Introduction. Haggai and Zechariah 1–8, Volume 25B in the acclaimed Anchor Bible part of the Scripture known as the Minor Prophets, were written during a critical period in Israel’s history, the momentous return of the Jews from Babylonian exile. Such a hunter is Christ; he, lifted up upon the tree of his cross, had his garment dipped and dyed in his own blood, as one that cometh with red garments from Bozrah. Speckled; a mixed colour, made up of white, red, and black, as some guess, an emblem of affairs of different complexion; not all prosperous, nor all unprosperous; not all dark, nor all light, as the day the prophet describes neither day nor night; such times did the Jews know, during the seventy prophetic weeks, from the beginning of them to the Messiah’s coming. The rider upon the red horse is not to be identified with the angel of Jehovah, nor the latter with the angelus interpres. Let us then especially bear in mind, that the riders who appeared to the Prophet were angels, who are ever ready to serve God. Jehovah is about to interfere on behalf of Jerusalem (verses: Zechariah 1:16, Zechariah 1:17. the angelus interpres, whom he addresses as "my lord" ('ădōnı̄), answers, "I will show thee what these be;" whereupon the man upon the red horse, as the leader of the company, gives this reply: "These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to go through the earth;" and then proceeds to give the angel of the Lord the report of their mission, viz., "We have been through the earth, and behold all the earth sitteth still and at rest." A grove of myrtle trees in a plain, in which they delight, being dark and shady, is thought by some to be an emblem of this world, in which there is a mixture of good and bad men; and of the care of Providence over human affairs, consulting the good of man, especially the raising up of the church of God out of a low estate by Christ, and his apostles, and other ministers of the word, performing their offices, according to the different abilities and gifts God has bestowed upon them (r): and behind him were there red horses, speckled and white; that is, with riders on them. Nor should it surprise us a little later in the vision to find that the Angel of the Covenant, Christ himself, controls and directs this vast resource of Divine power; for in Revelation, it is Christ himself who leads the van, riding upon a white horse! In the bottom — This bottom or valley in which the myrtles grew, is an emblem of the church in a low, afflicted state. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of … Zechariah 6:2, where the chariots are drawn by red ('ădummı̄m, πυῤῥοί), black (shechōrı̄m, μέλανες), white (lebhânı̄m, λευκοί), and speckled (beruddı̄m, ψαροί) horses, and with Revelation 6, where the first rider has a white horse (λευκός), the second a red one (πυῥῥός), the third a black one (μέλας), the fourth a pale horse (χλωρός), there can be no further doubt that three of the colours of the horses mentioned here occur again in the two passages quoted, and that the black horse is simply added as a fourth; so that the seruqqı̄m correspond to the beruddı̄m of Zechariah 6:3, and the ἵππος χλωρός of Revelation 6:8, and consequently sârōq denotes that starling kind of grey in which the black ground is mixed with white, so that it is not essentially different from bârōd, speckled, or black covered with white spots (Genesis 31:10, Genesis 31:12). Jehovah himself. 1. c. 12. p. 130, 131. And the colour of these horses is red, probably denoting the bloody condition of states and kingdoms, by wars one against another when God punisheth his church, or when he avengeth himself. The red and white horses are well-known symbols of war and glory, whence He who sits on "the white horse" Revelation 6:2 in the revelations, "went forth conquering and to conquer." (1-8) The people encouraged by promises of God's favour, and exhorted to holiness. The following appear as dramatis personae in the first vision: 1. "Joshua lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold there stood a man over against him with a sword drawn in his hand, who said, as Captain of the Lord's host am I come" (Joshua 5:13-15. He saw a man sitting on a red (bay, reddish-brown) horse among myrtle trees in a ravine. Therefore (lâkhēn, Zechariah 1:16), because Jehovah is jealous with love for His people, and very angry with the heathen, He has now turned with compassion towards Jerusalem. The following appear as. The cities of Jehovah, i.e., of the land of the Lord, are still to overflow with good, or with prosperity. Angels, when