Zechariah 6

1: 1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Return unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? and they turned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

1. In the eighth month. Corresponding with the latter part of October and the beginning of November. The work in the house of God had been already resumed this same year, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month—that is, the beginning of September—in pursuance of a Divine message delivered by the prophet Haggai (Hag. 1: 14, 15). Blayney.—This message of Zechariah comes in between that prophecy of Haggai, which ends at Hag. 2: 9, and that which is contained in Hag. 2: 10-19.

4. The former prophets. Zechariah quotes the substance of passages in Hosea, Joel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. B. C.

4-6. Let the people consider. Did not the words which God sent by those former prophets “take hold of your fathers”? Did they slip off as things of loose grasp, and prove void of result? Did not those awful threatenings hold on, and have not you yourselves seen and felt the terrible judgments which those words portended? They themselves were forced to admit this. They returned and said—i.e., they took a new and better view of the case under the pressure of appalling facts, and then they said, All that God thought and threatened to do unto us as a nation He has done! Let their children take warning! H. C.

5. This verse and the next are closely connected. The idea is that of John 8: 52, Abraham is dead, and the prophets. The generations to whom God’s warnings had been sent of old, and the bearers of those warnings, have passed away, but God’s word and God’s decrees stand fast for all generations; and therefore, as they overtook your fathers, so will they overtake you. The prophets of the post-captivity period took their stand upon the past history of the people, upon former miracles and upon fulfilled prophecy. They regarded these as the true foundations upon which the faith and obedience of the Jews were to be built up. B. C.

ZECHARIAH’S second prophecy extends from 1: 7 to 6: 15, and is dated the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius—four months later than the prophecy of Haggai—perhaps early in February, B.C. 519, as we now date events. It is a description of eight visions, one apparently following another in a single night, followed by a message connected with the coming of certain men from Babylon (Zech. 6:9 sqq.). We naturally ask whether these men brought with them from Babylon the answer of Darius in regard to the temple (see Ezra 6), but there is no clew to the answer.

In the first vision (Zech. 1:7-17) the prophet sees men on horseback—the mounted police of Jehovah’s empire—who report that they have made their rounds in the earth, and found everything quiet. Their chief, to whom they make this report, is the angel of Jehovah. On hearing it (verses 12-17) he makes intercession for Jerusalem, and an encouraging message is then given the prophet. The descriptive part is in prose, while the intercession and the message to the prophet are in verse. The second vision (Zech. 1:18-21) is of four horns that have been tossing Judah, and four “working-men” who drive the horns away. The third vision (Zech. 2:1-13) is of a man measuring Jerusalem, and being informed that Jerusalem will outgrow all measurements. This information is given in poetic lines (verses 4 b, 5), and is followed by a spirited lyric on Zion’s escape from the north land (verses 6-13). As I understand it, this lyric is represented as uttered by the angel of Jehovah. These first three visions concern Judah, Jerusalem, the people in general. The fourth vision concerns especially Joshua, the priestly leader of the people; and the fifth mainly concerns Zerubbabel, their civil leader. The sixth vision (Zech. 5:1-4) is that of the flying scroll, and the seventh (Zech. 5:5-11) is that of the woman in the ephah-jar. These two mainly concern the wickedness of the people by which Jehovah’s mercies are hindered. The eighth vision (Zech. 6:1-8) is a vision of Jehovah’s chariots, one of which is sent on a mission to the north land. W. J. B.

