Zechariah 1:20

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

Zechariah 7:1

The Hypocrisy of False Fasting

7:1 In King Darius’ fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month, ²  the word of the Lord came to Zechariah.

Zechariah 1:18

Vision Two: The Four Horns

1:18 (2:1) ³  Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns.

Zechariah 2:6

2:6 “You there! ⁴  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ⁵  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. ⁶ 

Zechariah 6:5

6:5 The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits ⁷  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, ⁸  the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:

[1:20]  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.

[7:1]  ² sn The fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month would be December 7, 518 b.c., 22 months after the previous eight visions.

[1:18]  ³ 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.

[2:6]  ⁴ 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.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “two mountains, and the mountains [were] mountains of bronze.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:5]  ⁶ 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).

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