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The Prophets · Old Testament

Zechariah 1

Zechariah 1: turn ye unto me, the horses among the myrtle trees, and four horns

General context

The opening heading reads: "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 says he has been sore displeased with their fathers and tells Zechariah to say, Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you. They are told not to be like their fathers, who did not hear the former prophets, and the fathers are quoted admitting the Lord dealt with them according to their ways. A second heading repeats that line of descent and dates the next word "Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius." Zechariah reports seeing by night a man riding a red horse among myrtle trees, with red, speckled and white horses behind him; the angel that talked with him promises to show him what they are. The man among the myrtle trees says, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth, and the riders report that all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest. The angel of the Lord asks how long mercy will be withheld from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah after seventy years of indignation, and the Lord answers with good words and comfortable words. Zechariah is told to cry that the Lord is jealous for Jerusalem, sore displeased with the heathen at ease, and returned to Jerusalem with mercies, so that his house will be built and a line stretched over it. He then sees four horns, which the angel says have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, and four carpenters who come to cast those horns out.

Cited passages: Zechariah 1:1, Zechariah 1:2, Zechariah 1:3, Zechariah 1:4, Zechariah 1:5, Zechariah 1:6, Zechariah 1:7, Zechariah 1:8, Zechariah 1:9, Zechariah 1:10, Zechariah 1:11, Zechariah 1:12, Zechariah 1:13, Zechariah 1:14, Zechariah 1:15, Zechariah 1:16, Zechariah 1:17, Zechariah 1:18, Zechariah 1:19, Zechariah 1:20, Zechariah 1:21

Zechariah 1 (KJV)

1In 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,

2The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

3Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord.

5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned 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.

7Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, 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,

8I saw by 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 were there red horses, speckled, and white.

9Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.

10And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

11And 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 earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

12Then 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 which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

13And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.

14So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

15And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

16Therefore 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 upon Jerusalem.

17Cry yet, 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.

18Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.

19And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

20And the Lord shewed me four carpenters.

21Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

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Historical context

Both headings are printed as verse text and date the word by a foreign king's regnal year only: the eighth month of the second year of Darius, and the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, "which is the month Sebat," of the same year. No other reckoning is given, and Darius is named without title beyond "Darius." The line printed is "Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet," and the text does not say whether "the prophet" describes Iddo or Zechariah. Ezra twice calls him "Zechariah the son of Iddo," at Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14, without Berechiah; the text does not explain the difference. This Zechariah is identified only by that line and by the words that come to him. The seventy years in verse 12 are spoken by the angel of the Lord as the span of the Lord's indignation, with no starting or ending event named. Three figures are distinguished in the night vision: "the angel that talked with me," who interprets; "a man riding upon a red horse" who stands among the myrtle trees; and "the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees," who intercedes. The chapter uses both descriptions of one standing among the myrtle trees without stating whether they are the same. The four horns and four carpenters are explained only by what the angel says of them; no nation or person is named.

Cited passages: Zechariah 1:1, Zechariah 1:7, Ezra 5:1, Ezra 6:14, Zechariah 1:12, Zechariah 1:9, Zechariah 1:8, Zechariah 1:11, Zechariah 1:10, Zechariah 1:19, Zechariah 1:21

Literary context

The chapter sets a call before a vision. The opening oracle turns on one verb used both ways, Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you, and hangs the formula "saith the Lord of hosts" three times in a single verse. It then argues by question: Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? The fathers are given the last word in that section, quoted admitting the Lord did as he thought to do. The night vision runs by question and answer, with Zechariah asking and the angel answering, a pattern that governs the visions that follow. The riders' report that all the earth is at rest is set directly against the angel's how long, so the world's quiet becomes the complaint rather than the comfort. The Lord's reply is summarized before it is given, as good words and comfortable words, and then delivered as speech Zechariah must cry aloud. Verse 17 repeats "yet" four times, in the command to cry and then over prosperity, comfort and choice. The horns and carpenters come as a bare pair of sights with a short explanation attached, and the number four matches the four chariots and four spirits of chapter 6.

Cited passages: Zechariah 1:3, Zechariah 1:5, Zechariah 1:6, Zechariah 1:9, Zechariah 1:11, Zechariah 1:12, Zechariah 1:13, Zechariah 1:14, Zechariah 1:17, Zechariah 1:18, Zechariah 1:20, Zechariah 6:1, Zechariah 6:5

Key moments

  1. The word in Darius’s second year (Zechariah 1:1). A dated heading brings the word of the Lord to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo.
  2. Turn ye unto me (Zechariah 1:3). The Lord of hosts calls the hearers to turn, with a promise that he will turn to them.
  3. The fathers answer (Zechariah 1:6). The fathers are quoted admitting the Lord dealt with them according to their ways.
  4. Horses among the myrtle trees (Zechariah 1:8). Zechariah sees by night a rider on a red horse with red, speckled and white horses behind him.
  5. All the earth is at rest (Zechariah 1:11). The riders report the whole earth sitting still while Jerusalem waits.
  6. How long (Zechariah 1:12). The angel of the Lord asks how long mercy will be withheld after seventy years of indignation.
  7. Four horns, four carpenters (Zechariah 1:20). After the horns that scattered Judah, the Lord shows four carpenters to cast them out.

For reflection

The fathers are quoted saying that the Lord dealt with them according to their own ways and doings. What difference does it make that this admission comes from the people who did not listen, rather than from the prophet?

People in this chapter

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