they assume the human form, are often called “men”—e.g., in Genesis 18:2. The man's answer (vayya‛an, Zechariah 1:10) is not addressed to the prophet or to the angelus interpres, but to the angel of the Lord mentioned in Zechariah 1:11, to whom the former, with his horsemen (hence the plural, "they answered," in Zechariah 1:11), had given a report of the result of their mission. God, therefore, needs no such helps in order to know what is going on from the rising to the setting sun; but such a mode of speaking often occurs in scripture; and it is a common thing, that God assumes the character of man in order that he may more familiarly instruct us. Isaiah 40:1-5. Sacr. The contents of these words, which are addressed to the interpreting angel either directly or through the medium of the angel of Jehovah, follow in the announcement which the latter orders the prophet to make in Zechariah 1:14-17. So, to begin this vision, Zechariah describes for us what he sees in verse 1. This is consistent with their appearing subsequently as giving report to him. In the face of these facts, it is impossible to establish the identity of the two by the arguments that have been adduced in support of it. By night.—Better, on this night. It was its depressed state that caused the Jews to despond; this vision is designed to cheer them with better hopes. In this vision it is shown to the prophet, and through him to the people, that although the immediate condition of things presents no prospect of the fulfilment of the promised restoration and glorification of Israel, the Lord has nevertheless already appointed the instruments of His judgment, and sent them out to overthrow the nations of the world, that are still living at rest and in security, and to perfect His Zion. So, let’s read verse 9 one more time in order to see one reason I think this section is the last vision in this book. in the bottom—in a low place or bottom of a river; alluding to Babylon near the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, the scene of Judah's captivity. A man; one in human shape, Christ Jesus in shape of a man so he appeared to Ezekiel, Ezekiel 1:26 40:3, and to Daniel, Daniel 7:13. ], John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Ver. The myrtle delights in low places and the banks of waters (Pembellus). Zechariah 1:8 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Zechariah 1:8, NIV: "During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse.He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. The myrtle trees - from their fragrance and lowness, probably symbolize the Church, as at once yielding a sweet odor, and in a low estate, or lowly. Red horses; horses of the same colour, not without their riders, though they are not expressed; but it is a synecdoche, horses and horsemen are both intended, and these are angels, Zechariah 1:10. In Nehemiah 12:4 and 16, mention is made of a priest named Zechariah of the famil… in the first vision: 1. Septuagint, "between two shady mountains." And behold a man riding upon a red horse] Not Alexander the Great, riding upon his horse Bucephalus, and translating the empire from the Persians to the Grecians, as Arias Montanus conceited it; but the man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5, the Captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 4:14, and of our salvation, Heb. 8.I saw — In a vision or trance (compare Isaiah 6), one of the means by which God communicated his truth to the prophets (compare Numbers 12:6; see on Amos 7:1; Nahum 1:1). The myrtle-trees — He posted himself in a convenient place to observe and be ready, among verdant, fragrant trees, emblems of the saints of God. Zechariah 6:2; Isaiah 63:1-6; Revelation 6:4). in Miclol Yophi in loc. I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and white horses behind him. The same, probably, that appeared to Joshua with a drawn sword, as the captain of the Lord's host. The date of the intercession was at the end of the 70 years' captivity of Judah. So far as they set before the people the prospect of the mitigation of their distress, they are nichummı̄m, consolations. Following the conquest of Babylon by the Persian Empire, the Israelites sought to … The prophet's name is mentioned elsewhere in the Book (7:1, 8). Zechariah 8:1-8 New International Version (NIV) The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem. (t) Vid. (l) These signify the various offices of God's angels, by whom God sometimes punishes, and sometimes comforts, and brings forth his works in various ways. The Vulgate adopts this