Zechariah 4:14

the two anointed ones Rather, sons of oil (as in R. V.). "Probably not as themselves anointed (for another word is used for this, and the whole vision has turned on the use of oil as an instrument of light, not of anointing) but as themselves abundantly ministering the stream which is the source of light." Pusey, who compares the expression "son of oil," i.e. fertile in producing oil, Isaiah 5:1. The reference here is generally supposed to be to Zerubbabel and Joshua, as representing the kingly and priestly offices, the channels through which God supplies His Church. It may be doubted, however, whether the angel does not purposely avoid giving a definite, and especially a humanmeaning to these symbols. The tenor of the whole vision is, "by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." These "sons of oil," then, are agents or agencies, near to God and beyond our ken, "that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." With this view would seem to accord the fact, that the two mysterious "Witnesses," in the Book of Revelation (Zechariah 11:4), are spoken of as being "thetwo olive trees … standing before the God of the earth"; with an obvious reference to Zechariah's vision.