Zechariah 1:20-21

1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. ¹  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. ²  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ³  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ⁴ 

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

³ tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.