rendering: in profundo. "Myrtle is an evergreen tree that was once very common in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 8:15)" (note on Zechariah 1:8 Zechariah 1:8 I saw by night, and behold a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and … In order to remove all doubt as to the realization of this promise, the deliverance of Ephraim is described still more minutely in Zechariah 10:8-12. Besides, it was God’s purpose, as I have already hinted, to make it known, that nothing is carried on in this world but what is known by angels, who are his emissaries and agents. "Compare Revelation 6:4. חארץ, in Zechariah 1:10 and Zechariah 1:11, is not the land of Judah, or any other land, but the earth. Since the Hebrew day began at sunset, this was probably during the night preceding the twenty-fourth day. The description is repeated Zechariah 1:10 apparently as identifying this angel, and so he and the "angel of the Zechariah 1:11 Lord" are probably one. The riders evidently represent some of the Lord"s angelic army (host) that serve as His scouts and report world conditions to Him ( Zechariah 1:10). (2) Ewald deprives “the man standing among the myrtles” of his horse, then he renders the colours of the horses bright-red, brown, grey, and supplies dark-red, from his interpretation of Zech. Debhârı̄m tōbhı̄m are words which promise good, i.e., salvation (cf. speckled … white—The "white" implies triumph and victory for Judah; "speckled" (from a root "to intertwine"), a combination of the two colors white and red (bay [Moore]), implies a state of things mixed, partly prosperous, partly otherwise [Henderson]; or, the connection of the wrath (answering to the "red") about to fall on the Jews' foes, and triumph (answering to the "white") to the Jews themselves in God's arrangements for His people [Moore]. Myrtle trees that were in the bottom ..." This tree, famed for its fragrance, was once abundant in Palestine. Speckled — Of a mixt colour; perhaps an emblem of affairs, not all dark, nor all light, such as those during the last seventy prophetic weeks. (Haydock). "Viewed from the perspective of a literary type, symbolism has a unique force, impressing itself on the mind and touching the emotions with greater facility and power than prosaic literary types." c. 39. p. 108. Zechariah 8 – Jerusalem Restored A. Israel restored to God’s favor. Let us keep the feast; let us keep holy day ( εορταζωμεν), saith the apostle, 1 Corinthians 5:8, who himself did over abound exceedingly with joy, had an exuberance of it, at that constant feast of a good conscience, 2 Corinthians 7:4. Yet he compares God to a King who has his posts and messengers abroad, by whom he still works his purpose and brings his matters to pass. "ish. reads wrongly, “between the mountains” (compare Zechariah 6:1). The measuring line is drawn over a city, to mark off the space it is to occupy, and the plan upon which it is to be arranged. It was its depressed state that caused the Jews to despond; this vision is designed to cheer them with better hopes. 112, iv. Moreover, the riders mentioned here have unquestionably gone through the earth in company, according to Zechariah 1:8 and Zechariah 1:11, or at any rate there is no intimation whatever of their having gone through the different countries separately, according to the colour of their respective horses; and, according to Zechariah 6:6, not only the chariot with the black horses, but that with the white horses also, goes into the land of the south. It may be then that one angel assumed here a pre-eminence over the rest, that the Prophet might think of the Redeemer, who exercises power over angels and the whole Church. The best Zechariah commentaries are listed below. 8 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me. KJV Zechariah 6:9 ¶ [And the/The] word of the LORD [came/also came] [unto/to] [me, saying,/me as follows:/me:] There it is. The man riding upon the red horse; 4. This colour is a symbol of his coming to avenge his own just quarrel, and the unjust dealings of his and his people’s enemies. The light of joy, clear sight, and security was yet to break for them. It may note, moreover, the obscurity of the prophecy; hence also the mention of myrtle trees, low and shady, and that in a bottom, as Calvin conceiveth; and all this that he might give a taste of good hope to the Jews by little and little. Animal. Zechariah 8:1 "Again the word of the LORD of hosts came [to me], saying," This is a new message coming from the LORD. The entire book has for its background, chapters 1-8, the Persian