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Text -- Zechariah 1:7-21 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Introduction to the Visions
1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month , the month Shebat , in Darius ’ second year , the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo , as follows :
The Content of the First Vision
1:8 I was attentive that night and saw a man seated on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees in the ravine . Behind him were red , sorrel , and white horses .
The Interpretation of the First Vision
1:9 Then I asked one nearby, “What are these , sir ?” The angelic messenger who replied to me said , “I will show you what these are.”
1:10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said , “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about on the earth .”
1:11 The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord , who was standing among the myrtle trees , “We have been walking about on the earth , and now everything is at rest and quiet .”
1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked , “Lord who rules over all , how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years ?”
1:13 The Lord then addressed good , comforting words to the angelic messenger who was speaking to me.
1:14 Turning to me, the messenger then said , “Cry out that the Lord who rules over all says , ‘I am very much moved for Jerusalem and for Zion .
1:15 But I am greatly displeased with the nations that take my grace for granted . I was a little displeased with them , but they have only made things worse for themselves.
The Oracle of Response
1:16 “‘Therefore ,’ says the Lord , ‘I have become compassionate toward Jerusalem and will rebuild my temple in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all . ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem .’
1:17 Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all : ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity , and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem .’”
Vision Two: The Four Horns
1:18 Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns .
1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger who spoke with me, “What are these ?” He replied , “These are the horns that have scattered Judah , Israel , and Jerusalem .”
1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths .
1:21 I asked , “What are these going to do ?” He answered , “These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen . But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Zec 1:7 The twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month…in Darius’ second year was February 15, 519 b.c.
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NET Notes: Zec 1:10 The stem used here (Hitpael) with the verb “walk” (הָלַךְ, halakh) suggests the exercise of dominion (...
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NET Notes: Zec 1:11 The angel of the Lord is a special being who throughout the OT represents God himself and on occasion almost approaches divine hypostatization or inca...
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NET Notes: Zec 1:12 The seventy years refers to the predicted period of Babylonian exile, a period with flexible beginning and ending points depending on the particular c...
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NET Notes: Zec 1:14 Heb “jealous for” (so KJV, ASV); NIV, NRSV “very jealous for”; CEV “very protective of.” The meaning is that Jerus...
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NET Notes: Zec 1:15 Or “the nations that are at ease” (so ASV, NRSV). The Hebrew word in question is שַׁאֲנָן ...
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NET Notes: Zec 1:18 This marks the beginning of ch. 2 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 1:18, the verse numbers through 2:13 in the English Bible differ from the verse n...
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NET Notes: Zec 1:19 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
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NET Notes: Zec 1:20 The horns are perhaps made of iron, the strongest of all metals known to the ancient Near Eastern world, since military activity is implied in the con...
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