Exodus 15:26

15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey ¹  the Lord your God, and do what is right ²  in his sight, and pay attention ³  to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all ⁴  the diseases ⁵  that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 11:13

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ⁷  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ⁸  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 11:22

11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments ¹⁰  I am giving you ¹¹  and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, ¹²  and remain loyal to him,

Isaiah 21:7

21:7 When he sees chariots,

teams of horses, ¹³ 

riders on donkeys,

riders on camels,

he must be alert,

very alert.”

Isaiah 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ¹⁴ 

Why spend ¹⁵  your hard-earned money ¹⁶  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ¹⁷  to me and eat what is nourishing! ¹⁸ 

Enjoy fine food! ¹⁹ 

Zechariah 6:15

6:15 Then those who are far away ²⁰  will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God.”’”

Zechariah 6:2

6:2 Harnessed to the first chariot were red horses, to the second black horses,

Zechariah 1:5-10

1:5 “As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? 1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ²¹  Then they paid attention ²²  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

The Introduction to the Visions

1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in Darius’ second year, ²³  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 ²⁴  on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees ²⁵  in the ravine. Behind him were red, sorrel, ²⁶  and white horses.

The Interpretation of the First Vision

1:9 Then I asked one nearby, “What are these, sir?” The angelic messenger ²⁷  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 ²⁸  on the earth.”

[15:26]  ¹ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of שָׁמַע (shama’). The meaning of the verb is idiomatic here because it is followed by “to the voice of Yahweh your God.” When this is present, the verb is translated “obey.” The construction is in a causal clause. It reads, “If you will diligently obey.” Gesenius points out that the infinitive absolute in a conditional clause also emphasizes the importance of the condition on which the consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[15:26]  ² tn The word order is reversed in the text: “and the right in his eyes you do,” or, “[if] you do what is right in his eyes.” The conditional idea in the first clause is continued in this clause.

[15:26]  ³ tn Heb “give ear.” This verb and the next are both perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutive; they continue the sequence of the original conditional clause.

[15:26]  ⁴ tn The substantive כָּל־ (kol, “all of”) in a negative clause can be translated “none of.”

[15:26]  ⁵ sn The reference is no doubt to the plagues that Yahweh has just put on them. These will not come on God’s true people. But the interesting thing about a conditional clause like this is that the opposite is also true – “if you do not obey, then I will bring these diseases.”

[15:26]  ⁶ tn The form is רֹפְאֶךָ (rofÿ’ekha), a participle with a pronominal suffix. The word is the predicate after the pronoun “I”: “I [am] your healer.” The suffix is an objective genitive – the Lord heals them.

[11:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ⁸ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.

[11:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.

[11:22]  ¹² tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”

[21:7]  ¹³ tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”

[55:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ¹⁵ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ¹⁷ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[6:15]  ²⁰ sn Those who are far away is probably a reference to later groups of returning exiles under Ezra, Nehemiah, and others.

[1:6]  ²¹ tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.

[1:6]  ²² tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

[1:7]  ²³ sn The twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month…in Darius’ second year was February 15, 519 b.c.

[1:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “riding,” but since this verb in English is usually associated with horses in motion rather than standing still, the translation uses “seated.” Cf. NAB “the driver of a red horse.”

[1:8]  ²⁵ tc The LXX presupposes הֶהָרִים (heharim, “mountains”) rather than the MT הַהֲדַסִּים (hahadassim, “myrtles”), probably because of reference to the ravine. The MT reading is preferred and is followed by most English versions.

[1:8]  ²⁶ sn The Hebrew שְׂרֻקִּים (sÿruqqim) means “red” (cf. NIV, NCV, NLT “brown”). English translations such as “speckled” (KJV) or “dappled” (TEV) are based on the reading of the LXX (ψαροί) that attempts to bring the color of this horse into conformity with those described in Zech 6:2-3. However, since these are two different and unrelated visions, this is a methodological fallacy.

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “messenger” or “angel” (מַלְאָךְ, mal’akh). This being appears to serve as an interpreter to the prophet (cf. vv. 13, 14).

[1:10]  ²⁸ sn The stem used here (Hitpael) with the verb “walk” (הָלַךְ, halakh) suggests the exercise of dominion (cf. Gen 13:17; Job 1:7; 2:2-3; Ezek 28:14; Zech 6:7). The Lord is here about to claim sovereignty over the nations. Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT “to patrol”; TEV “to go and inspect.”