era; Zechariah 9-10, the Grecian era; Zechariah 6 the Roman era; Zechariah 12-14 take us to the time of the end. I saw in the night - that is, that following on “the twenty-fourth day.” The darkness of the night perhaps was chosen, as agreeing with the dimness of the restored condition. Cp. There were then horsemen among the myrtles, that is, under these dark and shady trees; and also in a deep place and in a thick shade. A grove of myrtle trees in a plain, in which they delight, being dark and shady, is thought by some to be an emblem of this world, in which there is a mixture of good and bad men; and of the care of Providence over human affairs, consulting the good of man, especially the raising up of the church of God out of a low estate by Christ, and his apostles, and other ministers of the word, performing their offices, according to the different abilities and gifts God has bestowed upon themF18Vid. The last two clauses round off the promise. The words, "over which Thou hast now been angry for seventy years," do not imply that the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity predicted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11 and Jeremiah 29:10) were only just drawing to a close. As long as the nations of the world enjoyed undisturbed peace, Judah could not expect any essential improvement in its condition. It probably was Michael Daniel 10:13, who is entitled in Daniel, "your prince Daniel 10:21, the great prince which standeth up for the children of thy people" . Pesikta Rabbati apud Yalkut Simeoni, par. ((p) T. Bab. "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters," Isaiah 32:20. 0. God will take away her sins, and then no other enemies … Contemporary commentaries tend to treat *Haggai-Zechariah 1–8 together, and separately from Zechariah 9–14. Jehovah himself. In Zechariah 6 they are πυρροί, μέλανες, λευκοί, ποικίλοι ψαροί. Therefore the hunter for the nonce, standing before a tree, puts on a red garment; whom when the bull seeth, he runneth at him as hard as he can drive; but the hunter, stepping aside, the bull’s horns stick fast in the tree; as, when David slipped aside, Saul’s spear stuck fast in the wall. So Jerome, Theodoret Others, as Cyril, of his own eye, turning to evil to himself; but the analogy of the other passages is against it), as in the song of Moses, "He led him about, He … The Jews begin their day with sunset; therefore the night is meant which preceded the 24th day of the month (Zechariah 1:1). Instead of speckled, Houbigant reads grey. He was given a burning in his heart, by God, to move the Jewish people from their comfortableness to hard work. Isaiah 47:6). A revealing glimpse of eternal realities is afforded by what God showed to Zechariah. (Compare the remarks upon this subject in the comm. LXX. Haggai and Zechariah 1-8 (1984): A Commentary - eBook (9781611645026) by David L. Petersen Hear about sales, receive special offers & more. There is no doubt that, in this vision, both the locality in which the rider upon the red horse, with his troop, and the angel of the Lord had taken up their position, and also the colour of the horses, are significant. The present was such a period for the Israelites. Myrtle trees were evergreens used in the feast of Tabernacles to picture future endless messianic blessings that would come to Israel ( Nehemiah 8:15; Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 55:13). Night had connotations of gloom, obscurity, and foreboding. [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p964. reads “sorrel.” The meaning of the Hebrew so translated is uncertain; the corresponding Arabic word is used of, horses, and this is the meaning which should probably be given to the Hebrew. Isaiah 40:1-5). The word nichummı̄m is a substantive, and in apposition to debhârı̄m. of this chapter are πυρροί, ψαροὶ καὶ ποικίλοι, λευκοί. "I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtles which were in the hollow; and behind him red, speckled, and white horses. (8-9) God promises to protect His precious people. (o) T. Bab. (Challoner) --- It is plain that he was an angel, ver. God has ministers of every kind for promoting the interests of His Church. This compassion will show itself in the fact that the house of God is to be built in Jerusalem, and the city itself restored, and all the obstacles to this are to be cleared out of the way. Others take them as representing the church or God"s people of all ages. 93. 