In a dream of the night there passed before the eyes of the prophet a series of visions (1:7-6:15). These visions are obscure, and, accordingly, the prophet asks their meaning. The interpretation is given by an angel who knows the mind and will of Jehovah. In the first vision (1:7-15) the prophet sees, in a valley of myrtles, a rider upon a roan horse, accompanied by others who, having been sent forth to the four quarters of the earth, had returned with the tidings that the whole earth was at rest (with reference to Hag. 2:20). Hereupon the angel asks how long this state of things shall last, and is assured that the indifference of the heathen shall cease, and that the temple shall be built in Jerusalem. The second vision (2:1-17, A. V. 1:18-2:13) explains how the promise of the first is to be fulfilled. It symbolizes the destruction of the heathen kingdoms hitherto combined against Jerusalem, and the rapid increase of its population. The old prophets, in foretelling the happiness and glory of the times which should succeed the Captivity in Babylon, had made a great part of that happiness and glory to consist in the gathering together again of the whole dispersed nation in the land given to their fathers. This vision was designed to teach that the expectation thus raised—the return of the dispersed of Israel—should be fulfilled. The next two visions (3, 4) are occupied with the temple, and with the two principal persons on whom the hopes of the returned exiles rested. The permission granted for the rebuilding of the temple had no doubt stirred afresh the malice and the animosity of the enemies of the Jews. Joshua, the high-priest, had been singled out, it would seem, as the especial object of attack, and perhaps formal accusations had already been laid against him before the Persian court. The prophet, in vision, sees him summoned before a higher tribunal, and solemnly acquitted, despite the charges of the Satan or adversary. This is done with the forms still usual in an Eastern court, the filthy garments of the accused being exchanged for the robe of honor put on the innocent. The last vision (4) supposes that all opposition to the building of the temple shall be removed. This sees the completion of the work. The two next visions (5:1-11) signify that the land, in which the sanctuary has just been erected, shall be purged of all its pollutions. First, the curse is recorded against wickedness in the whole land (not as A. V. “earth;” 5:3). Next, the unclean thing, whether in the form of idolatry or any other abomination, shall be utterly removed. And now the night is waning fast, and the morning is about to dawn. Chariots and horses appear, issuing from between two brazen mountains, the horses like those in the first vision; and these receive their several commands and are sent forth to execute the will of Jehovah in the four quarters of the earth. Thus, then, the cycle of visions is completed. Scene after scene is unrolled till the whole glowing picture is presented to the eye. All enemies crushed; the land repeopled and Jerusalem girt as with a wall of fire; the temple rebuilt, more truly splendid than of old, because more abundantly filled with a Divine Presence; the leaders of the people assured in the most signal manner of the Divine protection; all wickedness solemnly sentenced, and the land forever purged of it—such is the magnificent panorama of hope which the prophet displays to his countrymen. A symbolical act immediately follows. Three Israelites had just returned from Babylon, bringing with them rich gifts to Jerusalem, apparently as contributions to the temple, and had been received in the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. Thither the prophet is commanded to go, and to employ the silver and gold of their offerings for the service of Jehovah. He is to make of them two crowns, and to place these on the head of Joshua, the high-priest—a sign that, in the Messiah who should build the temple, the kingly and priestly offices should be united. Dic. B.

The first eight chapters form a collection of utterances, complete and circumscribed, directed throughout to promote the erection of the temple. The work had been paralyzed by actual difficulties, but still more by supineness of spirit and despond. What the people needed was the inspiration of a soaring faith and the heartening of buoyant hope. This is precisely the spirit that animates the addresses of Zechariah. Elmslie.—The object of Zechariah is precisely that of Haggai. It is to rouse an indolent, to encourage a desponding, and to abash a backsliding people. This he does, if not with greater energy, yet by bolder types, and through the force of broader glimpses into the future, than his coadjutor. The red horses, the four horns, the stone with seven eyes, the candlestick of gold, the olive trees, the flying roll, the ephah and the talent of lead, the four chariots from between the two mountains, the staves Beauty and Bands, the cup of trembling, the burdensome stone, and the fountain of purification, are not mere brilliant dreams, but are closely connected with the main purpose of the prophecy. Gilfillan.

These visions were designed partly to animate and encourage the Jews in the work of rebuilding the temple and restoring the worship of Jehovah, partly to warn them against transgression, and especially against rebelliousness and apostasy from Him. As, however, all God’s dealings toward His ancient people bear an analogy to His dealings toward His spiritual Church, and especially as in these visions there is reference more or less immediate to the Messiah, they convey instruction and counsel profitable for the people of God as such in all ages. This book of prophecy has, consequently, engaged much of the attention of students of Scripture at all times in the Christian Church. Luther says of it: “The prophet Zechariah is a paragon (Ausbund), to my thinking the most excellent. For he appeared at a time when it was supremely needful to comfort and encourage the people, and along with that to keep them for the coming reign of Christ and under training.” W. L. Alexander.

