ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Zechariah 6

Book: Zechariah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV
  1. And again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. 2. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; 3. and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grizzled strong horses. 4. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? 5. And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four winds of heaven, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6. The chariot wherein are the black horses goeth forth toward the north country; and the white went forth after them; and the grizzled went forth toward the south country. 7. And the strong 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. 8. Then cried he to me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, they that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country. 9. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 10. Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they are come from Babylon; 11. yea, take of them silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest; 12. and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah 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 Jehovah; 13. even he shall build the temple of Jehovah; 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. 14. And 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 Jehovah. 15. And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God. (Zechariah 6:1-15, ASV)
WEB
  1. Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. 2. In the first chariot were red horses; in the second chariot black horses; 3. in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them powerful. 4. Then I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5. The angel answered me, “These are the four winds of the sky, which go out from standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6. The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went out toward the south country.” 7. The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth: and he said, “Go around and through the earth!” So they walked back and forth through the earth. 8. Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.” 9. Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 10. “Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon. 11. Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest; 12. and speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build Yahweh’s temple; 13. even he shall build Yahweh’s temple; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 14. The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in Yahweh’s temple. 15. Those who are far off shall come and build in Yahweh’s temple; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey Yahweh your God’s voice.”’” (Zechariah 6:1-15, WEB)
KJV
  1. And 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. 2. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; 3. And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. bay: or, strong 4. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? 5. And 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. spirits: or, winds 6. The 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. 7. And 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. 8. Then 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. 9. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 10. Take 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; 11. Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; 12. And 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: grow: or, branch up from under him 13. Even 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. 14. And 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. 15. And 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. (Zechariah 6:1-15, KJV)
YLT
  1. And I turn back, and lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, four chariots are coming forth from between two of the mountains, and the mountains [are] mountains of brass. 2. In the first chariot [are] red horses, and in the second chariot brown horses, 3. and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot strong grisled horses. 4. And I answer and say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, 'What [are] these, my lord?' 5. And the messenger answereth and saith unto me, 'These [are] four spirits of the heavens coming forth from presenting themselves before the Lord of the whole earth. 6. The brown horses that [are] therein, are coming forth unto the land of the north; and the white have come forth unto their hinder part; and the grisled have come forth unto the land of the south; 7. and the strong ones have come forth, and they seek to go to walk up and down in the earth;' and he saith, 'Go, walk up and down in the earth;' and they walk up and down in the earth. 8. And he calleth me, and speaketh unto me, saying, 'See, those coming forth unto the land of the north have caused My Spirit to rest in the land of the north.' 9. And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 10. to take of the captivity (who came from Babylon) from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah, 'and thou hast come in, thou, in that day, yea, thou hast come into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, 11. and thou hast taken silver and gold, and hast made a crown, and hast placed on the head of Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, 12. and hast spoken unto him, saying: Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: Lo, a man! A Shoot, [is] his name, And from his place he doth shoot up, And he hath built the temple of Jehovah. 13. Yea, he doth build the temple of Jehovah, And he doth bear away honour, And he hath sat and ruled on His throne, And hath been a priest on His throne, And a counsel of peace is between both. 14. And the crown is to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. 15. And the far-off come in, and they have built in the temple of Jehovah, and ye have known that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me unto you, yea, it hath come to pass, if ye do certainly hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God.' (Zechariah 6:1-15, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: Zechariah, reporting the eighth night vision (vv. 1-8) and then the word of Jehovah that came to him with the command to crown Joshua (vv. 9-15)
  • Audience: the returned community in Jerusalem, including Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, newly arrived from Babylon (v. 10)
  • Location: Jerusalem, in the Persian province of Yehud; the crowning is carried out from the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah (v. 10)
  • 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 (1:7); the crowning episode carries no separate date

Theological reading

The chapter closes the first half of the book with two scenes: the last of the night visions, and a symbolic act carried out with named men and real silver and gold.

The vision (vv. 1-8) shows four chariots coming out from between two mountains of brass, explained as the four winds of heaven that "go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth" (v. 5). It mirrors the first vision (1:8-11), where the patrol found the whole earth at rest while Jerusalem lay unbuilt. Now the teams are sent out, and the report from the north is that God's spirit has been quieted there (v. 8). The unease of the first vision is answered.

The act (vv. 9-15) turns from heaven to a particular house. Silver and gold brought by returnees from Babylon are made into crowns and set on the head of Joshua the high priest (v. 11). Over him is spoken a word about "the man whose name is the Branch," who will build the temple of Jehovah, bear the glory, sit and rule upon his throne, and be "a priest upon his throne" (vv. 12-13). The Branch was promised already at 3:8, and the title goes back to Jeremiah's righteous Branch raised up for David (Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15). In Israel the throne belonged to David's line and the altar to Aaron's; when King Uzziah took the censer he was struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). The oracle sets a crown on a priest while speaking of a royal builder, joining what the law had kept apart.

The crowns are laid up as a memorial in the temple (v. 14), and the chapter ends on a condition: "they that are far off shall come and build," and "this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God" (v. 15). The last clause echoes Deuteronomy 28:1. The promise is sure, and it does not make the people's obedience optional.

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.

  • Key words are listed on the single-verse pages of this chapter.

Quoted in

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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.

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