Zechariah 1:20

1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. ¹ 

Zechariah 1:18

Vision Two: The Four Horns

1:18 (2:1) ²  Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns.

Zechariah 2:6

2:6 “You there! ³  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ⁴  I have scattered you,” says the Lord.

Zechariah 6:1

Vision Eight: The Chariots

6:1 Once more I looked, and this time I saw four chariots emerging from between two mountains of bronze. ⁵ 

Zechariah 6:5

6:5 The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits ⁶  of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

Zechariah 1:7

The Introduction to the Visions

1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in Darius’ second year, ⁷  the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:

Zechariah 1:21

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. ⁸  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ⁹  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “craftsmen” (so NASB, NIV; KJV “carpenters”), a generic term which can mean “metalworker, smith, armorer” (HALOT 358 s.v. חָרָשׁ). “Blacksmiths” was chosen for the present translation because of its relative familiarity among contemporary English readers.

² sn 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 numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:18 ET = 2:1 HT, 1:19 ET = 2:2 HT, 1:20 ET = 2:3 HT, 1:21 ET = 2:4 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:5 HT, etc., through 2:13 ET = 2:17 HT. From 3:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

³ sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as the expression four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.

⁴ tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

⁴ tn Heb “two mountains, and the mountains [were] mountains of bronze.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “spirit” here may also be translated “wind” or “breath” depending on the context (cf. ASV, NRSV, CEV “the four winds of heaven”; NAB similar).

⁶ sn The twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month…in Darius’ second year was February 15, 519 b.c.

⁷ tn Heb “so that no man lifts up his head.”

⁸ tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.