The Meaning of Tzantrot (Zechariah 4:12)

Tzantrot as Vessels

Zechariah chapter 4 contains the famous vision of the menorah. The general sense of the vision was to offer Zerubavel encouragement to fulfill his responsibility to build the Second Temple and to emphasize that God is helping Zerubavel, Not with valor and not with strength, but with My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts (Zech. 4:6).¹ The vision concludes with a representation of two figures on either side of the menorah. Then I spoke and said to him, “What are those two olive trees to the right and to the left of the menorah?” And again I spoke. I said, “What are these two olive branches next to the two golden pipes (tzantrot) that stream golden oil from above?” He said to me, “You know what these are.” I said, “No, my lord.” He said, “These are the two sons of the anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of all the land” (Zech 4:11-14).

The word tzantrot in verse 12 is only found here in Tanakh, “an enigmatic hapax legomenon without any known cognates.”² The three main ancient translations, LXX, Peshitta and Vulgate, all render the term as “nostrils,” referring to lamp spouts or nozzles.³ The translation above follows the traditional approach that the word is connected to the term tzinor, a pipe or a tube.⁴ This follows the interpretation of Mahari Kara and later Malbim, who explains that the word should be seen as a form of the word tzinor (tube) but with an extra letter tav inside, something that he does not consider particularly unusual.⁵ This in turn causes the phrase b’yad shnei tzantrot ha-zahav, literally “in the hands of the two golden tzantrot” to be rendered as “next to the two golden tzantrot,” as if it said al yad, as tubes do not have hands to hold with.⁶ This is the most popular explanation for the term, and based on this in modern Hebrew this term is used for a catheter.⁷

Other traditional commentaries don’t associate the word with a tube in particular, but rather more generally with “some kind of vessel,” as phrased in Metzudat Tzion.⁸ Radak explains that it is a kind of jar. He notes that Targum Yonatan here translates the word as iskritvan, the same term used in Targum Onkelos to translate the word tzapihit (wafer) in the description of the manna in Exodus 16:31, a word with the sense of being thin and flat.⁹ This would indicate that it was some kind of flat pan or basin which collected the oil.¹⁰

Whatever the exact vessel the tzantrot are, the sense of this part of the vision is that they appear to be providing oil to supply the menorah from the olive branches in a kind of supernatural delivery system.¹¹ Zechariah is informed that the duality of vessels seen in the vision represents the two sons of the anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of all the land (4:14).¹²

Tzantrot as Olive Pressers

Since the verse describes the tzantrot as having hands holding the olive branches, modern scholars have interpreted the term as referring to people whose job it is to press olives and produce oil.¹³ In this way of reading the verse, the two figures at the end, the two sons of the anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of all the land, are not represented in the vision by vessels, but by workers. The gold mentioned in this verse along with the tzantrot would then not be identifying the material from which the utensils are made, as in this interpretation there are no utensils mentioned in the verse, but rather would be referring to the oil, based on its golden color, just as the term gold at the end of the verse means “golden oil.”¹⁴ The verse would be rendered, And again I spoke. I said, “What are these two olive branches in the hands of two golden olive oil pressers (tzantrot zahav) that stream golden oil from above?”

Tzantrot as Mythological Creatures

A unique approach is presented by Mordechai Zer-Kavod in his commentary in the Da’at Mikra series. He states that tzantrot is an ancient Persian term for “figures like cherubim,” some kind of supernatural being.¹⁵ He relates the word to the Vedic term gandharva, which survived as the Greek kentuar.¹⁶ Based on this approach, Zechariah is here introducing a new kind of supernatural creature not found elsewhere in Tanakh, like he does with the flying female beings in chapter 5.¹⁷

Implications of the Different Interpretations

The difference between all of the interpretations is what is used to represent the two sons of the anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of all the land (4:14). These two figures have been traditionally understood to represent the priesthood and kingship,¹⁸ or more personally, Joshua the high priest at the time, and Zerubavel, who served as the political leader of the Judean community.¹⁹ The message of the first part of the vision with the menorah being lit in a supernatural manner was Not with valor and not with strength, but with My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts (Zech. 4:6), regarding the building of the Second Temple (per Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak) through the power provided by God. The two figures introduced identified in 4:14 are the agents who will in practice build the Second Temple. If they are represented by vessels, the message is that they are functioning as simple utensils of God to build the Second Temple, in a completely passive capacity. They are fundamentally not contributing anything to the building of the Temple, rather they function as conduits for God’s power, which is what actually constructs the Temple.

Understanding that Joshua and Zerubavel are represented by olive pressers gives them more agency in the building of the Second Temple. These leaders of the Judean community are in fact to be viewed as active in the construction of the Temple, with the knowledge that God is behind the scenes. They aren’t mere utensils, there is more of a sense of partnership between them and God in making the Second Temple a reality.

Finally, viewing the two figures as supernatural beings elevates Joshua and Zerubavel to an even more lofty position. They aren’t acting as vessels or even as craftsmen, but rather are fulfilling a special holy role, and so their participation is represented as two unique mythological creatures who maintain the oil supply to the menorah.

The different interpretations are significant as the books of Tanakh from the Second Temple period tend to relegate God to a role of influencing events from behind the scenes, through inspiring people and acting through them. This is seen throughout Ezra, for example, the Lord stirred the spirit of Koresh (Ez. 1:1) and Blessed is the Lord, God of our ancestors, for turning the king’s heart toward the cause of beautifying the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. And for showing me kindness in the eyes of the king and his ministers and all his valiant officers. So, by the grace of the Lord my God, I gathered courage and assembled leaders from Israel to ascend to the land with me (Ez. 7:27-28), and Nehemiah, for example, The king endowed me in accordance with the good hand of my God upon me (Neh. 2:8) and Then I rose at night, I and a few people with me, telling no one what my God was instilling in my heart to accomplish for Jerusalem (Neh. 2:12). This is also seen in prophetic works from this period, for example the end of Hagai, chapter 1, Then Hagai, messenger of the Lord, sent by the Lord to the people, spoke: “So says the Lord: I am with you.” Then the Lord roused the spirit of Zerubavel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judea, the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the High Priest, and the spirits of all the remnant of the people. They came and they carried out the work on the House of the Lord of Hosts, their God (Hagai 1:13-14).²⁰

Turning from the popular traditional approach of tzantrot as pipes, and understanding the term to refer to olive press workers or even some kind of supernatural being, puts this vision of Zechariah squarely in the theological world of Second Temple literature, that even when events in the world occur Not with valor and not with strength, but with My spirit, says the Lord of Hosts (Zech. 4:6), they are functionally happening through the efforts of people.²¹