Zechariah 6

I turned and looked up again, and I saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains. The two mountains were made of bronze.

1And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

NoteThis is the last of eight night visions that Zechariah reports one after another in chapters 1–6. Bronze was the hardest metal in ordinary use, the material of gates, weapons and armor, so bronze mountains suggest something immovable.

2The first chariot was pulled by red horses. The second chariot was pulled by black horses.

2In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

3The third chariot was pulled by white horses. The fourth chariot was pulled by spotted horses, all of them strong.

3And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.

Note"Grisled" in the King James means dappled or mottled. The Hebrew word attached to the fourth team is uncertain: it can mean "strong" or can name a color (reddish-brown, "bay"). Older English versions read it as a color, most modern ones as "strong", which is why the same word turns up as "bay horses" in verse 3 of the King James and as "the strong horses" in verse 7.

4So I spoke up and asked the angel who was talking with me, "What are these, my lord?"

4Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?

5The angel answered me, "These are the four spirits of the heavens. They are going out from where they stood in front of the Lord of all the earth.

5And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the LORD of all the earth.

NoteThe Hebrew word here, ruach, means wind, breath or spirit, all at once; "the four winds of the heavens" was a standard phrase for the four points of the compass. Chariots patrolling in four directions and four winds are the same picture.

6The chariot with the black horses is going out to the land in the north. The white horses go out after them. The spotted horses go out toward the land in the south."

6The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.

Note"The land in the north" means Mesopotamia, Assyria and then Babylon. Armies from there could not cross the desert directly, so they always entered Israel from the north, and "the north" became shorthand for the great imperial power. "The south" means Egypt. The Hebrew for the white horses reads only "after them"; some translations adjust one letter to get "toward the west," which would complete the four directions. No chariot is sent east.

7The strong horses went out, eager to go and travel back and forth across the earth. And he said, "Go now, travel back and forth across the earth." So they went back and forth across the earth.

7And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

Note"Walk to and fro through the earth" describes patrolling, going up and down a territory the way a king's mounted messengers and inspectors did in the Persian empire, reporting back on its condition.

8Then he called out to me and said, "Look, the ones going to the land in the north have given my spirit rest in that northern land."

8Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

Note"Have quieted my spirit" is a Hebrew idiom for anger being satisfied and settling, the same wording is used elsewhere of wrath being spent. It does not mean the spirit was made calm in the sense of soothed feelings.

9Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said:

9And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

10"Take a gift from the people who were taken away as prisoners, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come back from Babylon. Go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

10Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;

NoteThese are Judeans returning from Babylon, where their families had been deported roughly seventy years earlier. Judah was now a small province of the Persian empire, and returning exiles brought contributions of silver and gold for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, which was under way around 520 BC.

11Take the silver and gold, make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

11Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

NoteThe Hebrew word for crown is plural in form here, though later verbs treat it as one object, so it may be a single composite crown of several circlets, or two crowns. Joshua son of Jehozadak was the serving high priest; the King James "Josedech" is the same name in its Greek spelling. Crowning a priest rather than a king is unusual: the crown named here is the ornate kind worn by royalty, not the priest's ordinary turban.

12Say to him: This is what the Lord of Armies says. Here is the man whose name is the Branch. He will grow up from where he is, and he will build the temple of the Lord.

12And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Note"The Branch" translates the Hebrew tsemach, a shoot or sprout, used by earlier prophets as a title for a coming king descended from David (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15). The next phrase is a play on the same word: he will sprout up from where he is. "The Lord of Armies" (King James "the LORD of hosts") is a title picturing God at the head of heavenly forces. The temple meant is the second one, being rebuilt on the ruins of Solomon's temple, which Babylon had destroyed.

13Yes, he is the one who will build the temple of the Lord. He will be dressed in splendor, and he will sit and rule on his throne. He will also be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful agreement between the two of them.

13Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

NoteIn Israel kingship and priesthood were normally held by different men from different families. "Between them both" is ambiguous in the Hebrew: it can mean between the two offices held by one figure, or between two persons, the crowned figure and the priest, working in agreement.

14The crown will be kept in the temple of the Lord as a reminder of Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah.

14And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.

NoteTwo of the names have changed since verse 10: Helem for Heldai, and Hen for Josiah. Both may be variant forms or nicknames; "Hen" is also the ordinary Hebrew word for favor or graciousness, which is why some translations read "the gracious son of Zephaniah" instead of a name.

15People who live far away will come and help build the temple of the Lord. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God."

15And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Note"They that are far off" is left open: it can mean Judeans still living abroad who had not returned, or foreigners from other nations. "Has sent me" is spoken by the prophet, or possibly by the messenger figure speaking through him. The Hebrew of the last sentence trails off: it states the condition without completing the thought.