“And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.”
The angel responds: Do you not know what these are? and Zechariah replies, No, my lord\u2014repeating the exchange pattern but now about the olive trees specifically, establishing that their meaning requires revelation. The angel's apparent mild rebuke (Do you not know) followed by the need for explanation establishes again that meaning is not obvious but requires divine interpretation. Zechariah's humble acknowledgment of ignorance prepares for the revelation, establishing the structure of learning wherein inquiry leads to instruction. The exchange models the relationship between divine instruction and human understanding: human beings cannot comprehend God's purposes through mere observation, but must receive interpretation from authoritative divine sources.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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