Zechariah 1:17-21

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 (2:1) ¹  Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns. 1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger ²  who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns ³  that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ⁴  1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. ⁵  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. ⁶  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ⁷  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ⁸ 

[1:18]  ¹ 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.

[1:19]  ² tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in v. 9.

[1:19]  ³ sn An animal’s horn is a common OT metaphor for military power (Pss 18:2; 75:10; Jer 48:25; Mic 4:13). The fact that there are four horns here (as well as four blacksmiths, v. 20) shows a correspondence to the four horses of v. 8 which go to four parts of the world, i.e., the whole world.

[1:19]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:20]  ⁵ 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.

[1:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “so that no man lifts up his head.”

[1:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.