The chief difficulty felt by the student of these eight visions is that of clearly distinguishing and identifying the superhuman dramatis personae with whom the prophet is in ecstatic communication. They appear to be five in number—viz.: 1. The man riding upon a red horse, who stood among the myrtle trees (1:8). He is clearly identified (1:11) with the angel of the Lord. 2. The riders on the red, speckled and white horses. These are subordinate created angels, who report to the angel of the Lord. 3. The angel described by the prophet in eleven places (1:9, 13, 14, 19; 2:3; 4:1, 4, 5; 5:5, 10; 6:4) by the phrase the angel that talked with me, or, more exactly, that spake in me. So Dr. Pusey, who adds, “The very rare expression seems meant to convey the thought of an inward speaking, whereby the words should be borne directly into the soul without the intervention of the ordinary outward organs. God says to Moses (Num. 12:6-9), If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak (lit.) in him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so . . . in him will I speak mouth to mouth; and Habakkuk says (2:1) of the like inward teaching, I will watch to see what He will speak in me. It is the characteristic title of one attendant angel, who was God’s expositor of the visions to Zechariah.” Similarly Canon Drake (“Speaker’s [or Bible] Commentary”) says he was “the [created] angel, whose office it was to interpret to the prophet what he saw and heard.” 4. In the third vision (chap. 2) the man with a measuring line in his hand, whom Dr. Pusey thinks to be “probably the angel of the Lord, of whom Ezekiel has a like vision.” 5. In the same vision (2:3) another angel, who went out to meet the angel that talked with the prophet, when he (the angel) went forth. Besides these must also be observed in three places (1:13, 20; 3:1) the mention of the Lord, who is in each almost certainly identified with the angel of the Lord. Medd.

7. UPON the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, 8 the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, I saw in the night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him there 9 were horses, red, sorrel, and white. Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel 10 that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk 11 to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the 12 earth sitteth still, and is at rest. Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against 13 which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And the LORD answered 14 the angel that talked with me with good words, even comfortable words. So the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I am jealous 15 for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the LORD: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem. Cry yet again, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. 18, 19 And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have 20, 21 scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD shewed me four smiths. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.

7. This is the commencement of a series of eight symbolical visions, all, it would seem, presented to the mind of the prophet in one night—that of the 24th of Sebat, corresponding to March 9th or 10th. B. C.

7-17. These verses comprise one entire and distinct vision, the first in a series, and of symbolic character. The symbols represent the executive forces by which the Lord administers His providential government over the nations. The special aim here is: 1. To assure the Hebrew people that God had more judgments to send on the nations that had oppressed them. 2. That He would greatly augment the growth and prosperity of Zion. So much for the general scope of the passage. As to the particulars, let us note that this is a night vision, presented to the mind’s eye of the prophet by special Divine agencies. That men riding on horses are used to represent the executive forces of God’s reign over the nations is due (we may suppose) to the use of post horses as vehicles of the royal mandates, as the nerves of communication (so to speak) from the working brain on the throne to the remotest organs of His will in all His distant provinces. They seem to be thought of here rather as explorers to observe and report, than as executioners. The reader will better understand this representation if he will be at the pains to classify the personages of the scene thus: 1. The man riding upon a red horse (verse 8), who stood (on horseback) among the myrtle trees in the shaded vale, at the head of others also on horses of various colors; the same who (verse 10) explained and said, “These are they whom the Lord hath sent,” etc., to whom the other horse men report (verse 11); and to whom prayer is offered as “the Lord of hosts” (verse 12); and who answers so kindly (verse 13). This can be no other than the uncreated angel—the very Son of God, so often if not always the God revealed and made manifest in all the ages before His incarnation. 2. Next are His attendants, on horses, representing angels proper; those “ministers of His who do His pleasure,” and whom He continually employs in the administration of His providential government on earth. They appear (verse 8) where it must be assumed that the horses have riders upon them; also (verse 11), they report what they have seen in their mission to and fro through the earth. 3. The revealing angel, specially attendant upon the prophet as his interpreter, usually called “the angel that talked with me”—e.g., verses 9, 13, and also in verse 14, where our translators have given the same Hebrew word another rendering, “that communed with me.” It is the same angel who offers the prayer (verse 12), since the answer (verse 13) is given to him. That he offers this prayer is due to his strong sympathy with the prophet, to whom he was a sort of guardian angel. This grouping of the characters of this scene will help the reader to understand its significance. The horses and their riders are seen among the myrtle trees in a shady vale—both the myrtles and the vale indicating the low and humble condition of God’s people and kingdom, especially at that time, yet showing us plainly that however low and humble in human estimation, God was in the midst of them, and did not disdain to reveal precisely there His glorious Son, and under Him the angels clothed in might as the executive servants of His reign among the nations. No other speciality of meaning can be safely assigned to the color of these horses except that red commonly indicates war scenes of blood, and that the variety may suggest that God’s agency embraces all varieties of manifestation—curses and blessings, war and peace. The prophet asks his attendant angel what those horses and their riders mean. He promises to show him, but the statement is given by the personage first seen and standing in the foreground of the picture—the great uncreated angel of Jehovah—“These are they whom the Lord sends to traverse the whole earth.” Then they themselves come forward and make their report in the hearing of the prophet: “We have traversed the earth, and lo, all the nations are still and at rest.” Even those great powers which had so cruelly oppressed the Jews were not receiving their deserved retribution. This is the main point of their report. Upon this, the revealing angel, warming in sympathy with the prophet and his people, cries, “How long, O Lord, ere Thou wilt have mercy on Jerusalem and on Judah, upon which Thou hast manifested Thine indignation now seventy years?” To this the Lord answers with words of comfort and cheer. He has purposed to scourge and soon to destroy that fierce Chaldean power, and He will surely lift up Jerusalem. Verse 15 may be paraphrased thus: “I am very sore displeased with

