Zechariah 2

I looked up again, and there in front of me was a man holding a measuring line.

1I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.

NoteA measuring line was a builder's or surveyor's cord, used to lay out the plan of a wall or a building before construction; measuring a city was the normal first step in rebuilding or laying claim to it. Note that Hebrew Bibles number the verses differently here: this chapter's verses 1–4 are 1:18–21 in the Hebrew text, so Hebrew 2:1 corresponds to verse 5 in the King James numbering.

2I asked him, "Where are you going?" He answered, "I am going to measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide it is and how long it is."

2Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.

3Then the angel who had been talking with me went out, and another angel came out to meet him.

3And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,

Note"The angel that talked with me" is a recurring figure running through Zechariah's series of night visions: an interpreting angel who explains to the prophet what he is seeing. The second angel is a separate messenger who intercepts him.

4The second angel said to him, "Run and tell that young man this: Jerusalem will be lived in like an open town with no walls, because of the huge number of people and animals inside it.

4And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:

NoteIt is not stated who "this young man" is (the phrase most naturally points to the man with the measuring line in verse 1, though some take it as Zechariah himself. In the ancient world a city's wall was its survival: an unwalled town was one too poor or too small to defend itself. Saying Jerusalem will be lived in like an open town is therefore a startling image, explained by the reason given) it will overflow the space any wall could enclose.

5The LORD says, 'I myself will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory inside her.'"

5For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

Note"The LORD" in small capitals stands in for the Hebrew personal name of God, four consonants usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers by this period did not pronounce aloud, saying "my Lord" instead. "Glory" translates Hebrew kabod, literally "weight" or "heaviness," used for visible splendor and specifically for the blazing presence that older texts describe as filling the tabernacle and the temple.

6"Hey! Hey! Come out, and run away from the land of the north," says the LORD, "for I scattered you in every direction, like the four winds of the sky," says the LORD.

6Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.

Note"The land of the north" means Babylon. Babylon lies east of Judah, but the desert between them was impassable, so armies and travelers went around it up the Euphrates and arrived from the north; "the north" became a standard way of naming it. Zechariah was speaking around 520 BC, when Jerusalem was being resettled but many deported families were still living in Babylonia. "The four winds of the heaven" means the four points of the compass: that is, in all directions.

7"Get away, Zion! Save yourself, you who are living in the city of Babylon!"

7Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

Note"Zion" was originally the name of one hill in Jerusalem and came to stand for the city as a whole and for its people. "Daughter of Babylon" is a Hebrew idiom in which a city is spoken of as a woman; it means the city Babylon itself, not a person living in it.

8This is what the LORD of Armies says: after the glory, he sent me to the nations that robbed you. Whoever touches you touches the very center of his eye.

8For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Note"The LORD of hosts" is a title meaning the LORD who commands the armies (either Israel's armies or the massed heavenly ones. The clause "after the glory hath he sent me" is obscure in the Hebrew and translators disagree about it: it may mean "after the glory appeared," "in pursuit of honour," or "the Glorious One has sent me." It is also unclear who "me" is) the prophet, the angel, or a speaker who blends into the LORD himself. "The apple of his eye" is literally the pupil, in Hebrew "the little man of the eye" (from the tiny reflection you see in someone's pupil); it stands for the most fragile part of the body, the one a person shields without thinking. Ancient Jewish scribal tradition records that the text here originally read "my eye," altered to "his" out of reverence.

9"Watch: I will raise my hand against them, and the people who once served them will strip them of everything. Then you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me."

9For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.

NoteShaking or waving the hand over someone is a gesture of threat, the arm raised before a blow. "They shall be a spoil to their servants" describes a reversal: the plunder taken by these nations will be stripped from them by the very people they had enslaved.

10"Sing and be glad, city of Zion, because I am coming, and I will live among you," says the LORD.

10Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.

11"On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.

11And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.

12The LORD will take Judah as his own share in the holy land, and he will choose Jerusalem again.

12And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.

Note"Portion" and "inherit" are the vocabulary of land allotment, the shares of territory parcelled out to families and tribes, passed down and not sold off. Judah is spoken of as the LORD's own allotted share. "The holy land" occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible; this verse is the origin of the phrase.

13Be silent, everyone, in front of the LORD, because he has stirred himself and come out from where he lives in holiness."

13Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

Note"All flesh" is a Hebrew idiom for every living creature, or in context every human being. The silence called for is the hush of a court or a shrine when the one in authority rises. "Raised up" translates a verb for being roused or waking from sleep.