ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Zechariah 1.16-17

Book: Zechariah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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

16. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be built in it, saith Jehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem. 17. Cry yet again, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

  1. And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, four horns. 19. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. (Zechariah 1:14-19, ASV)
WEB

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. 15. I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”

16. Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’ 17. “Proclaim further, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’”

  1. I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns. 19. I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 1:14-19, WEB)
KJV

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. 15. And 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.

16. Therefore 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. 17. Cry 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. prosperity: Heb. good

  1. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. 19. And 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. (Zechariah 1:14-19, KJV)
YLT

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. 15. And [with] great wrath I am wroth against the nations who are at ease, For I was a little wroth, and they assisted, for evil.

16. Therefore, thus said Jehovah: I have turned to Jerusalem with mercies, My house is built in it, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, And a line is stretched over Jerusalem. 17. Again call, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Again do my cities overflow from good, And Jehovah hath again comforted Zion, And He hath fixed again on Jerusalem.'

  1. And I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, four horns. 19. And I say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, 'What [are] these?' And he saith unto me, 'These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.' (Zechariah 1:14-19, 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

"Therefore thus saith Jehovah: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be built in it... Cry yet again, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem."

The concluding oracle of the first night vision, and the direct answer to the intercession of v. 12. Four times in v. 17 the word "yet" (Hebrew od) marks a future that the present does not yet show, and the accumulation is the point: the community can see ruins, and is being told what is nevertheless still ahead.

"Shall yet choose Jerusalem" is the boldest clause. Election language is normally settled and past; here it is future, because the exile had looked like a revoked choice. The same phrase returns at 2:12 and 3:2, so the book repeats it in each of the settings where the accusation of rejection would be loudest.

The overflow of the cities with prosperity is a reversal of the emptied land of the exile, and the comfort of Zion picks up the vocabulary of Isaiah 40:1. The oracle is not promising a return to what was; it is promising more than what was, which is why the next vision has to widen the city plan.

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.

Quoted in

Lexicon:

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.