Chaldea and Edom: I was comparatively a little displeased with My people, Judah and Jerusalem, and therefore I suffered those powers to come down on the holy city and land; but they augmented that infliction; they gave vent to their cruel and vindictive spirit, and have quite overdone the work which I commissioned them to do. For this they are to have a fearful doom.” In verse 16 the Lord promises to return in mercy and to help onward the rebuilding of the city; and in verse 17, that the population should overpass the city walls and fill the adjacent country. “Will yet choose Jerusalem” means, will yet manifest His loving choice of her by appropriate mercies. H. C.

8. No symbolical meaning is attributed by the Divine interpreter either to the place where the rider and his followers appeared standing, or to the color of their horses. None, therefore, need be sought by us. In comparing Zech. 6:1-8 with Rev. 6:2-8 we may gather that in those instances difference of color in the horses implies difference of office in the riders; but here they have all one and the same duty—viz., to walk to and fro through the earth. B. C.

12. Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of Hosts. The angel (mentioned in verse 9) makes his supplication to the superior angel (verses 8, 10), who was indeed the Logos, or Son of God, being called by the name of Jehovah here and in verses 13, 20. (Cf. chaps. 3:1, 2; 12:8, 10.) W. Lowth.

13. To this Intercessor—this horseman who watches over Israel—God answers “with good words and comfortable words.” This closes the vision; and then the interpreting angel bids Zechariah report to the people the substance or significance of it, to the effect that although God had given His people into the hand of their enemies that they might be chastised, yet these enemies had gone too far, had entered into the work of correction with too evident a zest, and had overstepped their commission; and that now God would compensate to His people for their sorrows.

The practical outcome or substantial meaning of this vision was this: that to every one who sees with eyes cleansed and directed aright, the angel of the Lord, or God Incarnate, appears, ready mounted, prepared to interpose in His people’s behalf, and watchfully receiving the reports of His commissioners from all parts of the earth. It can readily be imagined what a difference this vision would make in the courage and hopes of the people, with what different heart and conversation they would go out to their building next morning, having been assured that the Lord thought their punishment had gone far enough, and that now He was to show His mercies to them. Dods.

18-21. In the Hebrew text 2:1-4. A vision of the four horns and of the four workmasters sent to fray or harry the enemies of Judah and Jerusalem.

18. Four horns—i.e., the heathen nations by whom the Jews had been oppressed. The word horn occurs in the same sense in Dan. 7:20. The number four intimates the fact that the enemies of the Jews were around them on all sides. B. C.

18-21. This second vision is closely connected in significance with the first, looking especially to the destruction of those heathen powers which “had scattered Judah and Jerusalem.” The “horn” is a natural emblem of power. The number four does not count so many hostile nations, but rather means all, in every quarter of the earth, toward every cardinal point of the compass, who have been pushing and scattering the saints of God. The word rendered “carpenters” should be “smiths,” workers in iron or other metals, and therefore armed with suitable instruments for breaking horns. The word “fray,” mostly obsolete as a verb, means to frighten. The next verb, rendered “cast out,” has a stronger sense—cast down to the ground, so as altogether to paralyze their power for harm. This prediction was fulfilled shortly after. Chaldea revolted against its late Medo-Persian conquerors during the reign of this same Darius. He consequently attacked and subdued them, and then greatly marred the military strength and glory of Babylon. Thenceforward Chaldea was no more felt or feared as a power among the nations. H. C.

The second vision speaks for itself. When the four horns had tossed and gored Israel, four carpenters are sent to cut them down. God’s zest in removing the executioners of His justice reveals His reluctance to punish. When the causes of distress have done their work, they are removed. As a matter of actual experience, men who have suffered great reverses of fortune declare that no sooner had the calamity brought them to the point of a true, hearty and permanent submission to God about it, than it was removed. There are no doubt irremovable distresses, but God can introduce into the life alleviations of distress and compensating joys. He can, at all events, enable us to see as clearly as Zechariah saw that He will not give us over to unlimited punishment, but allows present distresses only as temporary expedients which may fit us for more enduring and perfect happiness. Dods.