Zechariah 1
1
Return to Yahweh
1In October of the second year that Darius was emperor of Persia, # 1:1 The Hebrew text for “In October” is literally “In the eighth month”; this was the Hebrew month of October–November, 520 BC (Gregorian calendar). The Syriac adds “the first day,” perhaps based on Jewish tradition. Yahweh spoke to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, # 1:1 There are verses that indicate Zechariah was the son of Iddo the seer (see 2 Chron. 12:15; Ezra 5:1; 6:14; Neh. 12:16); however, the Hebrew word for “son” can also mean “grandson.” It is also possible that Berechiah was, indeed, Zechariah’s father but died, leaving Zechariah to be raised by his grandfather. Iddo the priest is mentioned in Neh. 12:4 as one of exiles who returned to the land with Zerubbabel in 538 BC. son of Iddo, saying, 2“I, Yahweh, was intensely angry with your ancestors. 3So give the people this message: ‘Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, says to you: “Come back to me, and I will come back to you,” # 1:3 Or “Return to me, and I will return to you.” This was a consistent message of God’s prophets. See Isa. 31:6; Jer. 3:1, 22; Hos. 6:1; 7:10; Amos 4:6–11; Mal. 3:7. says Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies. # 1:3 This divine name (Hb. yahweh tsebaʾot) is used by Zechariah forty-seven times. This name emphasizes God’s power, majesty, and sovereignty over not only the nations of earth but also the angelic armies of heaven. 4Do not be like your ancestors. Long ago my prophets warned them, saying, “Turn your lives around completely and end your evil, wicked ways.” But they refused to listen to me or obey me. 5And where did they end up? And the prophets, did they live forever? 6But my words and warnings, which I gave through my servants the prophets, proved to be true. Your ancestors ignored them, and so they were punished. As a result, they repented, saying, “Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, has punished us as he warned he would do and as our sinful ways have deserved.” ’ ”
The Eight Visions of Zechariah
7On February 15 (the month of Shvat), in the second year of Darius’ reign, # 1:7 The Hebrew text for “February 15” is literally “On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month”; this was February 15, 519 BC (Gregorian calendar). Yahweh spoke to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo.
First Vision: The Horsemen
8That night I had a vision. Behold, I saw a man sitting on a reddish-brown horse in the shadows of a grove of myrtles. # 1:8 Isaiah referenced “myrtles” in connection to the Messianic age (Isa. 41:19; 55:13). And behind him I saw other horses—some brown, tan, and white with riders upon them. 9There was another angel there who talked with me, and I asked him, “What do these represent, my lord?” And the angel # 1:9 It is possible that the “man” on the horse was the same as “the angel who was talking to me.” However, the text seems to imply (and most commentators agree) that this angel talking with Zechariah was an angel of interpretation sent to Zechariah to help the prophet interpret what he was seeing. This would mean that the horseman among the myrtle grove was a different angel, who is described in v. 12 as “Yahweh’s angel.” Zechariah always referred to the “angel who talked with me” by the same words and mentioned this angel in several of his visions (see 1:19; 2:3; 4:1, 4–5; 5:5, 10; 6:4). who was talking to me said, “Let me show you.”
10Then the man standing among the myrtles spoke up and said, “These are Yahweh’s agents sent to patrol the earth.” # 1:10 Or “who are sent back and forth across the land.”
11Then the horsemen reported to the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtles, “We have been patrolling the land, # 1:11 Or “walking about the entire world.” The Hebrew verb for “walking” is halak, used in Gen. 13:17 for Abraham walking over the land to possess it. and indeed, all is peacefully at rest.”
12Yahweh’s angel then spoke and said, “Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, you have inflicted your anger on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah for the past seventy years. How many more years will pass before you once again show them that you love them?” 13Yahweh then replied to the angel who was talking to me with kind and comforting words. 14So the angel told me to proclaim these words of Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies: “My heart burns with passion # 1:14 Or “jealousy.” For the English reader, jealousy often carries a negative connotation. Here we see God’s passion and caring love for Jerusalem and his people, but their waywardness has kept him from pouring out that love upon them. for Jerusalem and Zion, 15but I am deeply angry with the careless and complacent nations. I was only mildly angry with my people, but the nations I used to punish them acted too severely. # 1:15 Or “they [the nations] contributed to the disaster.” 16Therefore, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy and kindness. # 1:16 See Ezek. 43:1–5. I, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, have decreed to rebuild my house there. # 1:16 The rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple reinforces the certainty of Yahweh’s intention to continue to pour out his mercy and compassion on his people now that they had been freed from their captivity in exile for some twenty years. The house of the Lord would, in fact, be completed within three years or so, in 516 BC. The same was true for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, some eighty years in the future at the time of Nehemiah (ca. 444 BC). Surveyors will stretch my measuring line over Jerusalem to rebuild the city.”
17The angel also told me to proclaim, “I, Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, decree that my cities will once more overflow with prosperity. I will comfort Zion once again and claim Jerusalem as my own.”
Second Vision: Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
18Then I looked up and had a vision. Behold, I saw four horns. # 1:18 Zechariah 2 in the Hebrew Bible begins with v. 18. Animal’s horns are a consistent biblical symbol of strength and power (see Deut. 33:17; 1 Kings 22:11; Ps. 75:10; Ezek. 29:21; Mic. 4:13). They represent, in this context, four nations or, metaphorically, four principalities. The number four is a biblical number consistently representing the entire world (i.e., four compass directions; see Zech. 2:6; 6:5). 19I asked the angel who was talking to me, “What do these represent?” And he answered, “These are the four horns that scattered Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel.”
20Then Yahweh opened my eyes to see four conquering craftsmen. # 1:20 Or “blacksmiths,” those who hammer out heated metal. See Isa. 54:16. This passage teaches us that for every evil on the earth, God has an answer, “craftsmen” who themselves become the solution. The four horns that scattered God’s people are likely Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Medo-Persia. The four conquering craftsmen are likely Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece. Whatever their precise identity may have been, the important point to note is that all the enemies of Judah will ultimately be destroyed. 21And I asked, “What are they coming to do?” He replied, “They have come to terrify and hammer out justice among the nations who lifted their horns to completely crush the land of Judah and scatter its inhabitants.”
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Zechariah 1: TPT
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