2. fol. These horsemen are angels, as Zechariah 1:10, deputed to several offices and executions, for judgment, for mercy, or both; shadowed by the various colours of their horses. Whatever may be true of other passages, here the colors are without symbolic meaning; they are only incidents introduced to make the picture complete. Study the bible online using commentary on Zechariah 8 and more! reads wrongly, “between the mountains” (compare, ). For, apart from the fact that there is no foundation whatever for the combination proposed, of the red colour with the south as the place of light, or of the white with the west, the fourth quarter of the heavens would be altogether wanting. 8. For example, McFadyen, explained this horse-vision as having been suggested to the prophet's mind, "by the sight of Persian cavalry scouts!"[21]. I am aware of a formatting issue in the NIV '84 edition. עזרוּ לרעה, they helped, so that evil was the result (לרעה as in Jeremiah 44:11), i.e., they assisted not only as the instruments of God for the chastisement of Judah, but so that harm arose from it, inasmuch as they endeavoured to destroy Israel altogether (cf. Moreover victory implies bloodshed, as much as does war, so that there is no practical distinction made between the red and the white horses. 1:8 I was attentive > that night > and saw > a man > seated > on > a red > horse > that > stood > among > some myrtle > trees in the ravine >. Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Myrtle trees that were in the bottom ...", and he stood among the myrtle trees which, And he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom, — In a vision or trance (compare Isaiah 6), one of the means by which God communicated his truth to the prophets (compare, — Visions usually came during the night (. ), That school of interpreters which has abandoned all objective standards and launched out into the "deep" of their own subjective imaginations in order to "discover" the meaning of Biblical passages (!) (l) These signify the various offices of God's angels, by whom God sometimes punishes, and sometimes comforts, and brings forth his works in various ways. At length he adds, that the angel of God cried out, How long, Jehovah, wilt thou not show mercy to Jerusalem? If it be ashen gray, it would correspond to the pale horse of the revelations, and the union of the two colors, black and white, is calculated to be a symbol of a chequered state of things, whereas a mingled color like “chestnut” is not suggestive of any symbol. The article in bammetsullâh defines the hollow as the one which the prophet saw in the vision, not the ravine of the fountain of Siloah, as Hofmann supposes (Weissagung u. Erfllung, i. p. 333). Daniel 8:9; Daniel 11:16), for the myrtle is a lovely ornamental plant. The men riding upon the red, speckled, and white horses; 5. See "Kingdom (O.T.)" in the bottom — in a low place or bottom of a river; alluding to Babylon near the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, the scene of Judah‘s captivity. We are almost inclined to suggest that the word is a corruption of shechorîm, “black” (see Zechariah 6). Context. The Jews, as Jerom relates, think that the Angel Michael is meant, by whom they understand a created angel; for otherwise, if they took him to be, as he is, the Son of God, the Archangel, the Head of principalities, who is, as his name signifies, like unto God, and equal to him, it would not be amiss: and it is usual for a divine Person to be called the Angel of the Lord, as was he that called to Abraham when sacrificing his son, and to Moses out of the bush; and who went before the Israelites in the wilderness, and who is called the Angel of God's presence, and the messenger and Angel of the covenant; and the ancient Jews themselves own that a divine Person is here meant; for, on quoting these words, "I saw a man", &c. they sayF14T. Keil, for example, considers the former a “symbol of the theocracy, or of the land of Judah as a land that was dear and lovely in the esteem of the Lord”; of the latter he says that it “can be only a figurative representation of the deep degradation into which the land and the people of God had fallen at that time.” Since the heavenly interpreter gives no symbolical meaning to these features, his earthly counterparts may do well to follow his example; it seems best to consider these elements mere incidents in the picture, without special symbolical significance. SIGNIFICANCE 1. The man or angel riding upon him is thought by some to have been the archangel Michael, prince and protector of the people of God. the "man," "my lord," "the angel that talked with me") intercedes for the land against a world at ease.