by: To stand by God means to be in his presence (compare 3.7), to serve him. Good News Translation translates the plain meaning as “to serve him.”
The Lord of the whole earth: The word Lord is not spelled with capital letters and does not represent the divine name. In this case it means “the ruler” or “the high chief.” If the preposition of would cause ambiguity, translators could say “the Lord who rules the whole earth.” The same expression in Hebrew occurs also in 6.5 (compare Josh 3.11, 13; Psa 97.5; Micah 4.13). The Good News Translation restructuring with “God” separated from “the Lord of the whole earth” may be too cumbersome in some languages. In such cases an alternative translation model for this verse is the following:
• Then the angel said, “These two branches represent the two men that God, the Lord of the whole world, has appointed to serve him.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .