Passage
Zechariah 1.12
Book: Zechariah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
10. And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11. And they answered the angel of Jehovah 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.
12. Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah 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?
- And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me with good words, even comfortable words. 14. So the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. (Zechariah 1:10-14, ASV)
WEB
10. The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth.” 11. They reported to Yahweh’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.”
12. Then Yahweh’s angel replied, “O Yahweh of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”
- Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words. 14. So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. (Zechariah 1:10-14, WEB)
KJV
10. And 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. 11. 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 earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
12. 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 which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
- And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. 14. So 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. (Zechariah 1:10-14, KJV)
YLT
10. And the one who is standing between the myrtles doth answer and say, 'These [are] they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk up and down in the land.' 11. And they answer the messenger of Jehovah who is standing between the myrtles, and say, 'We have walked up and down in the land, and lo, all the land is sitting still, and at rest.'
12. And the messenger of Jehovah answereth and saith, 'Jehovah of Hosts! till when dost Thou not pity Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, that Thou hast abhorred these seventy years?'
- And Jehovah answereth the messenger, who is speaking with me, good words, comfortable words. 14. And the messenger who is speaking with me, saith unto me, 'Call, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion [with] great zeal. (Zechariah 1:10-14, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo (1:1), a prophet of priestly descent
- Audience: the returned Judean community in Jerusalem, under Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest
- Location: Jerusalem, in the Persian province of Yehud
- Time period: the night visions are dated to the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius I, early 519 BC
Theological reading
"Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah 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?"
The one place in the first vision where a question is put to God rather than to the prophet, and it is put by the angel of the LORD on Jerusalem's behalf. "How long" is the standing cry of the lament psalms (Psalm 13:1-2; Psalm 79:5; Psalm 89:46) and of Habakkuk 1:2, and its appearance here on angelic lips places heaven itself alongside the complaint rather than against it.
The seventy years reckons the exile in the terms Jeremiah set (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10) and Daniel prayed over (Daniel 9:2). By 519 BC the first return under Cyrus is nearly twenty years old and the temple still lies unbuilt, so the question is sharper than it looks: the calendar has run out and the promised restoration has not visibly arrived.
The answer, in vv. 13-17, is good and comfortable words. The vision does not scold the question. It answers it.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.
- H6635 - tzevaot, tzevaot, Strong's H6635
- H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068
Quoted in
Concepts:
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.