Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 4:11:
Kupsabiny: “Then I continued to ask that angel, ‘What do those two trees mean those of olives that are on the right hand side and on the left of the thing the lamps are placed on?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “And I asked angel, "what is the significance of the two olive trees on the right and left side of the lampstand?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I asked the angel, ‘What (is) the meaning of those two olive trees on the right and left of the place-to-put the lamp?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then I asked the angel, ‘What is the meaning of the two olive trees, one on each side of the lampstand?” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.
The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.
The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.
For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).
Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.
Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.
For the relationship of this verse to the previous two verses, see the discussion above.
For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice: Versions both ancient and modern take the first clause as a question, “Who has despised the day of small things?” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible; similarly King James Version, Revised Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Beck, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This view can be supported by the grammar of the Hebrew: the verb translated despised is singular while that translated shall rejoice is plural. However, if the clause is a question, it is a rhetorical one, and is in effect the equivalent of a strong statement, so the overall meaning of the verse is much the same either way. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version interpret the clause in a similar way to Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version. New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente go further and turn the clause into a command not to despise the small beginnings of the work on the Temple. The day of small things means a time when little progress is apparent for God’s people, especially in the rebuilding of the Temple. Good News Translation makes the first clause a separate sentence, but frames it as a statement rather than a question. Translators may also express this as “They are disappointed because very little building has been done.” People who despise such a time are easily discouraged, and discourage others. Haggai also had to contend with such people (Hag 2.3). The message given here through Zechariah is that perseverance is needed. Any large project has a small beginning but can be completed by constant effort. In the case of the Temple, it would be completed under Zerubbabel’s leadership (compare verse 9) and would make even those who are discouraged rejoice.
And shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel: The two Hebrew words translated plummet in Revised Standard Version have been interpreted in various ways. Literally, they are “the stone, the tin.” Many interpreters take them to refer to a weight (of stone or metal or both) on the end of a string or rope. This device, which Revised Standard Version calls a plummet, was (and still is) used in building work to check that walls are straight and true. It is often referred to as a “plumb line” (New International Version). If people see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, this means that the building of the Temple is going ahead. Good News Translation accepts this interpretation and translates “they will see Zerubbabel continuing to build the Temple” (similarly Moffatt, New American Bible, New International Version, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).
However, the word whose meaning is given above as “tin” may come from a different root, meaning “to separate.” That was the understanding of the ancient Syriac translation, and is followed by New English Bible and Revised English Bible with “the stone called Separation.” This suggests that the Temple is a symbol of the way the people who worshiped there were different from other nations, and were set apart for the service of God (compare Lev 20.26).
It is also possible to hold this interpretation and apply the separation to the stone itself. This view is found in the renderings “the stone of distinction” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “the chosen stone” (Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). A translation like this links this stone with “the top stone” of verse 7, and indeed Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Contemporary English Version use the same term in both verses. This gives better links through the paragraph as a whole; but if this is what Zechariah intended, then it is strange that he did not use the same term in both places himself.
The translation plummet makes good sense in the context, and on the whole we recommend it to translators. Those who accept this interpretation may well wish to follow the example of Good News Translation and explain that the plummet being in the hand of Zerubbabel means that he will be continuing work on the reconstruction of the Temple.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• They [The people] are disappointed because very little building has yet been done. But when they see Zerubbabel continuing to build the Temple, they will be very happy.
As suggested in the introductory comments on this chapter, we regard verse 10b as a continuation of the conversation between Zechariah and the angel recorded in verses 2-5.
These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth: With these words the angel answers the prophet’s question asked in verse 4. So we understand These seven as referring to the seven lamps of verse 2. This understanding is made clear in Good News Translation, which says, “The seven lamps are…” (see also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The angel explains them as standing for, or representing (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth. This means that the LORD is keeping a close watch on events all over the world (compare 2 Chr 16.9; Pro 15.3). The idea of the LORD having seven eyes is not to be taken literally. The number seven stands for completeness, as often in Scripture. If the LORD is pictured as having seven eyes, it means that he sees everything that happens on earth (Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) and nothing can escape his notice. Contemporary English Version has “they see everything on this earth.”
What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?: As in verse 4, the question concerns the meaning of the trees, as is expressed more clearly in Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. As verse 3 stated, the trees were one on each side of the lampstand. Good News Translation could possibly be taken to mean that there were two trees on each side, and translators should be careful to avoid giving this impression. An alternative way to express the question is “What do these two olive trees, one on each side of the lampstand, mean?” or “What about the olive trees on each side of the lampstand? What do they represent?” (Contemporary English Version). For lampstand see the notes on verse 2.
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 .
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