Zechariah 1:6

1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ¹  Then they paid attention ²  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

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. ³  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ⁴  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ⁵ 

[1:6]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

[1:21]  ³ tn Heb “so that no man lifts up his head.”

[1:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.